SD-5 Market ResearchThe purpose of this document is to provide DoD and other Federal personnel involved in the acquisition process with practical guidance on using market research to ensure the acquisition of products and services that will best serve the government??s needs. Specifically, this document is designed for personnel involved with establishing requirements for products or services, such as engineers, technical specialists, project officers, and customers; personnel involved with purchasing products or services, such as contracting officers, contract specialists, and cost analysts; and personnel who support the acquisition process, such as logisticians, testing and quality assurance specialists, and legal counsel.

Pages 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31 - 32 - 33 - 34 - 35 - 36 - 37 - 38 - 39 - 40 - 41 - 42 - 43 - 44 - 45 - 46 - 47 - 48 - 49 - 50 - 51 - 52

world.ThomasNet is an online resource offering a directory of global industrial suppliers and product information. Several database products are based on the information contained in the Federal Catalog System.Those databases relate part numbers and national stock numbers to sources. Similar catalog databases covering commercial products are also available.

Performing basic web searches for the product or service desired is another way to uncover commercial sources.You may find a great deal of marketing information, catalogs, and basic in- formation about the product or service available from the company's website.

Finally, consider conferences and trade shows where suppliers have booths to advertise their products or services. Firms may offer the opportunity to see and demonstrate the product or service, offering valuable insight into their capabilities.

Collect Product or Service Information from Sources

Once you've identified potential sources for the types of information you need based on re- quirements, you can begin collecting data about the product or service of interest.The follow- ing are some methods you can use to obtain information:

•  Search the supplier's website and extract relevant data. The website may include catalogs, prod- uct or service descriptions, references, application data, warranty information, business terms and conditions, and other information that you need.

•  Contact a supplier representative by telephone, e-mail, or letter. It is not uncommon to get incomplete or erroneous data from a supplier, so direct dialog with a company representa- tive may help clarify issues.This method has the advantage of a two-way communication in which you can ask specific questions and get information that might not be available otherwise.

•  Prepare a formal survey or questionnaire and send it to multiple suppliers. Suppliers also can be surveyed by telephone or through a web interface. A formal survey should have an intro- ductory letter explaining the purpose of the survey. Because of statutory limitations on

data collection, you should request only the minimum information needed to answer your questions, and you may have to follow up with suppliers who did not respond or responded with incomplete or ambiguous information.

•  Review printed company literature such as sales brochures and catalogs.

•  Hold presolicitation conferences to discuss planned requirements with industry members.

•  Circulate draft product descriptions, statements of work, and requests for proposals for comment by potential sources.

•  Issue a "Request for Information" or a "Sources Sought" notice in FedBizOpps.

•  Conduct government/industry off-site meetings.

.r           ft.-%,

'               ,.,

--                                                                                                                                                                                                              I    I/