Many websites and vendors seek ways to build their bottom line and one of the best ways to do this is to establish vendor relations with government agencies in need of products that relate to your storefront.  There are a variety of approach methods that you can use to begin the process of establishing a vendor relation with a specific government agency and while each country may have different regulations and procedures for contracts, the overall process is rather similar in functionality.  Below is an outline of that process so that you can begin to expand your customer base and profit margins through larger, more reliable government institutions.

Register With Necessary Agencies

Depending on the country and the situation, you will probably need to apply for permission to “lobby” government agencies for contracts through whatever clearinghouse is the status quo.  This obviously means having all of your tax and company information sorted, in order and filed appropriately; “companies” that are operating on-line exclusively and have not established themselves as official entities recognised by the government will not be able to work with the government.  For companies seeking to do business with the United States Government, for example, you can find ample information on this process by navigating to the Contracting Opportunities section at www.sba.gov.

Determine Your Niche

You cannot expect to be able to focus on multiple sectors of government work simultaneously and end with a good result.  While government contracting work can be lucrative, it is also time-consuming, so it is vital to focus on one or two niche markets within government contracting in order to be able to provide optimal service to the institution.  Governmental agencies are quick to cycle through contractors that do not provide a prompt, reliable service and if you are too focused on multiple agencies, you will end up dropping the ball and losing valuable work.  By providing a particular product or service to one or two government agencies, you minimise this risk and increase your chances of having positive vendor feedback.

Expand Your Relationship to the Web

While some vendor relationships are not able to officially “announce” their partnership due to the sensitive nature of the partnership, many government agencies will list on their websites a list of contractors through which they obtain products and services.  Government sites have great page ranks on all major search engines, so any links to you from these sites will dramatically increase your exposure.  Pingler has a great tool known as the .gov Backlink Checker, which will tell you which government sites are currently linking to your company’s (and your competitors) website.

Expand Relationships Up and Down the Chain

When you are dealing with a government contractor, it is important to be able to provide not only the services and products they request, but also the services and products that may be a precursor or descendant of it.  In the event a government agency has issue with one of its other contractors and you have connections that allow you to offer similar products and services, you can jump in and boost your bottom line even more.