A challenge to most small businesses is overcoming the hurdle of “lack of past performance”. One way firms have done this in the past is by obtaining a GSA Schedule, as the GSA vets the contractor before they are permitted on the schedule. This could be partially responsible for the reason that a small business GSA Schedule Holder make up less than 5% of small businesses, yet on average triples a non-GSA Schedule Holder’s federal sales.

It is my belief that the move from D&B Open Ratings to CPARS will provide a big boost to GSA Schedule Contract Holders.   

Prior System:  Open Ratings
 
For well over a decade, the GSA utilized D&B Open Ratings to determine if a GSA Schedule holder had good performance with their current clients. The process worked by having the GSA Schedule Applicant submit a list of their clients with their email address to D&B. D&B would then send an email with a list of questions to the GSA Applicant’s Reference’s inbox. The reference would fill out the survey, the surveys that are received back by D&B would then be tallied and an Open Ratings Report would be generated. The problems with this system was three-fold: 

1. Response rates were low because many references thought the email was spam;
2. Respondents were not aware of the purpose of the survey unless told by the GSA applicant firm which would generally result in the survey being used as a quality control measure; 
3. Firms could game the system by sending the Open Ratings to their friends prompting them in advance of the importance of the survey.   

As a result, D&B Open Ratings would be looked at on occasion by GSA Schedule users but were seldom relied upon for making purchasing decision. A firm with a GSA Schedule was at an advantage over other small businesses without past performance but still at a disadvantage of other firms.    

New System:  CPARS

CPARS Requirements:

Contracts should meet the following criteria:
1. The company needs three contractor past performance assessment reports in the CPARS system.  
2. Contracts were completed in the past three years.
3. The contracts recorded in CPARS are relevant to the GSA Schedule in which the firm is applying.

CPARS Requirement Alternative:
1. The firm must submit three to five references for work completed in support of the GSA Schedule Offer.
2. The work must have been performed in the past three years.
3. Pertinent information such as contact, description of work, dollar value of the project or product, period of performance must be submitted as part of the GSA offer.

Since the new system will become part of the CPARS System, federal buyers will have greater access to this information and it will be in a format that is more useful for federal buyers wanting to make buying decisions. This system will provide much more weight for small businesses wanting to break into federal contracting as they will now have entries into the CPARS System that will aid them in obtaining their first federal contract.

A GSA Schedule is a great early step when entering the federal marketplace with purpose. I always recommend contacting an industry expert when choosing to explore a GSA Schedule, whether your firm is old or new. Advance GSA has an outstanding reputation and does not charge for an initial consultation. They can be reached at (303)810-4580.