Twenty-Three Billion in Federal IT contracts Q2 2004
A recent report shows a 50% growth rate over the same period last year ($15.5 billion) . Big Spenders are Homeland Security, Army, Navy, Air Force and Transportation Departments – awarded $21 billion of all contract dollars. Set-aside awards to small businesses decreased 20% during the same three months.
The Homeland Security Department has requested $3.6 billion for fiscal
2005 to prepare first responders.
According to the House of Representatives, $5.2 billion of the $6.3 billion
already appropriated for terrorism preparedness remains unspent. Money for
technology has been carefully, if not cautiously, spent. Blaming the slow
pace of evolving standards for technology for slowing down implementation,
experts say the rate of spending should increase in 2005. Overall spending
on homeland security technology is expected to grow slowly for the next
two years, but should accelerate by 2007, when regional pilot projects are
implemented nationally.
Working the Plan
Do you remember the hours & effort put into creating (or re-writing) a corporate business plan or start-up funding proposals? The "outline" itself was the size of two large phone books. How many days did you spend creating your latest corporate mission statement?
Now we are asked to "laser" our message. We talk about an elevator
pitch, a15 second summary to spark your listener"s curiosity. Popular
self-help books are targeted to help us articulate our personal mission.
We also spend significant resources managing continuity plans.
However you look at it, the most critical aspect of this process is that
you DO look at it. Almost as important is that you WRITE IT DOWN, REVIEW
IT FREQUENTLY and UPDATE IT when the market, technology or customer needs
evolve. The bottom-line is: you need to be able to articulate your value
proposition so others want to know more about you and your solutions. If
you need assistance go to http://www/smallbusinessplanguide.com/information.php
If you need assistance articulating the benefits and value-add of our Forum
products, please contact your local dealer or Forum
Communications.
Suggested Reading:
- How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds or Less, Milo O. Frank
- The Medium is the Message, Marshall McLuhan
- You Are the Message, Roger Ailes & Jon Krausher
Emphasize Cost & Performance Early
One of our universal challenges as salespeople and as customers is weighing the balance between cost and value. We've all known (or been) beginning salespeople who were afraid to ask for the sale or to bring up a dollar figure. We have also seen that the most successful people are NOT afraid to bring up cost and value early in the sales process. When was the last time your pro-active results were more successful than "re-active" response? Do you remember how you felt about each situation? Here are some tools you can use in your conversations:
"How much are you spending now to get those results?"
Know what you can offer that your competition does not and ask if they use
that function.
"Would it make your job easier if you had that function?"
Let your Forum Product Specialist increase your awareness of the type of
customers and prime government agencies who use our systems 24/7 because
of our quality and reliability. Property, lives and business continuity
depend on the Consortium and Confer systems.
Learn to help your decision-makers shift their internal paradigm from "justifying
expenditures" to "improving productivity." Show them the
article above, "Return on Investment," to better understand
what inaction or a delay can cost them.
Share your success stories with your Forum dealer or account manager.
Call our Forum Communications experts to schedule product training
for your sales staff. Let them demonstrate how our teleconference
solutions sell themselves! Call 972-680-0700. If you don't know
who your company is working with, ask Rebeka for assistance!
