Hospitals, universities, large employers and public agencies buy enormous quantities of ordinary things, and most of it goes to suppliers from outside the area because nobody local ever asked. They are not hard to sell to. They are hard to find your way into, which is a different problem and a solvable one.

One anchor relationship can be worth more than a year of chasing small customers, because it is recurring, it pays on terms, and it is a reference that opens the next door. It is also the most durable kind of revenue in a downturn, since a hospital does not stop needing what it needs.

Be ready to be bought from before you ask. Insurance at the levels they require, the ability to invoice properly, and capacity to deliver consistently. An anchor that says yes to a supplier who then cannot deliver does not say yes twice.

Have your capability statement finished. Large buyers read one page and pass it internally, and arriving without one means the conversation stops with the person you met.