Introduction
In Federal contracting, success rarely goes to the company that bids the most — it goes to the one that builds the right relationships with the right buyers before the next requirement drops.
In 2025’s shifting procurement landscape, thousands of companies are competing harder than ever for opportunities that look like they’re sitting right in front of us.
That’s the problem: what’s visible — what shows up in SAM.gov Opportunities — is just the tip of the iceberg.
This post is about the strategy behind finding your best-fit buyers and contracts before the public notices go live. It’s about diving deep beneath the surface into historical contract data — and surfacing with the gold.
Why I Call It “Data Diving”
I have an ADHD brain, which absolutely loves metaphors. As a certified scuba diver, I see patterns in the underwater world that help me make sense of the complexity on the surface. I find the same thing happens in my work!
Above water, Federal contracting can feel overwhelming: like standing on the shore, staring at the waves of SAM.gov notices, and wondering where to jump in. But once you have the right gear — the mindset and the tools — you realize there’s a vibrant world of insight just beneath the surface.
And that’s what this post is about: getting down into where the real opportunity begins its life.
Why Relying on Bid Notices Alone Is a Losing Strategy
It’s easy to get stuck in the trap I call opportunity illusion: thinking that all the answers live in the daily flood of contract notices.
But while it’s true that SAM.gov publishes thousands of opportunities every day, just chasing what’s public is exhausting — and often ineffective. You spend hours hunting for keywords, crafting proposals, and responding to notices… only to lose to an incumbent or “invisible” vendor you didn’t even know was in the game.
What’s really going on?
The most successful contractors do use SAM.gov — but differently.
They’re not asking, “What can I bid?” They’re asking:
- Who is my buyer?
- What are they already buying?
- Who do they buy it from?
- How can I start building trust before the next requirement appears?
They’re doing the homework that allows them to influence the acquisition before it’s ever competed.
The Shift: From Reactive Bidding to Proactive Relationship-Building
In other words: stop reacting to public notices and start focusing on your Federal humans — the people inside agencies who already buy what you do.
Because…
In Federal contracting, a lead isn’t a procurement notice. A lead is a person…whose role, activity, and visibility point the way to potential opportunity!
Once you know who your buyers are and how they buy, you can prioritize your capture strategy based on the actual behavior of agencies — not guesswork, Google alerts, or solicitations that land in your email. (See “What To Do With That Perfect Opportunity You Saw On SAM.gov)
What You Can Learn from Past Federal Contract Data
Here’s what diving into the data reveals:
- Where to focus: Which agencies, offices, or regions buy most consistently
- Who buys what you sell: Contracting officers, end users, and specialists
- How they buy: GSA Schedules, BPA’s, IDIQs, other contract vehicles, Simplified Acquisition, purchase order, or some other way
- When contracts are ending: So you can get in ahead of the recompete
- How much they spend: By size, frequency, or buying office
- What keywords and codes they use: NAICS, PSC, and “Description of Requirements” fields
🎯 Bonus Tip: Government contractors who rely heavily on NAICS codes, and even those who are sure that are missing out! You’ll get deeper insight from the text field “Description of requirements — and from PSC codes, which are often more granular.
To go forward, looking back! Past Contract Award data is your friend.
Top Free Tools To Start Your Dive
Preface: We. Are. So. Lucky. The United States’ Federal government does something no other government in the world does: it collects — and publishes many of — over 400 fields of data for contract transactions based on awards expected to be worth more than $25,000. And that data is available for free, online, right now.
Oh, and then there are well over a dozen commercial, for-a-fee, services that pull from that data, may combine it with other contract data sources, and offer those to you in value-added packages that include all kinds of analytic tools and dashboards.
If that doesn’t make your head explode, I don’t know what does. I will also tell you that no one’s head has actually ever exploded…but it’s also absolutely normal to feel overwhelmed.
Want competitive intelligence? You’re going to spend time and you’re going to spend money. All you get to choose is the mix. It takes time to learn what the data fields mean. Only then can you choose the ones that are most useful to you, refine the search terms that best capture your market niche, and analyse the data you get.
If you are new to exploring Federal contract data, your investment of time to understand what data is available, what it means, and how to turn that into actionable intelligence, is well spent on three levels.
First, you might be able to get all the answers you need to focus your Federal business growth efforts without spending a dime. Second, if and when you decide you want to invest in paid tools, you’ll have a much better idea of what you need (and what you don’t). Finally, if you’re already paying for those kinds of tools, deeper knowledge of the fine points of Federal contract data will let you do more nuanced searches and get much more value for your money.
The good news is that you don’t need expensive subscriptions to get started! You just need to pick the right gear for the dive you want to do.
The first three tools (what I call The Big Three) all draw from the same data. You get access to Federal contract award data that’s as current as yesterday afternoon…and goes all the way back to Federal Fiscal 1970 (I was curious, and I just had to check)! Their different front ends reflect the evolution in the systems that publish Federal contract data online. All three let you export data — but not to the same extent.
1. FPDS.gov
This is the oldest system. Great for high-level contract award data if all you want is “just the facts, Jack”, and don’t need to see graphs or charts. This is often where I go for a fast peek at market opportunities or prospects…but it has clear limitations.
👍 Pros: If you know what you’re looking for with a quick skim, or want to verify a gut-check, see year-by-year changes in contract awards from specific agencies or to specific vendors, or figure out what’s worth a detailed look, this can be a great go-to tool.
👎 Cons: Individual contact views include only 101 of the 400+ data fields. Exporting is limited to 26 pre-selected data fields, and excludes three critical fields I’ll mention in a moment. So, helpful for focus, but your sales team won’t thank you. That kind of search isn’t going to give you the full story.
