State Government Contracting Guide

State and local governments in the U.S. are incredibly varied and have a wide variety of needs. They rely heavily on private companies to fulfill many of their operational goals, including building mass transit, providing public safety and performing environmental studies. A state and local government contractor will work with one or more state governments to offer their products or services to better serve the citizens of those states.

With over 100,000 unique government entities purchasing goods and services valued at nearly $1.5 trillion annually, the state, local and education (SLED) government market represents nearly 10% of the United States’ GDP. But this market is widely varied and made up of a number of different types of government agencies, including: 

• State Governments: State governments generally have large budgets and often issue high dollar value state contract opportunities that companies who are serious about doing SLED business won’t want to miss out on.
• Municipal Governments: Municipal governments oversee the operation and functions of cities, towns, townships, villages and boroughs.
• Counties: County governments typically serve a larger geographical area than cities and towns, but are generally smaller than states.
• Special Districts: Special districts are limited-purpose local governmental entities that operate independently from city, town or county governments, providing services such as (but not limited to) flood control, healthcare services or parks and recreation.
• Independent School Districts: These are a common type of school district that typically focus on primary and secondary educations and operate independently from any municipality, county or state.
• Public Colleges and Universities: These are focused on providing higher education services and typically receive the majority of their funding through state ownership or public funds.

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The most common type of state and local government contract is an invitation to bid, RFP or RFQ. These are similar but slightly different types of government contract opportunities, which can often be differentiated as follows:

• A request for bid is generally intended to find a vendor for services at the lowest price.
• A request for proposal (RFP) evaluates the merits of competing vendors.
• A request for quotation (RFQ) asks for the cost of meeting a specific need.

Prior to the bid, RFP or RFQ actually being released, contractors can get a sense for where state and local contracts are going to be released by tracking planned future contracts to begin building their pursuit strategy in advance. Having this extra lead time can often make it easier to understand the opportunity in its entirety, put together a project team and decide whether or not to bid on a contract. They can also track expiring fixed-term contracts to understand where they have a good chance of unseating the incumbent supplier.

Search Sample U.S. and Canadian Government Contracts

It is more than likely that government buyers across the U.S. and Canada, including state and local governments, are issuing bid and tender opportunities for the the types of goods or services your company provides. Get an idea of what they are buying by browsing our sample government contracts site.

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State government contract opportunities are part of the broader state, local and education, or ‘SLED’, government contracting market. State government contracts are often large projects that are typically focused on major information technology infrastructure efforts and civil engineering and infrastructure projects like roads, highways, and water. State governments can also be involved in critical efforts such as operating police and fire services, establishing zoning regulations, licensing professions, and arranging elections.

A winning sales strategy for companies pursuing state government contracts is to tailor your approach with an intimate understanding of the buying cycle of the state government agency clients you are going after.

For example, did you know that 46 of 50 (92%) of states end their fiscal year at the end of June? Only four state governments end their fiscal year in months other than June: the State of New York ends its fiscal year in March, the State of Texas ends its fiscal year in August, and the states of Michigan and Alabama both end their fiscal year in September.

Furthermore, the U.S. federal government ends its fiscal year in September. These can be important nuances to know about your government agency customers when designing a winning government contract sales strategy. Knowing when to proactively seek out opportunities that align to your company’s core competencies is also important.

Local and municipal governments in the United States, such as cities, counties, townships, special purpose districts and publicly funded K-12 and higher education institutions, are also part of the broader state and local contracting market, often referred to as the ‘SLED’ market.

These governments are often focused on serving their citizens and operational needs. Examples of local government contracts include the performance of essential administrative functions such as voter registrations, record keeping, law enforcement and administering health and welfare services, or the provision of goods and services necessary to help keep their agency running at full speed.

A winning strategy to get your foot in the door on local contracts can be to develop a relationship with the key decision maker at your target agency well in advance in order to influence the eventual bid, RFP or RFQ opportunity.

Deltek has been providing state and local government contractors with solutions that support their business endeavors for over 30 years. With GovWin IQ, a business development market intelligence solution and Costpoint, an ERP solution for government contractors, Deltek helps businesses find, win and deliver on more U.S. state and local government contracts.

Free Guide: How to Build a Winning Public Sector Sales Pipeline

Regardless of which public sector market you are seeking to do business in, whether it be the U.S. SLED or Federal markets, or the with the government of Canada, finding government contracts is just the start of the government sales process. This guide outlines five best practices to deploy a winning sales strategy.

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