The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) is establishing the roots of a strong and healthy market-focused organization. The GSA's Public Building Service (PBS) is responsible for federal real estate functions. PBS provides 280 million square feet of space in 8,000 buildings for over 1 million tenants, with a $4.9 billion budget. GSA is responsible for 40 percent of the total federal office market.
The agency is undergoing many organizational and cultural changes to prepare for the federal marketplace of the future. It has begun building its marketing organization literally started from the ground up. The market environment envisioned by the GSA has one primary focus: the customer.
President Clinton called for a reduction in the federal budget and a government that operated more like the private sector. The National Performance Review, chaired by Vice President Gore, called for a dramatic reinvention of the federal government. In response, GSA began its re-engineering process by analyzing the way top firms conduct business and benchmarking against the "best in field."
GSA also organized approximately 50 business process review teams to analyze and recommend improvements aimed at reducing costs, cutting cycle time, and increasing customer satisfaction. The agency evaluated its business systems to determine if tasks should be performed in-house, outsourced, or accomplished by other methods.
GSA has flattened its organization by placing more resources and decision-making authority at the customer-contact levels. All this was accomplished while reducing personnel by 20 percent. Through these efforts, GSA has initiated a process of continuous improvement.
The marketing organization is based in the GSA Central Office and 11 regional locations. The staff includes specialists in strategic planning, research and analysis, communications, account management, special events, graphics, and public relations. In addition to these in-house capabilities, GSA has developed contracts with the private sector to provide in-depth expertise in all areas of marketing.
Under the tutelage of these experts, GSA personnel learned the principles of marketing theory. They studied the 4Ps, segmenting, targeting and positioning, core competencies, the product life cycle, and the marketing planning process. The staff conducted focus groups and called on the experience of employees who had marketed for the private sector.
Over the past year, the Office of Business Development has performed all the traditional functions of a marketing organization. Its employees have conducted market research, developed a full range of marketing materials, and managed corporate communication strategies with the media, trade associations, stakeholders, and the public. They also have managed relationships with customers, including coordinating a customer account program, and customer meetings and partnering sessions.The roots of the marketing organiza-tion are getting stronger and growing deeper.
During times of major organizational change, it is easy to lose sight of the important while attending to the urgent. GSA is transforming itself from a process-oriented institution to a results-oriented organization. The agency's marketing plans provide a central focus by underscoring the importance of an ever-growing understanding of customer expectations and needs.
To maintain this focus, GSA has developed several ways to communicate with and gain feedback from customers, including visits with customers, focus groups, regularly scheduled customer forums, and surveys. Strengthening customer bonds will be a critical element in the success of GSA's market-oriented organization.
Customer service and customer satisfaction are being emphasized as key factors in the re-engineering of business processes. The operating divisions have assigned a high priority to the development of marketing materials to communicate with customers. Training programs are being created and promoted to teach employees about customer service and marketing.
Already, the rewards for putting the customer first have proven obvious. And while GSA must still patiently and diligently work to bring in an abundant harvest, the agency has already invested wisely in its future.