News
EnGage, LLC Opens Florida Office
Steve Schultz, former congressional staffer for U.S. Senator Connie Mack announces that Kevin Doyle, former state director for U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, will direct the EnGage Florida office.
WASHINGTON, DC. (October 28, 2011) – Steve Schultz, current partner at EnGage, LLC and former professional staff member working for Senator Connie Mack (R-FL) has named Kevin Doyle, former state director for United States Senator Mel Martinez and president of Florida based Wexford Strategies to lead the EnGage practice in Florida.
EnGage specializes in federal advocacy, government affairs consulting, and strategic business development. With the opening of this office, EnGage brings its focus to Florida based companies and organizations that require advocacy assistance in Tallahassee and Washington to maneuvering the maze that is the federal and state government. As Lathrop and Gage’s government affairs consulting affiliate, this expansion marks a milestone for both organizations’ opening of its first Florida office.
“Our team in Washington is excited about this partnership, and eager to strengthen our long term connection with Florida. The intersection of federal and state politics and advocacy continues to be a growth area, and we have the team in place to seize that opportunity.”
“Whether a client needs representation in front of the Congress or the Florida Legislature, looking to rebrand, introduce themselves to the community or advance a cause or issue, our new partnership can help accomplish these goals,” said Doyle.
Schultz’s professional experience spans the U.S. Senate, large and medium sized federal contractors in the IT and Security industries as well as private firms. Doyle’s professional experience includes federal, state, local and international levels of government and politics.
GCA Holds Successful Winter Meeting in Washington, DC
EnGage led the Greeting Card Association in holding an extremely successful meeting in Washington for their membership. We secured the presence and interaction with a number of key decision makers in the postal arena to speak to the group including Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Tom Carper (D-DE) as well as Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe and Postal Regulatory Commission member Nanci Langley. The fate of the Postal Service remains a top concern and the GCA attendees were fortunate to hear directly from those who will be charting the course for the USPS at the legislative and regulatory levels in the coming months.
Engaging Thoughts
Engage Your Members of Congress: ‘The Biggest Little Thing’ a Business Leader Can Do
By Rafe Morrissey
I’ve represented Hallmark Cards for a long time and one of my favorite advertising campaigns they conducted was to refer to sending a card as “the biggest little thing” a person can do to let someone know they care. So with apologies for borrowing the phrase, I’d like to suggest that “the biggest little thing” a business leader can do is to develop a relationship with their representatives in Congress. Too often, companies come to Washington to seek assistance with a problem having laid no groundwork with their Congressional delegation. Unfortunately, there is an entire industry in Washington that has been built around charging astronomical fees to deal with problems at the last minute, mostly with little success.
A sound plan for fostering a good relationship with Members of Congress need not be excessively expensive nor require huge investments of time to produce worthwhile results. To be sure, it is always helpful to have a trusted representative in Washington to reinforce your message and to help develop strategy, but there is a lot that can be done that requires no more than a willingness to invest some time.
We often forget that our Members of Congress are there to help with problems. They can’t do so, however, if they don’t know about the problem or the constituent. They are even more willing to help when a relationship has already been established. Familiarity fosters cooperation. Here are a few things any business leader can do to get on the radar screen with their delegation:
Taking the time to make these connections at least once a year can pay big dividends when a real problem does occur. Very likely, such a meeting may generate a contact from the Member’s fundraiser, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. If you feel the Member has been responsive and supports policies favorable to your business, you may want to consider making a donation to his or her campaign. Contributions do not make good policy but good politicians may deserve your support.
Finally, you should view an effective legislative engagement campaign as a marathon rather than a sprint. Most businesses fail to develop these relationships and then have no opportunity to respond to unfavorable policy decisions when they inevitably occur. A small investment of your time now can pay big dividends when an emergency does happen and could just be the biggest little thing you could do to protect your business in Washington.
Rafe Morrissey serves as Postal Affairs Manager for the Greeting Card Association and represents Hallmark Cards, Inc. Please e-mail him at rmorrissey@engage-dc.com if you have any questions about these issues.
What is the nature of the Federal Market?
By Steve Schultz
From my time at a federal procurement focused lobbying firm, in-house with both a small to medium sized security equipment manufacturer and a large telecom, there have often been disconnects between corporate leadership and those responsible for winning business in the federal market. Frankly, success in this market is comprised of a lot more than just sales and fulfillment. There are budget, timing, personality, agency and national politics that impact federal sales. Failure to address these and other factors can make start-up companies new to the market as well as seasoned companies looking to expand their product offerings spin their wheels searching for federal success. The common perception is that the federal market is vast; however, this market represents an opportunity only for those companies willing to strategically invest, patiently identify the right targets and address the additional fields of play presented by agency and Congressional politics.
In the following series of entries, we will examine a few differing factors that impact how companies do business with the federal government as well as key questions team leadership should ask itself as it approaches this market.
Timelines and Budget
While the private sector has its own cadence for sales, project development and renewals, the federal government has a different identity for building business. At times, corporate sales staff balk at an 18th month window for the federal sales cycle. Depending on when an opportunity is identified, you may be out of sync, or at times, out of luck with federal budget process.
Fiscal Years for the federal agencies begin and end in the fall, running from October through September. The budgeting process has three parts that can be examined in different fiscal years. Congress, the President and the Agencies all have a different role to play. All of these activities are ongoing every fiscal year, but are aimed at spending in the current fiscal year, the next fiscal year or two fiscal years out.
