As E-travel came on line, some of the most vocal complaints that we heard from the program offices and individual travelers involved the sudden “appearance” of fees for booking online or going through an agent.  The fee schedule was confusing and could be complex.  Many claimed that they had never had to pay the fees before (they had, but often they were considered part of the ticket price), and there were a lot of complaints about having to pay fees if the traveler was “doing all the work” to book the travel on line. A good part of the initial outreach involved educating people about the fees, and how to budget for the fees when planning travel. Our government travel staff provided a working estimate for a “typical” online and agent-assisted ticket, and that helped programs simplify their budgeting which also reduced their anxiety about having enough funds on hand on the authorization.  Over the last three or four years travelers have become much less sensitive to changes in the ticket fees.

Today, we have seen the price sensitivity shift from the really minor cost of ticketing fees to more requests for waivers from having to use the city-pairs contract tickets.  This becomes a major issue particularly during the first quarter of the fiscal year and the very end of the fourth quarter when funds are in short supply.  Congress’s perpetual inability to pass a budget in a timely manner exacerbates the problem because continuing resolutions only provide a portion of an agency’s budget with a 10% reduction from the prior fiscal year.  When a researcher has travel scheduled several months in advance timed to attend a conference or do field research, it is not feasible to simply delay the trip.  This larger price sensitivity is also a long-term issue for GSA’s City-Pair program that will have to be addressed in future City-Pair negotiations if the program is to continue to be viable.  The paying programs and their travelers have become much more sophisticated in their use of the e-travel systems, both government and private, and they are expecting more from the government programs as well.

by Julie Speers

How will the government have the latest changes on travel trips, since many changes occur hourly and/or daily?  This is another issue that should be resolved or be more of an importance to the government.

Other reporting techniques from credit card companies are contributing to make this process smoother, by reporting hotel bookings are payments. However, there should be more focus on this matter.

The travel should not have the burden of searching for other hotel properties when arriving to their “booked hotel site.” If the particular site is booked then this is the responsibility of the government’s assigned department. This is an inconvenience to the traveler and in my opinion; the traveler is not being protected. The traveler then has to search for another available property.

The per diem reports provide traveler’s hotel information. This report is an overall status of the government traveler’s actual hotel rates and discounts offered and usage. This is a very important component report, as the government is able to capture and track its traveler’s rates and discount usage. And determine whether they are saving money. Perhaps, the government should institute a better program in the future.

The government should improve or revise the hotel report, this will help track hotel bookings – cancellations, and  last minute changes.

by Ana Ferrara

A preferred practice would be to have the lead member of the team take Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) training at the beginning of the process instead of after the contract is awarded. This training advises employees of the pitfalls and special requirements when participating in the solicitation process. Determining evaluation factors and how to rate the vendors is a tough practice, but usually provides a valuable return on investment. Make sure to call and ask questions of several references. Even after the decision is made and the vendor is selected, the work of monitoring the contract has just begun. A well thought out quality assurance surveillance plan should be established at contract award; so both vendor and the Government know what is expected.

by Jaqueline Lynch

The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.

“You must exercise the same care in incurring expenses that a prudent person would exercise if traveling on personal business.”

One of the areas where this is extremely important is premium class travel. Premium class includes both business class and first class.  It is best described as any class other then coach class for air travel and any class other than the lowest class available on a train.  It is important to note that on the Amtrak Acela Express, the lowest class available is business class and is deemed advantageous to the Government and no further agency approval is needed (FTR §301-10.164).

Even though the FTR is specific on when you can authorize premium class accommodations, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that internal control weaknesses governmentwide led to improper use of premium class travel as stated in their September 2007 study. Some of these weaknesses included lack of tracking and knowledge of amount of business class travel being authorized, issuing less restrictive guidance for executive travelers, large differences in premium class travel guidance governmentwide, and no reporting requirements by GAO or GSA on business class travel.

