PAPER PENS & MORE’S LICENSEE PROGRAM
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS |
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| What does Paper Pens & More do for my business? |
| We help you sell your products and services to the Federal Government. |
| How does the Federal Government purchasing process work? |
The Federal Government prefers that you have your own GSA Contract as this makes the entire sales process much easier for both you and the government. The process for obtaining a GSA Contract is a complex, often confusing one involving a great deal of paperwork, negotiations, and patience. In addition, you need to be aware that the awarding of a GSA Contract is just the beginning of a very challenging and involved sales process. You should also understand that…
A GSA CONTRACT DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU ANY SALES!
By successfully obtaining a GSA Contract you are now able to directly compete for your share of the enormous Federal Government purchasing pie with other GSA Contract holders ranging from small to medium to big sized companies such as Staples, Office Depot and Corporate Express. That means you will need to successfully market your products and services by contacting authorized government buyers and posting your negotiated price Schedule on various government web sites (often requiring various formatting activities). Most approved orders of $3,000 or less are promptly paid by credit card. Finally, you need to update your products on a regular basis, and maintain GSA compliance regarding any issues that may arise throughout the contract. |
| How does Paper Pens & More help my company in successfully selling our products and services to the Federal Government? |
- We help and assist you in successfully obtaining your own GSA Contract.
- We help and assist you in properly posting your product offerings and price Schedule on various GSA and Dept. of Defense ordering web sites.
- We help and assist you in marketing your company and its products to over 25,000 authorized Federal Government buyers and decision makers.
- We help and assist you in competing more effectively and efficiently by providing a money-saving wholesale vendor discount-buying network. Back to Top
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| Can I obtain a GSA Contract and sell to the Federal Government without the help of Paper Pens & More? |
Yes, it is certainly possible to go through the entire complex and often confusing process of securing a GSA contract without our assistance. However, preparing a winning GSA proposal is usually an intricate, highly involved task requiring a tremendous investment from your company in terms of time, energy and expense. This often-frustrating and increasingly expensive process can quickly keep you away from the critically important day-to-day responsibilities of managing your business. Yes, a GSA contract can certainly have a very positive impact on the size and scope of your business, but the process for securing that easily overwhelms even experienced entrepreneurs, resulting in an unintended negative impact on the existing business.
Simply getting a GSA Contract is only part of the equation with the most difficult challenges still ahead. If you are fortunate enough to properly complete all required paperwork by yourself and successfully negotiate mutually acceptable pricing, you still face a difficult and complex process of properly promoting your company and its products to authorized purchasing agents of the government. As part of this process, you must correctly convert all the require data to various government specks in order to upload to several important government web sites. Depending on your technical skill level, getting all of this done properly could easily take several months, or perhaps even years, costing tens of thousands of dollars, and that still doesn’t even guarantee you’ll actually receive any orders from the government! In fact, well over 25% of all present GSA Contract holders report they have had no success in securing any sales from the world’s largest customer.
Without the proven systems, invaluable insights and decades of successful experience in doing ongoing business with the Federal Government that Paper Pens & More brings to the table, you are truly facing a enormous and frequently quite expensive undertaking into highly unfamiliar waters all alone without a knowledge guide who can help you survive the journey and find the path to your true potential for success. Back to Top |
| Why then do I need the services of Paper Pens & More? |
| With so much paperwork complexity and terminology associated with preparing a successful GSA proposal, many companies never even finish the process despite already spending so much money and effort on what is clearly understood as a fundamentally essential tool for long-term business survival. However, with the help of Papers Pens & More you are no longer alone, unfamiliar with many challenges ahead and with no one to turn to for help and guidance. We work closely with each of our Licensees to develop a proposal that meets the specific needs of that individual business. In addition to developing, reviewing, submitting, and monitoring the progress of your GSA proposal, we can also help you respond to any issues that may arise in order to help ensure the timely award of your GSA schedule proposal. In the final analysis, we are confident that once you learn all the facts regarding our proven system you too will agree Paper Pens & More is unquestionably a great business expansion tool for achieving your business goals, dreams and full potential. Back to Top |
| What are the required qualifications for obtaining a GSA Contract? |
