Any successful sales strategy requires knowing your customer and their purchasing needs. Virginia's centralized government purchasing system makes it easy to develop your prospect list for selling to the Commonwealth. Using eVA's Spend Report tool, you can research historic purchases of your product or service to learn the following:

• Agency buying habits
• Buyer contact information
• Amount and date of purchase
• Vendors receiving purchase orders

eVA uses a classification system created by the National Institute Of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) to categorize products and services. From the eVA home page, select "NIGP Commodity Codes" from the left-hand navigation bar. Use the searchable database to locate your product or services codes.

Need help? Get assistance from DBA's procurement assistance team at 804-371-0465.

Current Solicitations

Current solicitations over $50,000 are available for public viewing on eVA's "Virginia Business Opportunities" online posting tool. To analyze sales potential for your product or service, search these opportunities to learn more about the purchasing needs of state agencies. From the eVA home page, click "Solicitations and Awards," then "View Solicitations and Awards," then "Public Access," then "Business Opportunities (VBO)," then "Solicitation Search."

Contacting The Buyers

For contact information on the chief procurement officers at state agencies, use eVA's convenient "Procurement Directory," accessible from the eVA home page. Use the Virginia zone map to isolate a region for your marketing effort. Obtain name, phone number, email, and institution name.

Big Spenders

The Commonwealth's biggest government spenders in terms of state dollars include the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), higher education institutions, and the Virginia Department of Corrections. Other agencies which deliver critical taxpayer services, such as public safety, public health and social programs, are large agencies with significant employement, serving large populations. These factors are good indicators of notable volumes spent on goods and services.

Construction

Generally, construction spending over $250,000 is managed by a division of the Department of General Services, the Division of Engineering And Buildings. Under that threshold, most construction projects are managed locally by the purchasing institution and may be handled by a specialized division of the institution, such a Facilities Management group.

Future Contracting Opportunities

Use eVA's "Future Business Opportunities" search tool to look into future contracting plans. Obtain buying agency, contact information, and general details about a planned major purchases in the coming months. From the eVA home page, click on "Future Business Opportunities," a quick link in the center of the home page.