A follow-up Memorandum was issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in January 2008 to remind agency heads of the premium class travel requirements as stated in the FTR and the importance of having clearly defined internal controls in place to ensure proper authorization of premium class accommodations. The Memorandum stated that GSA would be revising the FTR to implement the GAO findings.  In the meantime, GAO asked agencies to implement the following policy requirements internally immediately:

• Require that premium class travel requests for all agency personnel, including senior level executives be approved by an individual at least at the same level as the traveler, or by an office designated to approve premium class travel;
• Develop and issue internal guidance that explains when mission criteria and intent call for premium class accommodations;
• Define what constitutes a rest period;
• Require annual certifications of a disability, unless such disability is lifelong;
• Restrict premium class travel for both temporary duty and permanent change of station travel (relocations) when the employee is not required to report to duty the following day; and,
• Prohibit blanket travel authorizations for premium class travel, unless the traveler has a certification of disability.

OMB also stated that GSA is in the process of preparing agency guidance to collect and report on business class travel, similar to the existing first class travel report requirement. OMB will also begin working with Executive branch agencies to develop a risk-based review, reporting, and audit framework for premium class travel.

The agency I work for implemented the GAO requirements listed above into our current travel policy.  We are patiently waiting to see what policy changes GSA will be adding to the FTR.  We have begun collecting data on business class travel even though we have not yet received a formal request from GSA.  Hopefully, stricter travel policy and reporting requirements will reduce or eliminate the misuse and abuse of premium class travel.

by Angela Williamson

“The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.”

Government travel is regulated by numerous laws and regulations.  Understanding the laws and rules that apply to government employee travel and each branch they are employed by is essential to doing business with any government agency.   All travel activities from contracted city-pair airfare to per diem, requires travelers and travel arrangers to comply with Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR), Defense Acquisition Regulations (DFARS), Federal Travel Regulations (FTR), Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), and Standardized Regulations (DSSR).  It can seem cumbersome trying to understand what laws and rules apply to the traveler, the travel management company, and what specifically applies to a particular branch of government.  It is always best to do research through the SGTP, and the GSA websites.  Both of these resources can answer questions, but also refer any government employee or civilian doing business with the federal government to the specific regulation they may be inquiring about.  Any individual’s best bet is to read and understand the laws and rules that apply to civilian government employees and uniformed active military and the specific branch of government they are employed with, or are doing business with.  These laws are the fundamental foundations to understanding where the government travel industry will head in the future as well as give up to date regulations for all government traveler and travel planning.

Is the future of government travel and travel planning with ETS, Electronic Travel Systems, or the full service TMC, Travel Management Company?  That seems to be the question concerning not only government employees, but the TMCs alike.   ETS, Electronic Travel systems are currently have TMCs embedded or accommodated for each specific branch of the federal government, and the ETS solution such as GovTrip.  What that means is the TMC is still ensuring each reservation gets ticketed and there are no glitches with the reservation. Once a reservation is made through the ETS, it gets electronically sent to the TMC through the GDS, Global Distribution System of their agency.   TMCs run each reservation through their quality control software to ensure the government traveler’s record is free of errors, consistent, and airfare is set for ticketing.  Quality control software internally used by TMCs utilize automated, manual tasks, that take the reservation further than what an ETS can accomplish.  Quality control systems can be modeled around federal per diem rates and other federal lodging requirements to provide a great cost (and time) savings for government travelers.  These unique collaborative suites of quality control file finishing modules works with the GovTrip and other ETS solutions.  Understanding that the TMC has just as much power behind the ticketing a government reservation as the actual ETS booking engine itself, shows that the TMC is needed for self service reservations and full service call centers alike for all government travel.

Other government organizations such as the General Services Administrations, GSA, play a vital role in shaping the government travel industry today and into the future.  The General Services Administration is an independent agency of theUnited Statesgovernment, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies.  The GSA supplies products and communications forU.S.government offices, provides transportation and office space to federal employees, and develops government-wide cost-minimizing policies, including regulation and approving TMCs and policies for Federal Government Travel.  GSA also regulates and publishes FTR Federal Travel Regulations.  Former President Herbert Hoover was asked in 1947 by President Harry Truman to lead a commission to make recommendations to the President and congress on how to improve administrative activities of the federal government. GSA became an independent agency on July 1, 1949.  In 1980 The GSA launched the City-pair program testing 11 city pair contracts for reducing airfare cost to the federal governement.  GSA now administers over 5,000 city pairs contracted airfares for up to 70% savings for allUSfederal travelers.  As part of their effort, GSA maintains the large GSA Schedule, which other agencies can use to buy goods and services, schedule 599 refers to the services GSA administers for the federal government travel .  Specifically if a TMC would like to do business with the federal government, GSA TSS approval is recommended. The GSA Schedule can be thought of as a collection of pre-negotiated contracts. Procurement managers from government agencies can view these agreements and make purchases from the GSA Schedule knowing that all legal obligations have been taken care of by GSA, and TMCs meet all federal requirements.

