How to sell to government: a B2G sales strategy guide.

What is B2G sales?

B2G (business-to-government) sales means selling products or services to government organizations: federal agencies, states, counties, cities, school districts, public colleges and universities, special districts and public utilities.

It differs from B2B sales in three ways — budgets are set in advance and usually published, purchases follow procurement rules, and several people share each decision. A B2G sales strategy lines up your targeting, timing and outreach with those realities, and the ten steps below make one up.

1. Understand the market

"Government" isn't one customer. It's thousands of separate organizations, each with its own budget, buyers and rules.

At the federal level there are civilian departments and independent agencies alongside the Department of Defense and the military services. There are 50 state governments, each with dozens of agencies. And the U.S. Census Bureau counted 91,438 local governments in 2025:

Add public colleges and universities, public utilities and tribal governments, and the market gets bigger still. You'll often hear the non-federal part called SLED — state, local and education.

What to do with this: pick a starting segment rather than "government." Define it by type of organization, size, region and — most important — the department that owns the problem you solve. Start where you already have proof.

2. How government budgets work

Agencies can only buy what their budget allows, so the budget calendar sets the rhythm of every public-sector sale.

• Fiscal years. The federal fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30. Forty-six states begin their fiscal year on July 1; New York starts April 1, Texas September 1, and Alabama and Michigan October 1. Some states budget for two years at a time. Local governments set their own fiscal years — July 1 and January 1 are common. See our fiscal year calendar.
• The budget process. Departments prepare requests months before the fiscal year begins. An executive — a city manager, mayor, county administrator or governor — proposes a budget, and a legislative body such as a council, board or legislature holds hearings and adopts it.
• Operating vs. capital budgets. Day-to-day costs live in the operating budget. Major projects and equipment usually appear in a multi-year capital improvement plan years before they're funded.
• Grants. Federal and state grants fund specific purposes, with their own application windows, spending deadlines and rules.
• Year-end. Funds that aren't committed by the end of the fiscal year can lapse, which is one reason purchases often cluster as year-end approaches.

What to do with this: for large purchases, get involved while departments are preparing their budget requests — not after the budget is adopted. For smaller purchases, ask whether funds are available this year.

3. How government buys

Once there's money, procurement rules decide how a purchase happens. The details differ by jurisdiction, but the common paths look like this:

• Small purchases. Below a threshold set by law or policy, agencies can buy with quotes or a purchasing card. Thresholds vary widely between jurisdictions.
• Formal solicitations. Above the threshold, agencies issue a solicitation: an RFI to gather information, an RFQ for prices on clearly defined needs, an IFB (invitation for bid) for sealed bids, or an RFP when proposals are judged on several criteria such as approach, experience and price.
• Sole source. When only one vendor can meet a need, agencies may buy without competition — but they must justify and document it.
• Cooperative contracts and piggybacking. Many agencies buy from a contract another public entity or cooperative already competed, skipping their own solicitation if their rules allow. See our cooperative purchasing guide.
• Federal contract vehicles. Federal agencies often buy through GSA's Multiple Award Schedule, governmentwide acquisition contracts, blanket purchase agreements and agency contracts. Vendors register in SAM.gov.
• Approvals. Larger contracts typically need approval from a council, commission or board in a public meeting.

What to do with this: early in every opportunity, ask: "If this became a priority, how would you buy it?" Then help the agency use the simplest compliant path — often a cooperative contract or an existing vehicle.

4. Who's involved in a government purchase

Government purchases are team decisions. Expect to meet some or all of these people:

• The program owner — the department head or manager who owns the problem. Usually your champion.
• End users — the staff who'll use what you sell every day.
• IT and security — for anything that touches systems or data.
• Finance and budget staff — who know what's funded and when.
• Procurement — who run the process and enforce the rules.
• Executives and elected officials — a city manager, agency head, council or board that approves the budget or contract.
• Outside influencers — consulting engineers, peer agencies and professional associations.

What to do with this: find the person who owns the problem and has a reason to act now, then map who else must agree. Don't start with procurement — by the time purchasing is involved, the requirement usually exists.

5. Find demand before the RFP

When a solicitation goes public, the agency has usually defined what it wants — sometimes with help from the vendors it already knew. The good news: government publishes its intentions. Adopted budgets, capital plans, council and board minutes, strategic plans, grant awards, RFIs and contract expirations all point to upcoming purchases.

Our guide to government buying signals covers ten of them, where to find each one and how to act on it.

6. Start conversations that lead somewhere

• Lead with their world. Talk about the agency's mission, constituents and operational problems — not your feature list.
• Pick up the phone. Public-sector inboxes are crowded. A knowledgeable call earns attention, and email and LinkedIn keep the conversation going between calls.
• Be specific. Reference the budget item, capital project or peer agency that makes your outreach relevant now.
• Ask about process and timing. Who else is involved, when the budget is set and how they'd buy.
• Follow up across budget cycles. "Not this year" often means "talk to me before next year's budget."
• Speak their language — in some markets, literally. Spanish-language outreach opens doors in many communities.

7. Build trust and proof

• References from similar agencies. Buyers trust peers of similar size, type and region.
• Case studies with numbers. Show what changed for an agency like theirs.
• Trials, pilots and demos. For many products, a hands-on evaluation is the most persuasive step — we secured 212 trials for Viridian Weapon Technologies in 18 months.
• Contract vehicles. A cooperative award, state contract or GSA Schedule removes procurement friction.
• Security and compliance. Know the standards your buyers expect — for example, FedRAMP authorization for cloud services used by federal agencies, the FBI's CJIS Security Policy for systems handling criminal justice information, and Section 508 accessibility for federal technology.
• Presence. Show up where your buyers gather: conferences, associations and regional meetings.

8. Stay compliant

• Register where required — SAM.gov for federal contracts, and state and local vendor portals.
• Respect solicitation rules. During an active solicitation, many agencies restrict vendor contact to the designated procurement contact.
• Follow gift and ethics rules. Public employees face strict limits on gifts, meals and hospitality.
• Check contact and lobbying rules. Some jurisdictions require registration before vendors lobby officials.
• Assume transparency. Proposals, contracts and correspondence can become public records.

9. Build or buy your government sales team

Companies typically choose one or more of three paths:

• Hire in-house — account executives and SDRs with public-sector experience. Full control, but recruiting and ramp take time, and turnover resets pipeline.
• Sell through partners — resellers, integrators, distributors and prime contractors who already hold contract vehicles and relationships.
• Outsource sales development — a specialist team that prospects, qualifies and books meetings for your account executives. This is what KSG's embedded SDR teams do.

10. A checklist for your first 90 days

1. Choose your first segment: organization type, size, region and owning department.
2. Gather proof: references, case studies and outcomes you can quantify.
3. Map the fiscal calendar for every target jurisdiction.
4. Identify buying vehicles: cooperative contracts, state contracts and GSA programs.
5. Build a target list from public buying signals.
6. Write talk tracks around agency problems, not features.
7. Register in SAM.gov and state or local vendor portals where needed.
8. Plan your event calendar and pre-event outreach.
9. Start outreach and capture what you learn on every call.
10. Measure conversations, meetings and opportunities by segment — and double down on what works.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, Government Organization Summary Report: 2022 and 2025 (May 2026)
• National Conference of State Legislatures, FY 2027 State Budget Status