By Tina Horn

Your SAM and SBA profiles are your business’s first, and therefore most important, introductions to federal government agencies and the procurement specialists within them. With billions of dollars about to move through the federal government because of the Infrastructure bill, these profiles are more important than ever. To win contracts, your profiles should show the products and services you can provide while also providing accurate contact information.

Below are the four most common mistakes that we see when reviewing SAM and SBA profiles as a part of our KickStart® Program and FAST® Process consulting.

1. Omitting or improperly formatting your company’s URL

Once federal decision-makers are finished reviewing your SAM and SBA profiles, the next place they will go to seek information about your small business is your website. They cannot do that quickly and easily if you do not include that information for them. Remember to include the full website URL, including https:// and www also. Some agencies block websites without the “S” in https, do not risk losing business to a firewall.

2. Omitting your corporate title in the SAM Points of Contact

Use your corporate title in SAM points of contact, do not leave it blank, that makes you look like a start-up. Call yourself President or CEO because, as the owner of the company, that is what you are.

3. Add geography to the Disaster Response Registry

If you are electing to participate in the Disaster Response Registry which we currently recommend, do not forget to indicate no more than 3 states where you can help. We typically recommend that clients choose states that can be reached by ground transportation as a disaster declaration could likely mean limited air travel.

4. Using All Capitalization or None

We recommend using standard capitalization rules in your SAM and SBA profiles. Using all capital letters looks like you are shouting and using all or non-standard lower case looks slapdash and unprofessional. Take the time to make your profiles look good. These profiles are your future government customers’ first impression of your business.

To best position your company to grow during the Infrastructure Bill spend, reach out to TargetGov Sales team to find out how to get access to the FAST® Process or the KickStart® Program.