The variety of TMCs available to the federal government started with Scheduled Airline Ticket Offices, SATO.  Today, although only 37 TMCs are currently GSA approved and TSS, Travel Services Solution certified, deregulation and the fair in competition acts and laws along with thousands of Travel Management Companies benefit the federal government procurement process for travel services.  The Billions spent annually benefit the economy by revenue flowing through, airlines, hotels, car-rental agencies, not to mention the food service industry, restaurants, and entertainment.  Interesting? Who is there to help manage the process from the civilian side of this industry? The TMC.  In partnership with the federal government, with great relations, unwavering application of laws and policies, from communication to accounting for every dollar spent, this partnership is immeasurable and most beneficial to the federal governement as well as the TMC.  TMCs in today’s federal governement travel industry, must not only provide a service for the federal government, but must know the industry, study the ongoing changes, and be able to properly guide all government travelers to be in compliance with their entire travel plans from start to finish.  The TMC and the federal government travelers can look forward to many years in partnership together, managing this robust expense for theUnited States of America.

By:  Scott Carver

Joyce Wahoski, USPS Stamp Development

As Director of National Sales for Carlson Hotels Worldwide, my subject matter expertise is hotels.  I feel some of the points made in this document could perhaps be the most valuable contribution I have given to my fellow SGTP affiliates.  As a result, the strategies outlined in this manuscript will be strictly from a hotels sales perspective.

Three highly under-rated values (intangibles) that a supplier/hotelier can offer a federal government buyer that meet important government criteria are diversity, security and corporate responsibility.

DIVERSITY

Today, every government organization has diversity as one of its goals.  If your company can help a potential government buyer reach its diversity goal, your offer becomes a far more valuable asset to that government buyer.  There are several government recognized categories of diversity.  In many cases, the federal government will specifically “set-aside” solicitations for which only the business classifications listed below qualify.  Below is general list of diversity categories.

• Small Business:  Small business size standards are based on the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).  The guidelines are industry specific based on either dollar volume and/or number of employees.  A small hotel, motel and/or casino hotel is defined as one not exceeding more than $6 million in gross annual receipts or total income. This total income includes all affiliate average over a firm’s latest three fiscal years as reported on the firm’s federal income tax.
• Woman Owned Business:  A business that is owned and controlled (51% or greater) by a woman or a group of women.
• Veteran Owned Business:  A business that is owned (51% or greater) by a veteran or a group of veterans.
• Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business:  A business that is owned by one or more disabled veteran or veterans.
• Small Disadvantaged Business:  A business that is owned (51% or greater) by a person(s) who is/are socially or economically disadvantaged.  These include: African Americans, Asian/Pacific Islander Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and Subcontinent Asian Americans.
• Hub-Zoned Business:  A business in a distressed area defined as a “Historically Underutilized Business” (HUB) Zone.

SECURITY

Obviously, security at lodging destinations is top concern for government organizations.  Guaranteeing the safety of military personnel and all people is unarguably the most valuable objective for any business.  In recent experiences, I have discovered hotels which offer outstanding security services and solid security protocols/procedures have proven to be viewed as true intangibles by government decision makers.  Below are some examples of worthwhile and advantageous security features.

1. Video surveillance covering all entrances and exits of the hotel.
2. “On property” security that is visible and frequently “walks” the hotel.
3. Signs at all entrances advising those who enter about property security and high-tech video surveillance.
4. Only one accessible entrance for the hotel in the late evening.
5. The monitoring of all buses, vans and other large vehicles parked at the hotel over night.
6. The registration of all vehicles at the front desk.
7. The training of all employees and executive staff to report suspicious activity.
8. The hotel’s participation in monthly meetings with area hotels and law enforcement officials to discuss best practices and all recent illegal activity in the area.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILTY

All businesses both new and existing should serve as models for a healthy workplace with minimal negative environmental impacts.  In order achieve true corporate responsibility, work places need to be environmentally safe, ethically sound, community oriented, and they most also put strong priorities on learning and culture.

