Finding Agencies and End-Users
Finding agencies and end-users that buy what you sell is one of the most difficult aspects of government sales. And yet it is one of the most important since it is the key to focusing your sales efforts. Throughout this primer series you will be advised over and over again to focus your sales efforts. Finding the people who buy your product or service is the critical first step in a focused sales program.
Each government program purchases goods and services to carry out its particular mission. As an example, the federal Department of Defense buys nearly every product ever made and service ever provided. Guns, clothing, vehicles, consumer goods for the post exchange, military base maintenance and operational services, paper clips, computers, and funeral and Chaplin services, just to name a few.
Within the Army, thousands of program managers, program professionals, operating supervisors, engineers, and scientists participate in deciding what to purchase and from whom.
Finding your potential customer is an art, not a science, and how you approach the process depends on the type of products or services you offer.