Government Services Administration Approval Process

Under this program, federal agencies can acquire virtually any product or service from GSA-approved companies.  GSA Approval is a non-industry specific status for organizations that manufacture and sell products or provide services used by the U.S. Government.

To become eligible to bid on a GSA schedule or contract, organizations must complete several steps to provide the GSA sufficient information to conduct a past performance evaluation. entity in the U.S. Government, representing ~10%, or $500 billion of federal procurement spending.

Benefits of GSA Certification:

• Your company will have access to GSA E-buy, the exclusive bidding area for GSA Schedule Holders
• Your company will be listed in GSA Advantage & E-Library, where many buyers go to seek out contractors
• GSA Certification lets buyers know that your company has been researched & approved as an elite supplier
• Because of the lower work & risk to source to you, your business will be more attractive to federal purchasers
• Pre-negotiated pricing means buyers need not justify the pricing of your solution when placing an order

Becoming a GSA-Approved Vendor:

The process in becoming a GSA certified vendor takes large chunks of time and research to complete. In order to qualify for approval, your company should have existed for a few years with an established track record.

1. First, you’ll want to research the particular government market you’re looking to enter in working with GSA. This typically involves researching forecasts of contracting opportunities, federal procurement data systems, USA spending, and other information resources that might be helpful in learning how GSA might help your business.
2. Next, it is important to understand how the government buys goods and services under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
   1. Multiple Award Schedules (MAS) are a system based on North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes which group similar products and services together. Vendors can match their offerings to appropriate schedules, propose offers, and negotiate the terms and conditions of the sale. Should these terms be deemed acceptable by the GSA, qualified customers can purchase the offering from the vendor under the agreed upon terms.
   2. Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs) are pre-competed, multiple award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contracts in which schedule vendors compete for selection at the start of a GWAC program. These contracts are generally high-value, sometimes up to several billions of dollars.
3. The third step of the approval process requires the completion of the “Pathways to Success” training program, as well as a Readiness Assessment. Pathways to Success is an online webinar on the website for the Vendor Education Center. The course is divided into 5 chapters: MAS program overview, Is MAS a good fit for you?, Alternatives to the MAS, Make a Proposal, and Approval Process. Upon completion of this course, you’ll receive a certificate which you must submit with your schedules offer.
   

   The Readiness Assessment tool is designed to assist offerer in determining whether you are ready to pursue a MAS contract and will help you through the solicitation process. This assessment is mandatory to complete before submitting an offer.

4. Register your business – In order to sell to the federal government, your business must be a “known” legal entity. This has several requirements:
   • Get a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number. This is a unique 9-digit code issued and maintained by Dun & Bradstreet which verifies the existence of a business entity globally
   • Visit the Small Business Administration website and determine the size of your business to verify that your company meets the size requirements to classify as a “small business”. If you qualify, then the certification process will allow you to compete with many contracting opportunities.
   • Get a past performance evaluation from Dun & Bradstreet. This evaluation provides an objective and independent view of supplier past performance, assessing that performance relative to peers in the same industry. For this service, your company must register and provide the names & e-mail addresses of 6-20 of your customers.
     
                        
   
   

Benefits of Purchasing from a GSA-Approved Vendor:

• Realizing cost savings by receiving a negotiated price that was determined fair and reasonable by the GSA
• Save time & money schedule orders average 15 days while open market, orders average 268 days.
• Control the purchase so you receive the product you need.
• Receive Volume Discount Pricing
• Receive FAR Complaint Products

Finding Waveband on GSA eLibrary:

Waveband is now able to provide a wide variety of communications products on GSA to simplify the acquisition process.

1. Find our GSA profile, simply search "Waveband Communications" on the GSA Library Website.
   
   
2. Click on “Waveband Communications”
   
   
   

3. On this page, you will find a wide array of information including Contract #, Contractor, Address, E-mail, Phone #, Web Address, DUNS #, and NAICS #. Furthermore, you’ll be able to view our GSA Advantage catalog which contains over 1,178 of our certified products.

   

To receive discount pricing for bulk orders, e-mail sales@wvbandcoms.com