Today, most federal government organizations put very high emphasis on the environment.  Collectively these agencies are starting to strictly adhere to EPA standards.  Although specific EPA features and practices can vary from state-to-state, I recommend being proactive and listing all of your environmental initiatives on government solicitations.

Ethics is also clearly a serious initiative, and very strong policies pertain to all government employees.  Businesses that promote scrupulous ethics guidelines usually find themselves in very good graces with government contractors and key constituents.  In short, success is often found by those who promote solid principles and ethics as a matter of course.

Lastly, proper training, learning, professional development and continuing education are huge factors that play into the role of corporate responsibility.  Following these guidelines in chorus with those mentioned above will certainly help any business better solidify a consistent, long-term partnership with the U.S. Government.

Charles H. Green once wrote, “The biggest difference between selling ‘things’ and intangible services is the pivotal role of trust. Trust is even more critical to selling intangible services than it is to selling things.”  In the final analysis, being a leader by proactively understanding what is important and offering those important intangibles to your best customers will speak volumes about your integrity, and thus build trust.  Without a doubt, trust is a very important commodity to the government and will unquestionably prove to be advantageous to your business.

by Chris McLaughlin

First, per diems are issued in early August to be effective October of that year through September of the following year. Since we currently contract January to December, all the hotels are given the opportunity to change their rates for October through December. In most cases, one of two things happens. Either in areas where the per diem went up hotel potentially loses that revenue if they do not amend the rate, or the properties are suspended from the program if they do not amend rates that were bid at the previous years per diem in areas where the per diem went down. As we already make exceptions and concessions for this entire market, why do we not solicit rates based on the government calendar year? It could not be harder for us or the travel agencies than managing and loading for the same program year twice.

Next, we need to address the issue of soliciting all hotels worldwide versus utilizing production and market data to develop a more sensible and manageable program. Understanding that there is some amount of government business everywhere, and acknowledging that hotels base rates on their best business information and potential revenues, the government rates could be solicited much like any other large lodging consumer. Hotels should be made aware of the total government lodging credit card spend for the specified program or government agency (i.e. FedRooms, CW|Sato Government Travel; Navy Elite; Army Lodging) in their city or area based on the two previous years. They should be made aware of any base construction or closings as well as agency headquarter relocations planned within the program year. The government or its representative should commit to authorizing only a certain number of hotels per hundred or per thousand room nights, and only accept that many hotels into the specified program for the year in that location. This will create competition for the revenues between hotel companies and that is when we can examine concessions.

The first concession we could look at is commissions. I understand that the very hard working agents should be paid and paid fairly for their work. I have wonderful relationships with the agency travel managers I work with on the government accounts and do not wish to take anything away from them. However, when the rate offer requirements dictate that the rate must be at or below per diem, must be commissionable at 10%, plus there are participation fees or pay for performance models, it severely reduces the number of hotel and quality of service the lodging industry can provide. When a rate that is already, in many cases, unattractive to the hotel, is then reduced further by fees, they cannot make government business fit into their business needs. Say, for instance, the CONUS rate is $70.

We are now looking at the hotel receiving only $60.67, in effect, as they cannot use the $70 as the actual value from which to pay operating and staffing costs and see a profit. It is my understanding that the airline industry no longer pays commissions on the CPP or other government rates, so maybe we should have discussions with them industry leaders to industry leaders about how that is working for them and how it has affected their relationships with the various government program managers, and of course the bottom line revenues. Hopefully, together, we could find a system that would benefit budgeting for all parties involved; the government as a whole, the lodging industry; and the agencies.

Following commissions, last room availability is a concern. Most hotels have complicated yielding plans that optimize revenues while still being able to offer rates to lower rated business client and the government. Although during some times during the year, the property may be able to offer these more discounted rates readily, the majority of the year, in my experience, the hotels must be very careful with their thresholds. If the government agency and its travel agency want to guarantee that there are always rooms available at their contracted rates, then they should accept the limited hotels per area as discussed, and not only mandate per diem rates, but that the travelers must stay in program hotels. Although when working with the corporate market transient programs we see a high level of leakage, there are programs which are very well mandated and will not pay a traveler back for stays in properties not listed on their program directory. Hoteliers are more willing to offer last room availability when they are aware they are one of a select few getting the business and are aware of how much they can expect to receive.

