Selling to SLED

Six basics to follow

By Chauncey Kehoe, Legal Shared Services Manager, immixGroup

Selling to state, local, and education (SLED) agencies is vastly different than selling to the federal market. SLED agencies act as individual entities with their own purchasing requirements and customer service needs.

The differences between SLED and federal sales start with registration requirements for doing business. In Texas, for example, registering with the state doesn’t mean you can sell to each local entity. You may also need to register with the locality’s registrar’s office or their e-procurement platform, as is the case for the city of El Paso.

After local registration, you’ll need to sign up for each bid notification system. Cities, counties, and individual schools may use their own respective notification platforms, so do your homework.

Also, it’s important to know each customer’s and prospect’s fiscal year. Does it begin in July, April, or October? Do they budget annually or biennially? This is important information for discussing and planning projects with your sales targets.

Take these six actions to position yourself for successful selling into the SLED market:

• Secure your certifications. It’s essential to maintain your Secretary of State Tax Certification wherever you plan to do business. Many companies may be more focused on the sales cycle than on administrative compliance.
• Maintain good standing where you’re selling. Some states, like Texas, have a comptroller website where you can monitor your company’s “report card” grade. You should aim for a grade of B or better. A low grade on customer service, for example, might hinder you from securing a future contract.
• Know the procurement process. Does your customer submit procurement requests to a board or through legislation? That answer may depend on the size of the project. It’s up to you to know.
• Have financing options. For larger projects, consider using a financing office that has worked at the state or local level. This will help ensure you have enough funds to fulfill the contract as you plan internal budgets.
• Be accessible. Your SLED customers expect you to have excellent customer service and support, and to be available at a moment’s notice. That’s why many companies place offices in close proximity to their customers.
• Stay current on cybersecurity requirements. Many state, local, and education entities are creating their own certification processes for security requirements. For example, Texas and Arizona have each adopted their own RAMP policies, based largely on FedRAMP and StateRAMP. Requirements vary by state, and even by entity within the same state.

You must understand what each SLED entity requires for RAMP certification. Selling enterprise-level technology may mean checking with state, local and higher education agencies, to ensure your technology complies with specific RAMP programs.

As you can see, selling to the SLED market is not the same as selling to the federal market. SLED often has much more detailed requirements. To succeed and build your pipeline, you have to know the basics. These factors make a good jumping-off point.

Chauncey Kehoe is legal shared services manager for immixGroup, the public sector business of Arrow Electronics. immixGroup delivers mission-driven results through innovative technology solutions for public sector IT.

Visit http://www.immixGroup.com/ for more information.

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