On October 1, 2003 in order for any supplier to be awarded federal government contract it became necessary to be registered on the Central Contractor Registration (CCR) Database. When this directive was mandated, our national sales team took the initiative to educate our hotel community and assisted them in completing this registration process.
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:
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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