How to execute Effective RFP

The ultimate goal of RFP is to find a supplier (read partner) to provide a solution to the problem at hand. A buyer will be very happy with a successful award. The content of your RFP drives the quality and effectiveness of the responses you receive and the award decision.

Quite often I witness the same types of issues arise when buyers compile RFPs, which ultimately end up pushing out timelines, leaving money on the table, and possibly even causing poor award decisions to be made. 

Strike a balance between the amount / type of information you gather and the amount of information you share to create an effective RFP that will help move towards the ultimate goal - a successful award. 

Below are helpful tips to execute an effective RFP:

Start with your goals

Before you even start writing your RFP, write out your organizational and your departmental goals for the project. Doing so will define your strategy, allowing you to identify the best types of questions to determine the product or service that will allow you to achieve those goals. 

Have an open mind 

No matter how meticulously crafted your RFP is, it’s never going to cover all of your exact needs. Sometimes during evaluations, you’ll discover a new product feature that would significantly benefit your organization or department or perhaps the opposite occurs and you’ll realize that a functionality included in your RFP won’t do as much as you’d thought to help you reach your goals.

Suppliers know their business inside and out and likely have alternative solutions that could meet your objectives and save you time, effort, and/or money in the process. Allowing suppliers to propose alternative solutions may extend the timeline but could be worth the potential benefits in the long run.

Find out the total cost of ownership

The cost of your project goes beyond what’s involved at the start. All the little optional bells and whistles can really add up, sometimes resulting in expenses that keep climbing long after the project is marked “complete”.

Optional costs like cost for licensing, maintenance & support, and initial training, add-on features, future professional services can drastically increase the total cost and cause a big dent from your budget. 

Go Digital

With the growth of technology, there are a variety of options and systems that can be implemented to help make the RFP process more efficient and effective for both the buyer and supplier. We encourage clients to use digital forms for publishing, receiving vendor applications and evaluation process. 

Publish your RFP

Ask Concise, Targeted Questions 

Translate goals and objectives of the RFP into pointed questions that suppliers can understand and easily answer. The more questions that can be worded in a multiple-choice format, the easier the RFP will be to answer and review after collecting responses. A digital process will great for comparing responses as well.  Only ask questions that can be related directly back to your main objective and requirements so suppliers can focus on providing pointed information about requirements that matter. 

Provide a Reasonable Timeline 

In order for suppliers to effectively complete the RFP, make sure you have provided them ample time to collect information internally to respond. Consider the type of information you are requesting when building the timeline. For instance information needed from suppliers’ third parties like bid bonds, credit referencing e.t.c.

This will encourage thoughtful and specific responses from suppliers because they were given enough time to research and respond.

Provide Selection Criteria

What is the end goal? How will you be down selecting and ultimately choosing a supplier? Giving suppliers insight into this information will help them respond appropriately and concisely to questions posed. If planning to partner with a provider, start treating the relationship as a partnership at the beginning of the process. 

The degree to which you share information may be dependent upon the category or industry, but share as much as you can without violating any corporate policies or non-disclosure agreements.

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