It’s simple! SLED is a jargony business acronym that stands for State, Local, and Education. SLED basically covers the sectors of the government that aren’t federal. SLED means everything from police and fire to transportation and from public works to parks and recreation.

As mentioned, the federal government is not covered by the SLED acronym. The military and the alphabet soup of federal agencies (FTC, FDA, FCC, USDA, etc.) are outside the definition of SLED. There are some similarities between selling to SLED and selling to the federal government, but there are enough major differences that each requires a unique approach.

Selling to SLED (again, State, Local, and Education) is our sole focus here at SLED Sales. So let’s get into it!

What is the SLED sales opportunity?

In a word, the SLED sales opportunity for your business is BIG.

The United States is home to over 90,000 different state and local government entities. That includes:

• 50 States, Obviously
• 2,000+ Higher Education Institutions
• 3,000+ Counties, Boroughs, and Parishes
• 12,000+ Public School Systems
• 36,000+ Cities, Towns, and Other Municipalities
• 38,000+ Special Districts

Each of those entities operates independently (or mostly independently) of the others. Each has different rules and regulations, different procurement schedules and timelines, different staff, and different budgets.

Combined, state and local entities employ nearly 20 million people. The 50 states combine to spend $1.92 trillion every year. Another $2.04 trillion is spent by local government entities annually.

So when we say that the SLED sales opportunity is big, we mean it. State and local government entities require a massive and constant stream of goods and services to serve their constituents. And it’s B2G businesses – from office supplies manufacturers to govtech startups – that meet those needs.

Two types of SLED Contracts.

There are two primary ways that B2G businesses engage in government contracting at the state and local level.

State and local government GSAs.

If you have a commoditized product that is purchased regularly (for example, office furniture or IT equipment), you’ll typically sell through a General Services Agreements. GSAs are regularly put out to bid, and interested parties, including the vendor of record, must bid for the contract. To win these contracts you’ll need to submit the lowest responsible bid.

State and local government RFPs.

If you have a non-commoditized product or service, you’ll likely engage in a public purchasing process via ITB, RFP, RFQ, etc. It’s easy to become mired in bureaucracy when engaging in this kind of process. This is where our government sales consultants can really help you.

What is SLED Sales? Here’s a crash course!

Wanna dig deeper into the world of SLED sales? Start with our whitepaper about the mindsets of government buyers. Download it for free!

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That’s partly because SLED customers’ motivations are different than business buyers’. Government workers aren’t chasing innovation or trying to maximize revenue, so they react differently to sales pitches than B2B buyers do.

There’s a common set of SLED customer sales objections that we see with government buyers again and again. These objections might catch you off guard if you’re used to dealing with business or enterprise customers.

Here are the three most common government sales objections that you will encounter as you engage with potential buyers—and how to respond to each one:

SLED Customer Sales Objection #1: Resistance

The most common form of resistance we find with government buyers is an aversion to change.

Resistant buyers want to maintain the status quo and keep things the same. They don’t want to take on new projects. They don’t want to rock the boat.

In business organizations, innovation and change are often prized and sought after. You can make your career by bringing in a new system, process, or technology.

That’s not often the case in government. Government offices are more concerned with stability and consistency than they are with innovation.

(And that’s an especially big challenge when selling govtech solutions and B2G software.)

How do you bust this SLED customer sales objection?

With resistant buyers, ho-hum offers aren’t going to cut it. You have to give them a reason to get excited.

They aren’t going to go for a project that is simply new or different. So focus on benefits and case studies that prove that your offering is something truly advantageous.

SLED Customer Sales Objection #2: Lethargy

Now let’s look at laziness.

No offense intended, but quite frankly, many government buyers are lazy. It’s unfortunate, but it seems to be a fact of life.

Maybe they’re coasting into retirement. Maybe they’re just punching the clock in a low-stress job.

Either way, your project probably looks like more of what they don’t want: work.

How do you bust this SLED customer sales objection?

Show that your offering is turnkey and that they won’t really have to put in extra work to move forward.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take care of everything.”

If you can show how you’ll handle the logistics of implementation and make everything easy you’ll be going a long way to getting past this objection.

SLED Customer Sales Objection #3: Busyness

At the opposite end of the spectrum are the overwhelmed government workers.

You see a lot of overwhelmed buyers in state and local government – especially in high-growth areas. They simply don’t have the infrastructure in place to handle everything on their plate.

These folks clearly aren’t lazy, and there’s a reasonable chance that they’re aren’t resistant either. But even though they may be interested, they simply don’t have the bandwidth to handle yet another project right now.

How do you bust this SLED customer sales objection?

In this case, the solution is to show the buyer that your product will ultimately make their lives easier.

