Original publication date: August, 2007
Softshare's search profiles support the use of standardized codes as key-terms. These codes include NAICS, FSC, and SIC codes. Because these codes were designed to be very specific, it's tempting to rely heavily on them when creating profiles. Why bother with cumbersome words and phrases when a single code summarizes everything so nicely?
Unfortunately, it's not that easy. Standardized codes are only as good as the buyer who assigns them. And herein lies the first major stumbling block to weighting down your search profile with standardized codes. Codes often aren't assigned to bid opportunities. In fact, you'll never see an FSC, SIC, or NAICS code in Softshare's USABID database. No matter how precise your search profile is, if it consists of only codes and a buyer doesn't assign a standardized code to his or her bid opportunity at the time of publication, your client will not see that bid opportunity because the Softshare search engine can only match on what is present in the article.
In addition, different agencies are fond of different standardized codes. For example, service FSC codes are commonly seen in the EDI database, but you'll rarely see one used in any other bid opportunity database. So even if a search profile does a great job of covering every relevant code, top to bottom, your client will still miss out on lots of bid opportunities.For example, FSC codes are commonly seen in the EDI database, but you'll rarely see one used in the FedBizOpps database. So even if a search profile does a great job of covering every relevant FSC code, top to bottom, your client will still miss out on lots of bid opportunities.
Assuming that a buyer does assign a standardized code to a bid, you still have two more major hurdles: miscategorization and code overlap. There are a lot of codes out there and it's easy to miscategorize a product or service. In addition, even when a product or service is correctly categorized, the code often covers more than what your client is interested in. For example, a client who specializes in bridge building would fall under the NAICS code of 237310. But this code also covers road construction; something your client doesn't do and something that would then cause erroneous matches. The effects of code miscategorization and code overlap are two-fold. Not only does your client miss out on a relevant bid opportunities, but they're also bombarded with bid opportunities that are completely irrelevant.
Luckily, the solution to the sticky problem of using codes in a profile is simple. Go light on the codes and heavy on the words and phrases that describe your client's product or service. And when you do choose to use a couple of codes in a profile, carefully monitor the profile's output to make sure the client isn’t receiving a lot of unwanted bid opportunities.
Thanks for reading,
Karen