Government contracts serve as a foundation supporting growth and success for an expanding number of small to medium sized businesses, minority business enterprises (MBEs) and women-owned businesses. However, responding to a request for proposal (RFP), winning government contracts for bid, and managing these types of contracts can feel incredibly overwhelming.
VARs working on government contracts need to keep track of complex policies related to individual contract specifications and timelines, ensure security is managed to meet requirements of the agencies they are dealing with, and keep their data and reporting accurate and consistent. All while maintaining efficiency to maximize ROI and meet contract standards across the board.
Having a business management platform that can handle customized terms and conditions while maintaining accuracy and consistency across all forms and contract types is essential for any VAR, but especially for those that qualify as small businesses, MBEs and women-owned businesses.
Efficiently Meet Government Bidding Requirements With a Single-Entry Platform
The Federal Government awarded a record-breaking $145.7 billion in contracts to small businesses in 2020, an 8 percent increase over 2019. But even with these increased opportunities, the competition is fierce.
Just one small error—like an out of place comma—can lead to a rejection of your bid. That’s why it’s vital to make sure that your bidding process is efficient and accurate with templated and automated form-filling that minimizes potential for human errors.
Fortunately, VARCommerce’s quoting tool streamlines the work by allowing you to copy data from one form to another. The single-entry platform means you never have to worry about losing months or even year’s worth of effort over a simple typo.
Using Contract Compliant Software
The power of using a comprehensive single-entry platform doesn’t end when the bid is won. After a VAR meets the requirements for bidding on government contracts and the contract work begins, government marketplace compliance becomes the next focus. An eCommerce storefront may be one of the most important parts of the services a VAR provides.
VARs need a business management tool set that allows multiple agencies and facilities to order what they need within the terms and conditions of their contract. Customized store fronts make it possible for VARs to offer unique pricing on approved products. Invoicing, procurement, inventory control, and fulfillment management can be separated based on government contract terms and conditions seamlessly.
Single-entry platforms provide the peace of mind of knowing that checking once for accuracy is enough. Enter your data into one location, and it will be copied into all applicable fields at all stages of the contract, from quoting through invoicing and reporting.
Having all of these functions available in one platform allows VARs to stay on track, avoid costly mistakes, and keep all their contracts in order as efficiently as possible.
Streamline Compliance Reporting
The amount of reporting and paperwork that comes with a government contract can sometimes be just as cumbersome as managing the provision of services and products. When working on multiple government contracts with dozens of different facilities and agencies, VARs end up completing a dizzying number of individual forms. Doing it manually is a mind-numbing prospect, and may lead to human error.
Having the right business management software means you never have to worry about a compliance audit as a result of a simple reporting mistake, because having single-entry capabilities will save the headache of entering all the information into each individual form manually.
Manage Customized Contracts with Ease of Mind
Most VARs work with multiple government contracts at the federal, state and local levels, and no two contracts are the same. Most come with different schedules, reporting requirements, IT hardware and software specifications, and security standards.
It helps to have a single platform that supports the whole spectrum of available government contracts for bid, including:
- CEC-NG
- CIO-CS
- FAA SAVES
- GSA
- SEWP
- USGS CHS
- And more
Having specified user permissions helps government VARs manage all of their contracts in one place, allowing them to control who has access to what, and ensuring their secure data never falls into the wrong hands.
Additionally, with government contract policies constantly changing around technology, it’s important to look ahead and ensure that your business is future-proofed by anticipating important shifts. eCommerce storefronts are currently mandatory for some government contracts, and will only become more prevalent in the future.
Make sure you don’t get shut out of the next round of government contracts because your technology isn’t up to speed.
Stress Less, Win More, and Manage for Success, With a Platform Built Specifically for You
Even though federal, state and local governments are putting an emphasis on awarding their contracts to small to medium sized businesses, MBEs and women-owned businesses, these still make up a small percentage of government contracts awarded each year.
VARs need to optimize their time and effort to work smarter, not harder, in order to keep pace and compete in this landscape. At VARCommerce, we get it. We understand the cumbersome processes you have to go through, and we are here to make your lives easier. Don’t let worrying about data entry errors, security and permissions issues, or falling behind in technology requirements stress you out over winning the next bid.
Discover a platform to streamline your processes, eliminate human error, and truly remove the headaches of your business.