SLED Government Contracting

In the government contracting marketplace, governments in the United States fall into one of two categories - federal or SLED (state, local and education). This guide will explain what SLED government is, the details of SLED government contracts and how they differ from federal contracts and advice for businesses interested in doing business with state, local or education governments.

In This Article:

• What is SLED Government?
• What is a SLED (State, Local and Education) Contract?
• Understanding The SLED Government Market
• How to Sell to SLED Governments

SLED, or state, local and education, is a term used to apply to the U.S. government market outside of federal governments. The state, local and education portion of the government market represents nearly 10% of the United States’ GDP.

Free Guide: SLED Government Contracting 101

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Spread out amongst cities, counties, state agencies, school districts and a variety of other special government entities, the market for SLED government contracts can be a valuable revenue stream for government contractors who take the time to understand it. But there are some important differences between state, local and education contracts that vendors should understand.

Unlike the federal market, SLED contracts are released on different buying cycles - with a less standardized procurement process - so it's worth taking the time to understand each segment of the market.

State Government Contracts

State government contracts come from one of the state governments in the US. Opportunities originating from state governments can focus on operating police and fire services, establishing zoning regulations, licensing professions and arranging elections, but opportunities in many other industries are frequently available from state governments.

Local Government Contracts

The term "local government" within SLED can include municipal governments like cities, towns, townships, villages and boroughs, as well as counties and special districts (such as those providing fire protection or utilities services). Local government contracts are often smaller-scale and more specific than those coming from state governments.

Education Government Contracts

Both independent school districts and public colleges and universities are government agencies that offer education government contracts. Education agencies seek contracts that cover a unique set of needs including, but not limited to, infrastructure and technology goods and services.

Types of Government Contracts

This helpful research explains the distinct challenges and opportunities of each government contract type.

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Before pursuing a SLED government contract, businesses need to develop a strong understanding of the market. Here are three steps to understanding SLED governments and how businesses can partner with them.

1) Approach the SLED Market Strategically

Unlike federal contracts, the broad universe of SLED government contracting represents many different levels of government (states, cities, counties, education agencies and special districts) representing approximately 30,000 unique government buying agencies. Even in this complex market, the development of a strong SLED strategy is possible.

SLED agencies spend more than a trillion dollars every year, so devoting time and energy to building a SLED market business plan – and investing in the tools and resources you need to make this possible – is well worth the effort.

2) Know Your Target Government Agency’s Buying Cycle

Unlike the federal government, SLED agencies set their own fiscal year schedules and their spending patterns often align with their state’s fiscal year start and end dates. It’s important to understand your target agencies’ fiscal year and spending patterns to pinpoint the best time of year to go after their business.

Additionally, while SLED government agencies are reliable clients, it can occasionally take time to receive payment from them after the work is completed — sometimes up to 30 to 45 days after completion. Make sure you figure this longer payment cycle into your budget planning.

SLED Fiscal Year-End Strategies

This helpful research provides pro tips on how to optimize your business development approach and increase your state, local and education (SLED) government contract win rates.

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3) Understand Your Value Proposition

What does your company do? More importantly, how can you help solve an agency’s problems? Prospective contractors need to be able to articulate how they are the best fit to partner with a SLED government.

It’s also helpful to explain how your customers benefited from your product or service in the past. When responding to a bid, you should be able to provide relevant examples of past government or private sector customers.

To master the procurement process of going after government contracts and winning more business from SLED government agencies, it's important to identify the right opportunities and build a sustainable sales pipeline.

How to Prepare to Sell to SLED Agencies and Find the Right Contract Opportunities

The first and best step every business should take is to determine which levels of government they want to sell to and which territories best suit their business. Then, they should find and track those agencies online.

Next, businesses should register to do business with those agencies by registering the business on their procurement portal. It’s important to note that the registration and bidding process may differ from agency to agency. Because of this, we advise businesses to be focused on which agencies to sell their offerings.

Using tools like GovWin IQ to identify those best-fit agencies and opportunities for their business to focus on will help companies maximize win rates and their effective use of limited resources.

Related Articles:

• How to Find Government Contracts
• Leverage Best-Fit Searches for Your Go-To-Market Planning

How to Win State and Local Government Contracts and Build a Sales Pipeline

With this understanding of how to find state and local agencies that best align to a business’s product or service, companies can be ready to start selling to SLED governments and winning valuable SLED contract opportunities.

There are several key steps that a business should take to prepare to effectively sell to the state, local and education market:

1. Target and research the agencies by studying past procurement habits, identifying upcoming contract renewals, and zeroing in on future spending by looking at budgets and planning documents.
2. Organize and fill sales pipeline with near-term opportunities and long-term opportunities to effectively balance the short- and long-term business outlook.
3. Collect important agency contact information, such as job functions, email addresses, and phone numbers, and make sure the sales representatives know who to reach out to at which agency.
4. Get to know the agency’s goals, recent projects and whether it prefers to work with local vendors. The better an organization understands how an agency operates, the better it can position itself to meet its needs.
5. Determine if the target agency has opportunities available for teaming, or if any opportunities fall under any set-aside categories that they fall under.
6. Start connecting with decision makers before a bid or RFP is released. This will facilitate collaboration and improve the chance of winning the work.

Grow Your SLED Public Sector Sales

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Smart businesses know that they can’t just register to sell to a government agency and begin to win state and local government contracts immediately. They prepare in advance by targeting specific agencies (such as specific states they wish to sell into), building key relationships and setting up a strategic plan to grow their business.

Companies that are ready to get started to scale and operationalize their business development approach in order to find and win SLED government contracts can start a trial of GovWin IQ today.

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