Claude prompts for government contractors: find opportunities for what you sell.

Run this first, or save it as standing instructions, so every answer is tailored to what you sell and held to a sourcing standard.

You are helping [YOUR COMPANY] find government sales opportunities.

About us:
- We sell: [WHAT YOU SELL]
- Our NAICS codes: [NAICS CODES]
- Agencies usually describe what we sell with terms like: [SEARCH TERMS]
- Our target buyers: [AGENCY TYPES]
- Our target geography: [STATES]
- Our main competitors: [COMPETITORS]

Rules for every answer:
- Use only public, verifiable sources, and include a working link for each item.
- Give dates for everything (posted, due, adopted, awarded).
- Say clearly when you can't find something or aren't sure. Never guess or invent details.
- Put lists in a table I can copy into a spreadsheet.

In Claude: Add this to your project instructions so it applies to every chat in the project.

A first sweep for solicitations that are open right now.

Search for open solicitations (RFPs, RFQs, IFBs, RFIs and sources-sought notices) for [WHAT YOU SELL] from [AGENCY TYPES] in [STATES], posted in the last 30 days.

Check SAM.gov for federal opportunities, each state's procurement portal, and local bid pages or shared platforms such as BidNet Direct, DemandStar, PlanetBids, OpenGov and Bonfire. Search with these terms: [SEARCH TERMS].

Return a table with: agency, solicitation title, solicitation number, posted date, due date, link, and one sentence on why it matches. Leave out anything past its due date.

Budgets and capital improvement plans show where money is set aside months before a bid.

Find adopted budgets and capital improvement plans for the current or next fiscal year from [AGENCY TYPES] in [STATES] that fund projects related to [WHAT YOU SELL] (search terms: [SEARCH TERMS]).

For each result, give: agency, document name, page or section, project name, dollar amount if stated, fiscal year, and a link to the document. Sort by dollar amount, largest first.

In Claude: Use Research for this one, or upload budget PDFs you've downloaded and ask Claude to extract matching projects.

Councils and boards discuss needs, pilots and purchases in public before they buy.

Search city council, county board, school board and utility board agendas and minutes from the last 90 days in [STATES] for discussion of [SEARCH TERMS] or [WHAT YOU SELL].

Return a table with: agency, meeting date, agenda item, what was discussed or approved (one or two sentences), any next step or dollar amount mentioned, and a link to the agenda or minutes.

Grant recipients have money to spend and a deadline to spend it.

Find federal and state grant awards from the last 12 months to [AGENCY TYPES] in [STATES] that could pay for [WHAT YOU SELL].

Include: grant program, funding agency, recipient, amount, award date, what the grant funds, and a link to the award announcement. Then list any related grant programs with application windows opening in the next 6 months.

Expiring contracts are decision points. Start talking 12 to 18 months before the end date.

Find government contracts for products or services like [WHAT YOU SELL] (NAICS [NAICS CODES]) held by [AGENCY TYPES] in [STATES] that end in the next 18 months.

Use USAspending.gov for federal awards, and state contract registries, open data portals and council or board approvals for state and local contracts.

Return: agency, incumbent vendor, contract number, value, start date, current end date, potential end date with options, and a link to the record.

Cooperative contracts let agencies buy without their own bid. Know who holds them in your category.

Which cooperative purchasing contracts currently cover [WHAT YOU SELL]? Check programs such as Sourcewell, OMNIA Partners, NASPO ValuePoint, TIPS, BuyBoard, HGACBuy and statewide contracts in [STATES].

For each: cooperative, contract name and number, awarded vendors (note any of [COMPETITORS]), category, expiration date, and a link. Then note which ones are open to new solicitations soon, if that's published.

Public awards and approvals show which agencies already buy what you sell, and from whom.

Find public contract awards, purchase approvals in board minutes, and press releases from the last 2 years showing [AGENCY TYPES] in [STATES] buying from [COMPETITORS].

Return: agency, vendor, what was bought, amount, date, contract term if stated, and a link to the source. Summarize patterns at the end: which agency types buy most, typical deal size, and timing.

Find the departments and job titles that own the purchase before you reach out.

For [AGENCY NAME], identify the departments and job titles most likely to own or influence a purchase of [WHAT YOU SELL], based on its public organization chart, staff directory, budget and meeting records.

List each role, why it matters, and the source. Only include names that the agency itself publishes, with the link. Do not guess names or email addresses.

A one-page brief before a call or meeting.

Create a one-page account brief on [AGENCY NAME] for a first conversation about [WHAT YOU SELL]. Include:
- priorities in its strategic plan and budget that relate to [SEARCH TERMS]
- related projects, purchases or grants
- upcoming board or council decisions
- current vendors in our category, if public
- its fiscal year dates and how it usually buys (purchasing thresholds, cooperative contracts)
- recent news

Cite a source link for every point, and flag anything you couldn't confirm.

In Claude: Ask Claude to save the brief as a document you can share with your team.

Upload a solicitation to get a summary, a compliance matrix and a go/no-go view.

I've attached a government solicitation. [YOUR COMPANY] sells [WHAT YOU SELL].

1. Summarize the scope, key dates, contract term and submission method.
2. List every mandatory requirement, required form and page limit.
3. Build a compliance matrix: requirement, section reference, our response location (leave blank), notes.
4. List the evaluation criteria and weights.
5. Flag red flags: requirements that favor an incumbent, unusual terms, short timelines.
6. Give a go/no-go assessment with the reasons, and the questions we should submit before the question deadline.

Quote section numbers so I can check everything against the document.

In Claude: Claude can read long solicitations in one pass. Ask it to quote section numbers for every requirement.

Turn a public signal into a short, low-pressure first email and phone opener.

Write a first email (under 120 words) to the [JOB TITLE] at [AGENCY NAME] about [WHAT YOU SELL]. Reference this public signal: [BUDGET LINE, PROJECT, MEETING ITEM OR GRANT].

Tone: plain, respectful and specific. No hype, no fake urgency, no attachments. End with a low-pressure question that makes it easy to say no, such as asking whether the project is still a priority.

Then write a 20-second phone opener and a short voicemail in the same style.

Repeat the search every week to catch new items early.

Search for new items from the past 7 days related to [SEARCH TERMS] for [AGENCY TYPES] in [STATES]:
- new solicitations, RFIs and sources-sought notices
- council, board and committee agenda items
- adopted budgets or capital plans
- grant awards
- contract awards to [COMPETITORS]

Return only items you haven't reported before, in a table with type, agency, date, one-line summary and link. If there is nothing new, say so.

In Claude: Rerun this in the same project each week and ask Claude to compare against last week's results in the chat.

Count the agencies you can sell to before you build a target list.

How many [AGENCY TYPES] are there in [STATES]? Use the U.S. Census Bureau's Census of Governments and other official sources, and cite them.

Then suggest how to narrow that number to the agencies most likely to buy [WHAT YOU SELL], using public data such as population, budget size, existing systems or recent related purchases.