Keys to Government Revenue Streams

Can you imagine how often Government officials are harassed by eager salespeople hawking their wares in the hope of drinking from that Holy Grail of cups and winning a lucrative Government contract, grant or tender? 

Can you imagine how much time Government Decision Makers spend listening to self-absorbed sales ‘professionals’ spruiking all the amazing benefits of their product or service, and how Government just must purchase 10,000 units.

Can you imagine how much time and money businesses have spent trying to secure Government revenue streams, only to fail, wondering helplessly why Government refused to engage?

Setting up for failure

I’ve worked with many businesses struggling to partner with Government and their war stories are all pretty similar, differing only on the Departments being targeted and the product or service they’re pitching with such gusto.  Like a kid with a bag of mixed lollies, they try everything imaginable to win government business: Emails; cold calls; buying dodgy and out-of-date Government lead lists; LinkedIn scraping; meetings, meetings, and more meetings.

More often than not, these businesses soon give up on their dream of winning a profitable piece of government business.  They stumble away, shoulders slumped, bruised, bloodied, disillusioned, and angry that Government just refused to purchase from them.

They fail to realise they’ve completely ignored two critical factors which are essential for a successful strategy to uncovering Government opportunities.

The 3% Rule

The first absolute which small and medium-sized businesses fail to understand, is the 3% Rule.  In fact, this rule also applies when SMEs try to supply Big Business – and there’s no bigger business than Government.  Put simply, the 3% Rule is this: Government only have a need for what you’re selling, 3% of the time.  Take a minute to think about this. 

So, every day we have literally thousands of salespeople around Australia eagerly shouting their pitch to any Government official they can find, when there’s a huge 97% chance that Government has no need, no problem, and no issue exists that their product or service can solve.  And they wonder why they fail? They wonder why Government doors remain shut?  They wonder why their shotgun strategy completely misses their Government targets? 

They’re playing aggressively in that 97% dead zone.  They’re forcefully pitching to DMs who don’t need them - yet.  They’re bothering and irritating these Government DMs who are tired of being sold to by self-centred salespeople employing dubious sales tactics to try and secure a sale, any sale!

Trying to sell to Government when they’re not in the 3% zone?  Good luck.  I can almost guarantee it’ll end in tears.

It’s all about you, right?  Wrong

The second absolute usually missed by SMEs lies in their actual pitch.  When in front of DMs, they inevitably gravitate towards talking about all the features and benefits of what they’re trying to sell.  Our product is the fastest on the market!  Our products save hours of lost productivity!  Our product is the biggest and the best!

What they don’t understand is while all those pretty bells and whistles are interesting to Government, how will they actually solve a Government problem?  How will it help Government?  How will it make it easier for Government to meet its goals and objectives?

Too many businesses fail to translate how and what problems they can solve for Government, if only given an opportunity.  It’s all about them.  Instead, make the pitch about Government and you’ll see far more DMs engage with you, and so long as they’re in the 3% zone, you’ll have a much greater chance of success.

Plan for success

Australian SMEs wanting to open Government revenue streams need to rethink their strategy.  They need a plan which positions them to be trusted and ready for when Government (and Big Business!) DMs hit the 3% zone.  They need to realise that selling in the 97% region will only lead to misery and failure.

A Government Engagement Plan is one of the most valuable tools for an SME to possess: They set the business up to successfully engage with Government and win recurring public sector business; they ensure the business is front-of-mind when the DM hits the 3% zone; they help SMEs compete against Big Business for Government contracts.

To find out how a Government Engagement Plan can provide your business with a real path to Government revenue, call us or email at: info@govready.com.au