2. USASpending.gov
Sooo pretty. If you’re doing reports for someone who needs charts, graphs, and pictures (and you can’t, or don’t want to, create them from spreadsheet data, this is your go-to.
👍 Pros: Shows you the results of your query in charts, graphs, and even maps of the geographical distribution government spending, as well as output to spreadsheets. Your export report may include 271 data fields.
👎 Cons: You can’t pick which data fields you get in your report, or the order they come in. So you have to spend more time messing with your export file. Most importantly, the data records you see here are missing three essential fields that identify the actual people who work in the acquisition shop.
3. SAM.gov (AdHoc Reports)
This is my hands-down favorite — and the one I use with all my clients — to give people focus on their best prospects in the Federal arena.
👍 Pros: This is the mother lode – literally, the deep vein including your choice from among over 400 fields of golden contract award data that Federal buyers have entered. Query builder tool lets you pick the ones you want, and put them into an order that answers your questions. Best of all: it’s the only one of the Big Three that includes the contact information in the fields Prepared By, Approved By, and Last Modified By. This is super valuable, especially to your sales team. These fields identify – in whole, or in part – individual humans in the Federal agency’s contracting shop who were involved in the acquisition and authorized the award.
👎 Cons: Candidly, it’s a bit like using any sophisticated data tool: if you’re not using it every day, and committing to building your skills, it feels time-consuming and frustrating. Which is part of why many govcons don’t ever really finish a meaningful competitive analysis. If you need charts and graphs, you’re on your own. If you’re uncomfortable using spreadsheets, you’ll want to tap your nearest spreadsheet guru or buff up your skills. If you pop the data into your AI…trust, but verify. AI’s have been known to make stuff up.
In summary: competitive analysis of past Federal contract data has a steep learning curve. But once you get that analysis — whether you do it yourself, with help, or have it done for you — it’s a game-changer. You just moved up to the Major Leagues.
4. Agency Procurement Forecasts
Now that you’ve got what you need to focus, you can look ahead: at the agency procurement forecasts published at Acquisition.gov (among other places).
👍 Pros: These are the official “coming soon” wish lists.
👎 Cons: Agencies’ publication system, schedule and level of detail varies widely. Just because something’s in the forecast doesn’t mean it’s going to happen when or how it’s described…or at all.
5. LinkedIn + Employee Directories
Essential for turning contract records into human leads.
🎯 Pro Tip: Start with the “Prepared By,” “Approved By,” and “Last Modified By” fields in contract records. Those are real people. Real decision-makers.
Why “Data Diving” Principles Work
Like scuba diving, successful (and enjoyable) Federal data diving takes:
- Preparation (gear, training)
- A dive plan (goals, direction)
- Navigation skills (understanding what you’re looking at)
- And a buddy (or team) to help you stay oriented
You wouldn’t jump into the ocean without a dive plan. Don’t wade into SAM.gov without one either.
Who’s Using This Strategy Successfully?
Neeld Wilson is a service-disabled Navy veteran, aquifer engineer in Florida, and founder of Gator Engineering and Aquifer Restoration (GEAR) (bet you can guess where he went to school).
When I met him, he was discouraged, to say the least, and about to give up pursuing Federal contracting. He’d spent $65,000 and a whole year chasing dozens of contracts across Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi — with nothing to show for it. “How can you help me?” he asked.
His technical track record was phenomenal! I told him, “You’ve got the right stuff! Tighter focus will make all the difference.” Together, we looked at the data. I showed him, “You’ve got solid prospects in your neighborhood who need what you do: Jacksonville Naval Air Station, and Veterans Affairs. Let’s dive in there.”
He found an opportunity at a nearby Veterans Affairs Medical Center…and he lost. When he told me what happened, I asked him, “Did you get a debriefing?”
“What’s that?” he asked. A key player he met — and what he learned about the buyer’s needs — at the debriefing opened the door to other VA projects that were a great fit. Within months, he had his first Federal contract.
Within three years, he’d built a multi-million-dollar pipeline.
🛠 Lesson: Go deep, not wide.
Hear The CEO’s Inside Story
Neeld’s most recent wins include a $30 million NAVFAC Midlant contract vehicle. His clients include SpaceX and Northrop Grumman, and he has been honored by the Society of American Military Engineers. Hear his story — and valuable advice — in this complimentary on-demand webinar. >>Register and watch now!
Could You Use Geography, or Agency, To Focus?
Absolutely. One of the fastest ways to build traction (and wins) is to look close to home:
- Which agencies or bases are near you?
- What are they buying?
- Who are the current vendors?
Try filtering your data by the “Place of Performance”* or “Contracting Office” fields in SAM.gov to get geographic precision. This lets you build relationships locally — where you can be face-to-face, leverage existing partnerships, and (perhaps best of all) even let prospects visit your past performance projects in person!
* Diver Alert: Sometimes the data you see in “Place of Performance” is the same as the Vendor Address. That might have happened for any number of reasons. Don’t presume you know why. If you see that, consider it a sign to dive deeper, and maybe even talk to actual people, to understand the full story.
Coming Up Next…
In Part 2, we’ll walk through how to – in seven steps:
- Build custom reports in SAM.gov
- Extract the right fields into Excel
- Identify and organize buyer contacts
- Analyze acquisition trends by agency
- Build a prospect list that aligns with your capture strategy
It’s tactical, hands-on, and ready to take you from “data-curious” to “capture-confident.”
👉 Link here to Part 2: How to Use SAM.gov and Federal Data to Build Buyer Relationships
Get Help Applying This To Your Pipeline
Check out our free illustrated guide: Three Easy Lessons in Free Federal Market Research. >>Get the guide now!
Got more questions? Request a complimentary strategy call. We’ll figure out a way to connect that works for you and me.