| To be considered for a GSA schedule, your company will be evaluated against a range of criteria having to do with the Federal Government's need for the firm's products or services, financial stability, responsiveness and past performance with other clients, ethics and responsibility, as well as your firm's willingness to make the Government its most favored customer. There are scores of different Schedules, and some may have slightly different criteria, but we strongly recommend you carefully consider the following questions before applying for a Schedule: 1.Have you already sold a minimum of $25,000 of your product or service in the commercial marketplace during the last 2 years? 2.Would you be willing to make the Federal Government your Most Favored Customer (provide your best discounts)? 3.Does your firm have at least six customer references? 4.Can you document past sales practices through product or labor rate sheets, proposals, internal pricing policies or similar documentation? 5.Is the firm financially able to support task orders should the Federal Government approve your Schedule proposal? 6.For resellers, can you obtain a letter from manufacturers authorizing you to sell their products? Is management committed to marketing to the Federal Government? 7.Has your firm or its principals been disbarred from doing business with the Federal Government or, within the last three years, had a criminal or civil judgment against it with regard to Federal, state, or local government contracting? If you answered, “YES,” to all but the last question, then your firm can likely be awarded a schedule, and Paper Pens & More stands ready to help make that dream of doing business with the best customer in the world come true with your own fully approved GSA Contract and Schedule. Back to Top |
| What type of background do Paper Pens & More Licensees need? |
| First, and most importantly, you must meet the above qualifications. While each specific applicant is considered for acceptance as a Paper Pens & More Licensee on an individual basis, there are some basic common traits and experiences that we prefer. For example, you must be experienced either in the office products and supplies business, shipping & handling, IT supplies, and/or jan-san supplies. We also prefer individuals with business or management experience, but we are willing to train Licensees with special attention to any area where they may not have sufficient long-term experience and need a bit more information in order to more effectively and efficiently expand their business by taking advantage of the many helpful products, services and expert consulting now offered by Paper Pens & More. |
| Does Paper Pens & More continue to help my business once a GSA Contract is awarded? |
| A big YES! The successful awarding of a GSA Schedule is just the beginning of a mutually rewarding, highly advantageous business partnership. Once your GSA Contract is awarded, we continue to provide invaluable assistance in increasing the reach of your marketing, reducing your costs of goods, and quickly resolving any compliance issues so that your dealings with the government are efficient, effective and profitable. We have developed strategic alliances creating deep volume discounts with vendors for office products, toner, IT supplies, shipping & packaging & services. You profit on the difference between what you pay the vendors less operating costs and what you invoice the customer. You will also profit from back end rebate and advertising programs from selected vendors. Back to Top |
| Are Licensees limited to only doing business in a small assigned territory? |
| As an independent, sales and business management-driven Licensee, you are likely to be focused on the regional geographical area already surrounding your existing business. However, this does not mean you will be limited to doing business ONLY in a relatively small pre-determined territory, as there are no territorial restrictions placed by Paper Pens & More on our Licensees. That means you can do business anywhere in the country, and with our email marketing program we can help you quickly expand your marketing nationwide to tens of thousands of qualified targeted GSA buyers throughout the entire country. Back to Top |
| What kind of training does Paper Pens & More provide? |
| We provide all Licensees with an exclusive GSA training program that has been carefully designed to educate, inform and empower you to take full advantage of this exceptional opportunity to expand your business. We provide comprehensive training in: selling and servicing the customer, effective sales management, product & industry knowledge, motivation and how to manage your time, and customers, as well as powerful tips and insights into systematically growing your business and achieving your long-term goals. Back to Top |
| Is the huge Federal Government market really open to small business? |
| YES! The Small Business Administration (SBA) strongly supports the participation of minority, veteran, woman and disabled-owned small business concerns in the GSA Schedules Program. While fulfilling GSA requirements for small business purchases, SBA policy allows agencies to include in their procurement base and goals the dollar value of orders expected to be placed against GSA Schedule contracts. Actual orders placed against Schedule contracts may be reported as accomplishments and credited toward ordering activities' small business goals. Simply put, by obtaining a GSA Contract with the help of Paper Pens & More you will be able to offer discounts, automation, consolidation, customer service and solutions that can routinely compete with the larger dealers.. Back to Top |
| When is the Federal Government available to conduct business? |
| For the most part, GSA business hours are typically Monday thru Friday - 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM. They are usually unavailable during major federal holidays and weekends. Back to Top |
| What is my next step in learning more about becoming a Licensee? |
| If your business is qualified and you are truly serious about increasing the size and scope of your existing business, while at the same time reducing your costs of goods, we invite you to learn more about becoming a Paper Pens & More Licensee. Please fill out and submit the brief CONTACT US form for more detailed information, answers to any remaining questions, and for prompt consideration as a fully approved Licensee. Back to Top |
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