The saying is "Proposals are Chaos!" Is this true for everyone? Does answering RFP's drive you or your organization mad?
Good Answers (10)
Not to be blunt, but if you're answering RFPs you either enjoy getting whipped as a provider of commodities, or you're not marketing yourself very well. Your marketing should lead you to a dialog among decision makers that leads to a tailored proposal and a solid Work Plan, rather than a rigid RFP process. If you're answering RFPs instead of having that dialog, you're heading for a relationship of servitude, not partnership. Not that you can't make a lot of money with that kind of a business, but most people I talk to are constantly trying to work their way up to a more strategic relationship with clients and customers. Answering RFPs won't get you there.
Fred H
Former Marketing and Operations Executive Mattel for McDonald's and Burger King
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When at IBM, we would not answer most RFPs. The effort was huge, the cost staggering and the outcome very unpredictable. Answering RFPs is not a good way to do business.
It depends on the industry, size of project, and type of service. For example, in the public sector, for most large services engagements you pretty much have to go through the RFP process to get the work, as in most cases these entities are not allowed to "single source" such work for political or other reasons.
I always try to qualify these RFPs though, because it can be such a huge expense to respond to them. I don't go after them unless someone in my organization has relationships and/or intelligence about the client that would give me a competitive advantage.
It does drive me mad, but that is necessary sometimes. Currently I'm answering to one RFP. The rule of the thumb is - if we were "involved" in creating the need for customer - then Yes, we answer it, otherwise, skip this process. Also, since any goverment procurment is done through RFP, we do not want to skip this part of the market.
Gordon below is most correct.
If your industry is in a Complex Sales environment, your Consultative Sales approach will not work and you must develop the ability to strategically select and answer RFPs.
The upside to answering RFPs is that the contracts tend to be much larger, which is what drove the customer to the complex sales approach. Customers resort to a complex sales environment for several reasons:
Too many people in their organization need to come to consensus in order to get on with the work at hand,
The project/contract is too large to risk less than a 360 evaluation.
The winner doesn't find the RFP chaotic, because they've developed enough of a relationship and understanding of the customer's organization to read between the lines of the RFP.
When the proposal process is chaotic, you need to be talking to Jeff Scurry or myself. We bring order to chaos and install process in your organization to answer RFPs.
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Interesting. Do companies fault you for not responding to their RFPs or do you just decide not to do business w/ a company who issues RFPs?
I've tried to streamline the proposal process many times, but getting an office of 300 to follow a set procedure is very difficult, especially when the professionals are much higher up than I. It seems like an unfixable situation.
Richard J
Managing Partner
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Hi jeff,
Interesting saying. I have managed many RFPs for my clients and only answered a few from potential clients.
IF the RFPs that you are responding too are poorly organized and require a significant amount of time and resources, then it points to: 1. Customer has poor understanding of needs 2. Customer has too many chiefs running the show.
From the perspective of managing the RFPs, we use them so that the responses to the demand set are uniform and easy to compare. We specifically deal in the telcom carrier space, so we need to ensure that service elements our clients are using are explained/priced accordingly.
Too many times the telco marketing departments spin on technology tend to confuse their clients. The role of an RFP is to provide clear and direct communication to the services that are being purchased.
It terms of responding to RFPs, we do have some canned material that we just cut and past into the RFP..:)
Good Luck!
Rich
Gerald L
Gerry Lo 羅振業 Project Engineering 4470 contacts
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Many enterprises exercise due diligence in awarding contracts, as all publicly traded firms are required to demonstrate a good-faith effort was made to competitively select the best firm in class for a particular application.
I favor the responsible and interactive solicitation of Requests for Proposal, as I am painfully aware that there is an enormous cost involved in the process.
It is also not exactly fun to qualify and solicit tenders.
Perhaps the qualification and selection gauntlet may appear sometimes arbitrary and capricious to the bidder; I feel that candidates must provide qualitative and quantitative justification for consideration.
If I have not done a good job articulating my requirements and the measures for consideration, it would be highly unethical to visit the consequences of my own limitations upon the bidder.
It is likewise reciprocally incumbent upon the owner and appointed representative to be able to demonstrate an objectivity in the selection process, absent favoritism and insufficient evidence of qualifications.
