DISTRIBUTOR MEMO: #09-21 July 27th 2009
TO ALL MOHAWK DISTRIBUTORS:
RE: LIST OF ACRONYMS TO HELP YOUR GOVERNMENT SALES
Ladies & Gentlemen:
The most successful equipment sales reps not only “sell” the government fleet manager/shop director/head tech but the best sales reps transition across the hall to the purchasing department. Assisting the purchasing department is one of the crucial items to just have a purchase order sent in to Mohawk vs. risking going to bid where competitors have lower prices and sometimes take your bid spec’s and make them so generic that any lift (or piece of equipment) will meet the when purchasing writes a “generic spec”.
Purchasing departments (in general) put up a brick wall not wanting to see vendors. Yet a 2 minute meeting with these people can be as important as the hours spent selling the fleet manager.
To be most effective with the purchasing department you should;
1)Think like they do
2)Get into their mindset
3)Speak their language
4)To assist this process below are a list of acronyms to help you speak “government purchasingeze”
5)Show them how to save procurement man-hours & money using these MAS contracts
#1. MAS Contract-A multiple award schedule contract (also known as a MAS “award”) is a contracting vehicle (a method) that allows Mohawk to add all of our lifts and equipment (products & options) to the contract at a set price.
#2. Basis of Award-The method by which a government agency established the contract and prices on the contract. Generally the basis of award is the result of a competitive bid process (as was the HGAC contract, the WSCA contract, and all WSCA states and several other state contracts).
#3. Vendor of Record-The vendor of record on all of our MAS contracts is Mohawk. A government agency can only issue a purchase order to the vendor of record. Your company might provide a lower price but the only legal way the purchasing department can issue a purchase order to a company who is not the vendor of record is for you to risk going out to public bid (alerting your competitors & giving them the opportunity to provide alternate equipment at a lower price).
#4. Terms and Conditions-To be successful we strongly suggest you know the terms and conditions of the Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) contracts available to you. Mohawks government website ( clearly spells out the terms and conditions of our MAS contracts. These t’s and c’s show procurement people that 1) The freight is included (except Alaska & Hawaii) 2)The lead time 3)The prompt payment period 4)Ordering address, installation availability (if desired) 5)The quantity discounts (when appropriate). These 5 items are the basic’s of the t’s and c’s but you should be aware of all 25 (or so) items that are the most important terms and conditions of our MAS contracts. Call them t’s and c’s you’ll sound like a purchasing person!
Government sales & MAS contracts are simple to use and easy to understand when you take the time to understand the MAS contract and procurement process. MAS contracts will remove the ugly word “bid” from your government sales routine and let you knock your competitors in the dirt without them even knowing they were in a fight.
Use the MAS contracts!
Call us with any questions.
Sincerely,
Steven Perlstein
Sales Manager