Once we get these more critical items addressed, we can look at the competitive edge and value added type concessions. Some hotels already include breakfast or other meal functions in the rates for all guests and that allows the traveler more freed up funds for other meals and incidentals. Some hotels which do not have inclusive items for all guests, will include items such as continental breakfast and/or afternoon hors d’oeuvres to their executive level guests and frequency program members. These could be value add items for the government and contracted into the program rates. If you have one hotel who would offer per diem and no concessions and one hotel that would offer a meal or other amenity at the same rate in order to be guaranteed the business, then the government gets a choice as they can then counter-offer or negotiate a lower rate or amenity with the first hotel as many of our corporate customers often do. As developing technologies emerge and thinking outside of the box, unconventional items we could look into as we move forward would be expanding electronic folios to include “government ready” receipts, divided folios, or TDY travel claim voucher style itemized cost savings reports, as well as, some in-house items like laundry/pressing services for our military travelers including military service style uniform and shoe shine care.

Although there are more questions than answers at this part of the game, there is a better way out there. We as the travel industry cannot just require changes on the government’s side of the equation. There are things the hoteliers and the lodging industry need to consider as well before agreeing to this type of arrangement. Some of the other questions I have as challenges to the change but do not have answers to are:

• If a hotel cannot offer the contractual government rates, or a rate at per diem, should they offer a rate at the hotel that is labeled government? I know currently most do.
• Once this more corporatized process is in place, are government travel managers at the agencies still going to audit to see what other federal government rates are available and insist on the same rates or benefits? If rates are offered on a production driven basis, knowing each travel agency manages different departments and agencies within the government with different travel needs, they should not be allowed (at that point) to demand equalization. We don’t offer our corporate clients producing 10000 room nights a year at a property to offer the same rate packages to clients consuming 300.
• Are technologies in place that could manage a October to December program versus a January to December program on both the industry and the government travel agency sides? What would it take to create or update that use? Could they be made compatible to ETS?

We have made a lot of progress in how we work with the government. But I think with all the new technologies we have access to, it is time to look at how to make it better; both more cost effective for the government and more profitable for the hotels.

by Crystal Wright

With all of this attention focused on the Government’s travel spend, agencies are required by regulation to provide requesters with any information they may request (with a few exceptions) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or under the Open Government Directive.  A White House official recently stated to Federal Computer Week that people requesting data through open government initiatives are getting much quicker responses than people using the traditional FOIA channels.

Federal open government offices are promoting a culture in which large quantities of data are being made available to the public in easily accessible formats on a regular basis.  Each Federal agency now has one of these units that can assist people in obtaining the data they desire, which leads to more transparency and government accountability.  Each agency now maintains their own open government webpage (www.{agency name here}.gov/open) that contains information on the Open Government Initiative, the agency’s Open Government Plan, and most requested data along with links to FOIA information and other reporting mechanisms.  Other open government initiatives include Data.gov, eRulemaking, IT Dashboard, Recovery.gov, and USAspending.gov.  Agencies are required to update their open government data sharing methods according to the latest technologies that become available to them.

The use of information technology as a means for greater Government transparency has a legacy that goes back many years, at least to the founding of Thomas.gov by then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the 1990s. The leadership of the 104th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make Federal legislative information freely available to the public. Since that time Thomas.gov has expanded the scope of its offerings to include Bills, Resolutions, activity in Congress, Congressional Records, schedules, calendars, Committee information, Presidential Nominations, Treaties, Government resources, and a section for teachers.

More recently, in September 2010, the Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski and Managing Director Steven VanRoekel announced a suite of new tools designed to unlock FCC data and drive innovation across the public and private sectors.  The suite of tools released by the FCC includes a number of APIs (Application Programming Interface) — interfaces that enable communication between independent databases — for use by developers across a broad range of industries, including federal, state, and local government. The FCC also announced the creation of a developer community (http://www.fcc.gov/developer) designed to help drive future releases through feedback and collaboration.

