"Internet Searching
The Internet has become a panacea for conducting market research. Market research using the Internet is such a broad topic that it is best illustrated with an example. Let's consider FEMA again. In your research you might do the following:
Go to FirstGov, http://www.firstgov.gov, and find the FEMA homepage using the keywords, "Federal Emergency Management Agency." The first listing in the search results is http://www.fema.gov/.
For state and local government, use the search engine at http://www.google.com. For more efficient searching, try Bidengine, http://www.bidengine.com or, again, our CD-Rom of Government Internet Sites, http://www.fedmarket.com/productTour/buyerContacts/cd_urls.php.
At the FEMA site, start your research at the "Doing Business with FEMA" web page. Most of the information here is helpful, especially two sections:
- The "Listing of Active Contracts" section shows what FEMA has bought in the past through large contracts and the end dates for these contracts. The contract listings are not
tied to end-users, but are, nonetheless, excellent starting points for determining if FEMA buys what you sell. (Not all federal sites list active contract data but many state sites
do.)
- The "Doing Business Guide" section lists program offices and what they buy.
Let's assume that you've now identified a program office that buys what you sell. Now is when the market research gets a bit more challenging. You must find who is in each program office and what their responsibilities are. Then you must determine how to get a hold of them. For example, the training program head within a program office would be the
obvious person purchasing training-related products and services. This would probably be the first person you'd call if you worked for a training company.
Each agency's web site will be different in how it presents personnel and organizational information. In the case of FEMA, the web site shows key personnel and their contact information, although you have to go several places to tie it all together. The site contains the names of program managers and staff. Email addresses have a common format, allowing you to formulate a person's email address from their name.
Frequently, you'll have to go beyond the Internet to find relevant end-users. If you can't find end-users at the site, call the agency's public affairs office and/or small business office and ask for staff directories, organization charts, and written information about the agency's programs. Don't be shy! It's all public information, and it's their job to assist you.
If you visit an agency, make a personal call on the public affairs office and the small business office. They may not be much help in finding you specific business opportunities,
but they can be useful in providing you with end-user contact information.
Official buyers also are an excellent source for information on end-users. They know who buys what in their agency and it's their job to assist you in finding the end-users who buy what you sell. Buyer contact information often can be found at an agency's purchasing web site.
Just to sum up how we might be helpful to you in this area, the following Fedmarket.com products are designed to assist you in finding end-users and buyers.
Award Information Published by Agencies
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