Sell them their time. Lighten their load.

As with the lazy buyer, help them understand that your offering won’t take a lot of extra work right now—but more importantly, it will really save them down the road.

You’re offering relief from the stress they’re currently under. Things are going to run more smoothly once this purchase is made and put to use.

SLED Customer Sales Objections are All About Mindset.

Are there more objections that come up during the government sales process? Of course!

These three are the most common objections we see, but there are plenty of others—from budget constraints and staffing issues to real or imagined regulatory limitations.

Our new whitepaper outlines four ways to shift your mindset to overcome SLED customer sales objections and secure more government contracts. Download it now!

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Although government buyers are bound by rigid procurement policies and procedures, relationship selling has a place in B2G.

Your sales process and approach will be defined by the type of work you are pursuing. For example, novel concepts require a different approach than commoditized products or services. However, relationships play a role in both cases.

SLED Account Development for Novel Concepts

Government buyers rely on rigid public purchasing processes, so you won’t win many state and local contracts with a handshake on the golf course. Instead, you’ll have to develop SLED accounts through a formal process that could take months or years to bear fruit.

But that doesn’t mean that relationship selling isn’t important in government sales.

This is especially true if you have a novel product or service. In order to even begin the SLED procurement process, you’ll have to identify and nurture a champion within the government first. You’re looking for someone who will take an interest in the idea and then help you take it through the process.

Only after you’ve convinced your champion of your concept will you be able to engage in a public purchasing process via ITB, RFP, RFQ, etc.

That relationship with your champion will give you a leg up during the public phase of the purchasing process.

SLED Account Development for Commoditized Products

If you have a commoditized product that is purchased regularly (for example, office furniture or IT equipment), you’ll typically sell through a General Services Agreements (GSA).

GSAs are put out to bid regularly and interested parties, including the vendor of record, must submit a bid. In this case, the biggest factor in the decision will be making sure you can submit a bid that showcases your firm’s competence, experience, and competitive pricing. The contract will often be awarded to the vendor with the lowest responsible bid.

Still, relationship selling helps. Your relationship with the buyer will lend credibility to your claim to be the most responsible choice.

Relationship Selling in SLED Account Development

Over the years, we’ve seen first-hand the impact that strong relationships can have on the development and nurturing SLED accounts.

And really, that’s no surprise. B2G buyers are people and people buy from people they like—even when that buying process requires jumping through a long set of bureaucratic hoops.

Want to dive deeper into the mindset of B2G buyers? Download our whitepaper! 

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Who do government buyers really choose? Usually the vendor with the lowest responsible bid.

In this post we’ll explain why B2G sales don’t always go to the lowest bidder … and how you can use that information to your advantage to land lucrative SLED contracts.

Do we have to offer the lowest bid?

Short answer: No. Your bid needs to be competitive with others, but you do not have to offer the lowest price to win a SLED contract.

Why is that? Aren’t government buyers supposed to stretch their budgets and save tax payer dollars?

There’s some truth to that, but government buyers don’t want to be get stuck with a low-quality vendor just because they’re low-cost.

In fact, protection against lowest price is often baked into state, city, and county RFPs.

That protection is usually in the form of a CYA statement that says, essentially, that the buyer will consider the “lowest responsible price” or “lowest responsible bid”.

What makes a bid responsible?

Most government RFPs outline considerations for ranking respondents. That helps defines what they mean by “responsible”.

Typically those considerations include intangibles like expertise and track record. B2G buyers want to ensure that the vendor is actually capable of performing the service, has adequate experience, is trustworthy, and won’t be terrible to work with.

It’s likely that they also have requirements around employment diversity, information security, accounting practices, insurance, and more.

Interestingly, a price that’s too low can be a disqualifying factor all on its own. If you sell a commodified product or service, your buyer probably has a sense for what it costs to complete that work. If your bid is too low, your buyer may recognize that you won’t actually be able to successfully provide the service.

Keep your price low and competitive.

Now, just because you meet all the intangible considerations doesn’t mean you’re going to win the contract. You price still has to be competitive.

Although there’s money to spend (from $750 billion in California down to under $20 billion in smaller states like Delaware or Wyoming), it’s rationed pretty carefully. If the price for your product or service doesn’t fit the SLED entity’s spending agenda, you won’t win the contract.

So, does your bid have to be lowest? Not at all. Instead, you bid must be competitive AND responsible.

The lowest responsible price is the one that wins.

How to submit the lowest responsible bid.

There’s an art to deciphering government RFPs and crafting a response that includes a bid that’s both low and responsible.

We can help. In as little as two weeks, we can answer your questions about SLED contracting through a SLED Opportunity Profile.

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