If I have made every effort to create and manage a level playing field, I feel it is my professional duty to secure the best value I can possibly negotiate on behalf of my principals (and principles).
As we live in a real world with finite resources and choices, it would also be inadvisable to treat each solicitation as a one-off (although, strictly speaking, they must be after a fashion unique to that time, offering, and place).
I like to cultivate a reputation for fairness and establish a sound foundation for a long-term relationship.
I hope that the competitive proposal process provides a viable vehicle for promoting professional and commercial progress.
Paul Simon A
BPO Sales & Relationship Leader with Solutions/Transitions/Operations Experience
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Jeff,
Yes, creating RFP responses do drive most organizations mad. The sheer volume and velocity of incoming RFP typically results in a reactive RFP Management approach. The focus becomes meeting the response timeline and not winning the deal.
In the business that I am in, RFP responses have a very poor win rate - as low as 2 - 3%. Therefore the RFP route is not the effective way of doing business.
However, for many organizations world wide, the RFP process is the only way of ensuring equal opportunity to its empanelled service providers. What I am explaining below has been my attempt to turn the tide given the reality of the world we live and work in!
To my mind, there are three kinds of RFP. (a) An RFP that has been created by or has significant contribution from the company I work for. (b) An RFP that allows value addition and innovation (c) An RFP that is virtually is a Request for a Quotation (RFQ). Reading the RFP is the only way one can find out whether it is (b) or (c).
I would chose to walk away from (c) and chase (a) and (b). The reasons are obvious - focusing ones resources where one can create maximum impact. So what are the ways in which one can win the RFP that belongs to (a) and (b) categories?
(a) Create an Opportunity Qualification Process. Be ruthless and ask the questions (i) do we have a chance to win this deal? (ii) Is it worth winning?
(b) Create a Winning RFP Response repository with the objective of answering 70% of the capability questions. It is advisable to do this ground up. Answer each question with three things in mind (i) What does this mean to the prospect (ii) How is it different from what my competition offers (iii) Is my value proposition easy to understand? This action will create the time for the following steps. Now one can focus on winning besides meeting the RFP Response timeline.
©Create an RFP Summary which should have the essential elements for a win strategy discussion. This is not the table of content which then gets allotted to different individuals as their contribution. This is an important element that allows collaboration – essential for success.
(d)Create a win strategy team. This is typically comprised of four roles - Account Manager, Subject Matter Expert, Delivery Expert and Pricing expert. The Technology expert would add value as well.
(e) Create the win strategy. Discuss the selection process, the selection criteria, profile the prospect, identify the hot buttons for the prospect decision makers and influencers, discuss competitor strategy and then come up with the win strategy.
(f)Create the winning solution. Thereafter one can price the solution. One needs to test it against the hot buyer buttons and competitor strategy to see whether you would buy it.
(g)Write the executive summary from ground up. This is the blue print.
(h)Get the components (the RFP Response) built according to the blue print.
(i) Review. Can we deliver it? Is it technologically feasible? Is it financially viable?
(j) Review the document for price, legal, spelling, grammar and format consistency.
(k) Send the proposal out.
(l) Review the lessons learnt and publish to all in the proposal team.
Typically it is the steps (a) to (h) and (l) that Reactive Management misses out. The only way out is being proactive. Chaos will succumb to Order!
Cheers
Paul Simon Arakkal
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Harrison L
Knowledge Management Specialist at Champion Technologies, Inc.
Best Answers in: Business Development (1)
Jeff,
We commonly say that the best proposals are the ones that win the business. However, having said that, if you're responding to proposals, you're mostly a pawn in the game. The best thing to do is to get in before the RFP is issued, and better yet, help them formulate what questions an RFP should include.
There are instances, however, where you don't get the foot in the door first, but rather an RFP sitting on your inbox. In that instance, how do you insure that the one you submitted is the one? The answer is in the Miller Heiman process. This is one training that is worth the money.
Good luck
-H
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More Answers (1)
try using http://info.sub-hub.com/index.php
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Clarification added June 25, 2007:
Sub-Hub is a simple online communication engine for the bidding phase of construction. havent found anything for IT
