Well, it’s certainly a hot topic with some, err, interesting posts going up right now. One of my favorites is this Mark Drapeau “goverati” post, which encapsulates the phenomena of the social media public sector swooning that’s going on currently.
It seems like a little context is needed right about now, so I asked my old buddy Jimmy Baker, an expert on the topic of sales and marketing technology products and services to government, to do an interview. Jimmy recently published a book “How to Win Business From the Government (Jimmy shares the same publisher as me).”
Before we get into the interview, some background information on why everyone is so interested in the government marketplace — beyond the Obama factor. The US Federal Government is one of the largest purchasers of information technology in the world. In 2009, the Federal Government is budgeted to spend over $70B in the purchase of information technology goods and services. If you are interested in this market, I highly suggest Jimmy’s book as it will literally teach you a step by step approach to researching the government, figuring out where the funding for IT deals exist, and creating an unforgettable presentation about your offering to the federal buyer.
BB: We are really in a time of change right now. How has the business of government changed in the last eight years as we end era of W and the Obama Administration begins?
JB: Whether you love George Bush or hate him, he did a really great job of making IT spending and programs very transparent to the citizen. As the Clinton-Gore administration was ended, we saw big government contracting shops closing down and the government was moving towards a more efficient way to buy goods and services through GWACs.
When Bush took over he created something called the Quick Silver Initiatives which was changing and improving the way government did business. We began to see agency’s have their programs monitored at www.expectmore.gov Business cases (300s) were publically posted on an agency’s web site. The budget was getting tracked using good accounting practices through LOBs (lines of business). For anyone selling and marketing to government- this is huge (I go into far more detail in the book on this information).
As we embrace our new President, I think the Obama-Biden administration has a really good platform to build from. Like many of us in the business, I am studying the new economic stimulus package and trying to help my clients be “shovel ready”.
BB: What do you think of the Government 2.0 Expert that has arisen?
JB: This is a hard question to answer. We still have not really seen what 2.0 will do in government like it has in the commercial marketplace. Over the last few years, we have seen the rise of many government blogs to help better inform the citizen about the government.
Our new president has his own blog at www.whitehouse.gov Just a few days ago I joined GovLoop which is like Face Book for government people. Because of the nature of government, I think many agencies will need to be careful about how much their employees speak to the public. I am sometimes surprised at how many people I find from government on Face Book and My Space and how they represent themselves to the public.
The other area that is exciting right now is the ease of use of video. Many agencies are using You Tube to reach out to their citizens. We have a very progressive CIO here in Cali where I live (Teri Takai) that uses You Tube all the time in a very wise and tactful manner to communicate her opinion. Instead of waiting for the news groups to show her information, she goes right to the masses.
This past August I was down in San Diego and had a chance to speak with Dan Green of the Navy. Dan said that many agencies are using the concept of social networks in a secure (government only access) way to collaborate on different programs and challenges.
To get back to your question, we are in the infancy of social media / web 2.0 and the impact of government. As we see the merger of video, social groups, and instant contact to people on whatever device they have, I think government will adapt with more citizen centric applications. There is a company called iQuestions that I think has a really good handle on where the Internet and social networks are going. The format of their site www.iquestions.com I think is the wave of the future for government and social media.
BB: How can social media types who are unfamiliar with how government works come up to speed quickly?
JB: Although the way we market is changing, there are some underline “Old School” principles to remember for anyone tech company that wants to get in the social media game. Always know who and where your target market is and what you should be telling them. What we now have to be aware of in 2009 is that our target market is very, very diverse and segmented.
You may need to promote a campaign several different ways to get the results you want using social media / web 2.0. Many of the retiring baby boomers are used to going to a web site and downloading a white paper. People who are in our age group (30 – 45) are used to adapting to whatever the new technology is and how it works. People in their teens and twenties will communicate and access information differently than ever before.
When my clients starting coming to me about how to use some of the social sites, I read two books that really helped me understand how social media work. I recommend reading Now is Gone and Wikinomics. In my book I take several pages to discuss marketing and branding in the new social media market place.
BB: Give me a little history about you and how you got started with your career in selling to government?
JB: After I graduated the University of Maryland with a BA in Speech Communication, I got a job with the Gazette Newspapers. I was responsible for selling ads to churches. What is funny about this is during the early 90’s there was a famous TV evangelist named Jim Bakker who was having some trouble in his personal life, business, and ministry.
So imagine trying to sell churches ads with the same name of the publically known-very problemed pastor. I used to get so many “Tammy Faye” jokes it wasn’t funny. Anyway, I was able to take lemons and make lemonade. A good friend of the family was looking for some sales people for his technology company. He said if you can sell church ads with the name “Jim Baker” then you should have no problem selling computers to the feds. As Paul Harvey says “and that’s the rest of the story.”
BB: Why did you write this book?
JB: I simply wanted to help small businesses. I was giving one of my talks around the beltway and someone from the Executive Office of the President said you really need to take what you are doing and put it into a book because so many businesses really lack the research and sales skills to penetrate the government market. Shortly after this, I put in for a copy right and began putting the book together.
BB: How is this different from other government books on the market?
JB: This book is meaty, tactical, and based on real experiences from selling and marketing to government. To my knowledge, there is not another book like this on the market. There are a few books that talk about government marketing at a very high level. There are also some books on proposal writing.
I think Jim Flyzik, President, The Flyzik Group, former Government CIO and CIO Magazine Hall of Fame Inductee said it best, “Jimmy’s book is the first time I’ve encountered so much useful information put together in one place. He obviously “gets it” when talking about the importance of knowing the uniqueness of the government customer and all the necessary nuances of developing business in this sector. The book is not only a great learning experience but also a useful reference manual for business developers and sales representatives. A good investment for companies looking to gain competitive edge.”
I encourage your readers to go to www.governmentbusinessbook.biz and read some of the reviews of the book.
BB: What can the reader expect to walk a way with after buying your book?
JB: Literally, this book is a step by step guide how to create a sales pipeline, find money, and present to the government end user. The goal of this book is to teach four things to help your business change how it goes after business in the federal information technology market:
1. Critical Research Tactics to better understand your Federal Customer
2. Building a qualified sales pipeline and executing a call plan
3. Learning how to articulate your value proposition so the government wants to buy your services
4. Marketing and branding your company- Most campaigns are designed to fail because they leave out one very critical component in their marketing and sales approach to the government.
Contact Jimmy Baker here. Order his new book How to Win Business from Government today!
Geoff,
Thank you for the interview with Jimmy Baker. His book is a must-read for those who want to do biz or communicate with government!
I have worked alongside Jimmy on many campaigns for IT clients for whom public sector market penetration was a focus. Jim is the most knowledgeable, likable, and market savvy professional I have ever known; and I continue to rely on his insight (and friendship) in my current work. Trust me…he can help!