Not only are Federal agencies stepping up to help meet the open government directives, many state and local governments are developing their own webpages and tools to become more “open” as well.  Open government is becoming part of the culture of all governments, not just an ideal.

So what are Federal agencies doing internally to be able to gather, maintain, report, and supply their data in response to the open government initiatives?  When it comes to Federal travel data, Federal agencies are required to maintain their travel records in the agency-designated E-Gov Travel System (ETS). Maintaining travel data in the ETS enables the Government to capture real time visibility into the buying choices of travelers and assist agencies in optimizing their travel budgets while saving taxpayers’ money.  However, the reporting capabilities of the current ETS that my agency utilizes are somewhat limited.  This should improve immensely with the award of the ETS2 contract. Our travel office can run standard reports from the ETS or submit a report or data request to the ETS vendor for reports not already created in the ETS.  The ETS vendor would provide the report/data from the ETS by creating a new query/report.  If the data was related to the reservation, the ETS vendor contacts the travel management center (TMC) to obtain that report/data.  This process can at times be time consuming, especially when responding to regulatory data calls.  Executive agencies receive periodic data calls from various regulatory agencies, such as the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

To assist agencies in their response to these regulatory data calls (among other reasons), GSA contracted a vendor, TRX, to develop the TravelTraxSM database web reporting system.  Currently, TravelTrax contains all TMC travel records for agencies utilizing the system.  This data includes all reservations made through the TMC. With ETS2, the ETS vendor will be required to submit all ETS data to TravelTrax as well.  Sometime in the future, travel card data is supposed to be submitted to TravelTrax, which would allow comparison of three types of travel-related data.  TravelTrax currently allows agencies to run reports on managing their spend on travel for air, rental cars, and hotels.  There are reports showing restricted tickets, international tickets, and the top travelers by spend.  There is another section in TravelTrax that allows agencies to monitor their data with data availability and validation reports.  A third section allows agencies to verify Government travel program utilization by running reports that show non-City Pair fare usage, lodging over per diem, and rental car spend.  The regulatory section of TravelTrax contains reports for premium-class travel, first-class travel, and greenhouse gas emissions, all which satisfy data call requirements.  There’s even a Sourcing section that covers marketing-type reports on airline, hotel, rentals, and city destinations.  The data can be downloaded into a .pdf or .xls format for further analysis.

With the implementation of ETS2 and wider utilization of TravelTrax, it should become easier for agencies to be more “open” with their travel data and to be able to fulfill FOIA and open government travel data requests in a more timely manner.

By Angela Miller

“The contents of this message are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the Government or my agency.”

Registration on the CCR needs to occur once per year to maintain an active status.  Because having an active CCR standing is now and “absolute” in terms of doing business with the federal government, we have consistently observed that more contracting officers, meeting planners, third parties and other business drivers are insisting on having this information upfront in the solicitation process.

Recently, we have experienced that several of our hotels (heavily reliant on the government market) have not renewed their CCR registrations.  Consequently, this has resulted in a loss of business.  Additionally, it has yielded new initiatives on our end to urgently communicate to our hotels that registering and/or re-registering with the CCR is absolutely imperative.

Items needed to complete CCR registration is as follows:

1. Dunn & Bradstreet Number.  The Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number is a unique nine character identification number provided by the commercial company Dunn & Bradstreet (D&B).
2. Tax Identification Number (TIN).  A TIN is either an Employer Identification Number (EIN) assigned by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or a Social Security Number (SSN) assigned by the Social Security Administration (SSA) if you are registering as a sole proprietor.
3. Statistical Information about your business.  You will be required to provide the receipts and numbers of employees on a world-wide basis, which includes all affiliates.  Information on the location of your organization is optional.
4. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) information for payment of invoices.  This includes ABA routing number for your bank, account number and type, or lockbox number, automated clearing house (ACH) point of contact, remittance point of contact, and accounts receivable point of contact.

It is no secret that competition in the government market is growing at a furious pace.  It goes without saying that understanding how to do business with the government market is more and more critical as strict protocols and exacting standards are being put into place. Positioning in sales is key, and insisting that the proper building blocks are in place can be a tremendous advantage in winning with the government.

by Christopher McLaughlin