Year One: Agencies are following their budgeting plans and the legislative guidance provided by Congress to spend their current fiscal year funding from dollars appropriated last year.
Year Two: In February, the President offers his budget request to Congress, usually coinciding with the State of the Union. In the spring, Congress should pass a budget through its respective committees in the House and Senate that should determine how much funding Congress will provide the Administration to implement its programs. Important to note, Congress has not passed a budget many times in recent years, and even then, budget resolutions are non-binding. Following either the budget or appropriations allocations, Congress is writing appropriations bills for the next year. This process usually runs through the fall. Similar to the congressional budget, recently Congress has failed to pass their own appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year at the end of September. This starts the procession of “Continuing Resolutions” that fund the government for a few months at a time at levels that correspond to the previous fiscal year that just ended. This short term funding is a serious headache for agencies and the federal business community. These measures essentially freeze certain projects or new starts of projects in their tracks. As with every decision maker, federal agency staff, from the IT world to educational grant programs are risk adverse, and many are not willing to risk the work and budget outlay for a project if the funding may not materialize. As such, the cycle for an opportunity could be lengthened by a political process that is entirely out of the hands of the most seasoned federal sales team. Eventually, even with the country’s polarized political climate, congress does come to some type of arrangement, and the funding for the next fiscal year rolls out, albeit, a bit smaller depending on how long into the next fiscal year we have progressed.
Year Three: While the Congress is debating how much funding to appropriate for the next fiscal year, and the agencies are spending current year’s funding, the budgeting staff across the Executive branch has begun its process of internal budgeting for the fiscal year two years away. There is a progression of pass backs from the agencies to the White House and OMB that proceeds for the six months before the President presents his budget in February of the next year.
The goal of that quick examination is not to dissuade business interested in federal marketing, only to identify one of the factors in determining a sale. If a target is interested in a technology, but won’t have the money for six months, the pitch must change accordingly. In that interim, there may be opportunities to for product demonstrations, technical or policy overviews to educate decision makers. Driving specifications and having a well informed decision maker is key to any sale. A strong federal sales person or sales team will know this and adjust accordingly depending on that budget cycle, making the best use of time before any type of procurement vehicle hits the street, and informal educational opportunities are limited due to procurement rules. The budget cycle examined above will have direct impact on when or how that procurement vehicle is let.
This budget cycle can provide feast as well as famine. The fall is the time to close business in Washington, as agencies are looking to use up any unspent dollars before year end. Unspent money transfers back into the general fund of the treasury or can be reprogrammed away from staff who don’t spend it. As such, absolutely no stone should be unturned from a sales perspective and quick quotes and delivery timelines can help deliver year-end sales for the few that can help their contacts keep their budget for next year.
As in life, timing is important. The federal market is no different and understanding where that process is currently resting will make a more informed and effective business development effort. Looking forward, we will examine:
• Success factors involved with a federal sales team;
• Third party influence that can help or hurt success rates;
• Different types of procurements the federal government utilizes; and,
• Roadblocks to success.
Will E-Commerce Go Down with the USPS?
By Rafe Morrissey
What if the lookout on the Titanic had seen the iceberg in time? I’ve been pondering that question as I look at the recent announcements about the pending financial crisis at the U.S. Postal Service. While the traditional mailing community has been looking at the problem for some time, few of the articles I have seen make any mention of the views of E-commerce retailers or even of the potential impact a Postal Service failure would have on that industry. To my eye, the stakes are huge. The Postal Service is hemorrhaging cash as a result of the recession, the erosion of First Class mail and a huge obligation to prefund retiree medical costs that was imposed by Congress in the 2006 reform law. Yet, at the same time, USPS parcel volumes have increased and they now carry a great many packages for the other big shippers, Fed-Ex and UPS, to rural recipients.
That model could be threatened by the actions Congress will take over the next several months. Already, proposals have been made to end Saturday delivery which would be a big mistake. Giving away one sixth of your service capacity and a major competitive advantage for a small percentage of your total cost burden seems like a bad trade. But even more important, there is strong disagreement over major funding issues for the Service such as whether to refund billions of dollars in excess pension costs that have been paid into government retirement accounts over the years from postage revenues. Getting all or even some if it back could have a major impact on the ability of the Service to continue operating, but some Members of Congress want to keep the money.
The common wisdom suggests that Congress would never let the Postal Service go under but in these tough times, it would be folly to take anything for granted. Even more important, companies that stay out of the debate may be very unhappy with the Postal Service they get out of any reform effort. It may be convenient to think that Federal Express or UPS can pick up any slack, but Fed-Ex and UPS don’t go to every address, only the Postal Service does. Add to that that as more and more states seek the ability to add sales tax to Internet purchases, any increase in the cost of shipping could well drive consumers to head back to their brick and mortar retailer. Clicking a mouse is a lot more convenient, but is also has been a lot cheaper too. That could easily change with the outcome of the postal legislation being considered. For anyone making their living selling on the Internet, that has all the makings of an iceberg on the horizon to me.
Rafe Morrissey serves as Postal Affairs manager for the Greeting Card Association and represents Hallmark Cards, Inc. Please e-mail him at rmorrissey@engage-dc.com if you have any questions about these issues.
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