Pro-Link Awarded New GSA Contract
November 10, 2009
Pro-Link,
Inc., announced today that they have been awarded a General
Services Administration (GSA) contract.
Canton, Mass. – November 10, 2009 - Pro-Link,
Inc., a nationwide jansan buying and marketing group based in Canton,
Massachusetts, announced today that they have been awarded a General
Services Administration (GSA) contract, allowing their members to market
paper, trash can liners, and soap products to United States government owned
and operated facilities throughout the country.
A GSA contract allows vendors, such as Pro-Link’s
distributor members, to sell directly to the federal government.
According to Mike Nelson, Vice President of Marketing for
Pro-Link, attaining a GSA contract has been a fairly long and cumbersome
process; however, he believes it will greatly benefit the organization’s
distributor-members.
He adds that an application for other GSA contracts to
market several other cleaning products, such as chemicals and floor pads, is
expected to be finalized within the next 60 to 90 days.
“This has significant sales potential for our members,” says
Nelson. “In almost all cases, it is difficult to sell to federal government
buyers without a GSA contract. Pro-Link has taken this action for its members
to open up an entirely new, and [we anticipate] fairly large market for them.”
Indicating the size and potential of the GSA contracts,
Nelson says that the federal government now buys approximately 20 percent of
all janitorial products sold in the United States. “So you can see how
significant this is for our members,” he adds.
Nelson also points out that to the best of his knowledge no
other jansan-focused buying group has a GSA contract.
Nearly all of Pro-Link’s distributors signed up for the GSA
program soon after it was announced. To help it’s distributor take full
advantage of the opportunity, Pro-Link has developed a sales training manual
for its members entitled “Selling to Uncle Sam: I Want You to Sell to Me,” to help familiarize its members with the
program and how it works.
“There are many benefits for our members being able to
market to the [Federal] government,” Nelson says. “And one of them that is that
the government is recession resistant, so this could not have come along at a
better time.”