The Government as a Rich Business Client

And it's not a good idea to throw around the fact that you're best friends with the mayor. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to challenge the authority of those whose job it is to buy things for the government, says Jeswald Salacuse, author of "Seven Secrets for Negotiating with Government" (AMACOM). "If you challenge their authority, their reaction is, I do have the authority. It's like if a cop on the highway stops you -- you don't challenge his authority. Be courteous and respect the job they are doing."

Constituents matter: As important as it is to know who has the power to close the deal, you also need to be aware of who the constituents are of that particular office or agency. Their voice in support or opposition of your product or service can sometimes make or break the deal.

Be ready to bare all: "I call it the open kimono market," says Larkin. "You have to show everything to everyone. This can be nerve-wracking, especially for entrepreneurs who like to guard their pricing structure and processes. Much of your intellectual property and pricing can become public knowledge."

Conversely, you can see how your potential competition has been doing for the past six years through the GSA schedules, says Amtower, who is also a founding partner of Amtower & Co., a marketing-consulting company that specializes in business-to-government buying. (For more free advice, go to his Web site.

For companies that want to do more than $25,000 of business, also check out Fedbizopps.gov. This single government point of entry, says Loines, is where government buyers can publicize their procurement needs. "Commercial vendors seeking federal markets can search, monitor and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire federal contracting community."