- Request for proposal are a great way to sell your services
but be careful because RFP processes
can be fraught with dangers.
They can consume large amounts of your time.
They can expose your true economics,
which can reduce your profitability.
There's no guarantee of being awarded work
coming out of an RFP process.
Realize some RFPs are run just to put pressure
on an incumbent supplier.
You have no chance of getting the work.
Know how to properly respond to RFPs
and when to politely decline
to participate in an RFP process.
When responding to RFPs,
here are a few things to think about.
Get the templates and response forms
directly from the client.
Answer them in the way they want to receive the information.
Know the deadlines, they can be unforgiving.
Decide if you even want to respond to the RFP.
Assemble and review your proposal,
especially the pricing section, that can be binding.
Know that there are going to be multiple negotiating rounds,
carefully consider this when pricing your services.
Be low enough to get to the next round
of the proposal process, but not so low
that you don't have any further to negotiate.
At Thought Leaders,
we've been through multiple RFP processes.
We have one large client that went out with an RFP
for all of their learning needs.
We responded in full.
The reason is, there was a lot of incremental work
that I thought we could win
by being involved in the process.
We have another major client
that went out with a big consulting RFP.
I asked them who the other suppliers
were they were considering and they actually told me.
One of the suppliers was a big incumbent.
When we responded to the RFP, we only responded in part
to the consulting services I thought we could win.
We did not respond to the piece
where I knew the incumbent wasn't going to be dislodged.
We had another prospect come to us with an RFP
and it was for a one day workshop.
They sent us a 42 page long RFP.
They wanted five client references
and for those client references,
they wanted us to get our clients
to fill out a five page form.
We politely declined to participate in the process.
It was going to be so much work for only a one day workshop.
And, we were going to ask our existing clients
to do work on our behalf, that wasn't going to happen.
It wasn't worth it to us.
RFPs again can be a great way to get in the door
and level the playing field between you and other suppliers.
Just understand, they're a big time commitment
and you need to assess whether the trade-off
of the time you put in, is worth the business you might get.