Going Private
Tap into a multibillion-dollar market with private-sector contracting.
Selling to a corporation can be either as simple as impressing the
CEO's executive assistant with your professionalism, or as
difficult as persuading a procurement official you should be put on
his or her in-house vendor list.
If you can get a foot in the door, becoming a supplier to
corporations could give you a chance to grab a slice of a
multibillion-dollar market. But, unlike selling to the government,
there's not really a set procurement process to follow when
approaching big businesses.
Take Cellular One, for example. The corporation spends more than
$50 million annually on everything from pens to cellular network
equipment. But it doesn't retain a bid list-Cellular One
requests information from the companies it wants to work
with.
That doesn't mean you should sit back and wait for private
corporations to come to you. It rarely happens, says Tom Nesby of
Nesby Associates Inc., a Renton, Washington, firm that helps
consumer-driven corporations increase sales within diverse
communities.
"The initial bid marketing strategy is to approach
organizations and ask to be put on the their bidders lists,"
says Nesby. "Large corporations have a minority or
small-business coordinator or manager who works with women,
minority or small-business suppliers," explains Nesby. Smaller
firms-with sales of $50 million to $100 million-may only have one
individual handling procurement, and that person is your initial
contact point.
A time-consuming-yet more effective-way is the alliance marketing
strategy, where you build relationships with potential customers by
joining organizations they belong to, volunteering to be presenters
at seminars they attend, or being featured in the trade journals
they read.
Still, there's a critical change to consider in the
private-sector purchasing landscape. "The national strategy
[among the largest corporations] is to reduce their vendor bases,
and that puts lots of pressure on small businesses," explains
Nesby.
Carefully target your potential customers. Don't expect to get
your first contract for at least two years; when you finally get
it, provide a valuable solution. Then you'll be in the loop of
the lucrative private-sector procurement market.
The following companies offer subcontracting opportunities for
entrepreneurial businesses to provide products or services. The
companies we surveyed happen to be some of the biggest names on the
market, so subcontracting to one or more of these firms could
significantly boost your business.
Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 
|
What makes a good client gift?
What guidelines do you follow when buying gifts for your clients? Have you ever received an unusual or inappropriate gift?
|