Responding to Proposals

The concept of ‘outsourcing work’ in the business world started coming off its cocoon during the 90s and transformed into a business solution as an independent offering in few years thereof.

The reasons to have work outsourced by clients then were numerous, however, in the beginning it was more looked upon from a cost effective perspective.

I am sure before the outbreak of “Outsourcing” and “Offshoring” as such, work was contracted to competent and capable suppliers and service providers. With 2016 on the horizon, the life-cycle of working with partners (can also be termed as service providers), responsiveness to opportunities and proposals have become extremely competitive and a class affair!

A class affair… yes indeed! As mentioned above, it’s no more about costs only but other factors like capability, quality, affinity, and more.

For a service provider – the journey begins right from identifying the right opportunity and bracing up to demonstrate the capability & experience that closely matches to the expectations of the clients.

Now, this is the process where most of the responses at times are at a conflux of capability and ability.

Therefore, it’s imperative to isolate capability and ability and focus on the following before and during the process of responding to proposals raised by the clients.

There are some common, standard and basic ingredients that proposals have and require. This can be divided in two sections; primarily – Client section and Service providers section. Let’s term the service providers as Suppliers section for now. The following is an illustrative only.

Client section could have the following:

• Client organization – Overview and brief history, Future Plans
• Function/ Line of business that calls out for proposals – Overview, Function in detail, Future plans
• Specific service requirements – Overview, engagement model
• Risk management & Governance – Service assurance & continuous improvement, Relationship & Account Management, Regulatory and Compliance
• Commercial and legal term and conditions
• About this RFP – Scope and intent of the document, description of selection process and key milestones and how to respond to the RFP.

Supplier section could require the following:

• Supplier organization - Overview and history, Ownership pattern and key stakeholders, financial highlights, Location footprint
• Range of services offered – Function related services, Industry related services, strategic perspectives on services offerings
• HR Policies & practices – Staffing and resourcing, Training, Attrition management strategies, Workplace ethics
• Institutionalized practices – Knowledge management, Quality, Centers of excellence
• Supplier Capabilities & Capacity – Business domains, Functions
• Relevant Customer references

Having the above outlined properly and divided into sections separately for client and supplier sections, it becomes a bit convenient to begin the task.

Beforehand it is also advisable to have a detailed review and research performed on the client section received in the RFP. The responses need to be in line with client organization and not just store display for window shopping.  Most of the responses are mechanical and not tailored to expectations of client organization. Simply copy pasting the data from standard templates do not suffice.  Clients are really not interested in window shopping and expect a partner and not just a service provider in performing the work in scope. Aligning the responses in lieu to the client organization culture, style and work ethics make the bid stronger.

Gone are the days of the suppliers luring the clients with competitive pricing and play their cards.  The service providers need to thoroughly read the information provided and humanly respond to the questions in the proposal. 

If the supplier has not imparted the services requested in the past and demonstrates the ability to do so without clearly mentioning so may bounce the chances. It is always recommended and advisable to mention clearly that although they have not offered similar services in the past, they wish to be considered. And then showcase their ability to why so.  Usually, this is where bidders confuse their capability versus ability.  The responses will be strong if the bidder has the capability by default (maybe) however it would also raise excitement to hear the bidder who confidently illustrates their candidature with intelligent literature and case studies.

Likewise suppliers, the clients have also come through all nine yards and have become extremely selective to choose the right service provider/s and that’s why the notion toward referring them as partners!

Additionally, there could be more information relevant or close around the corner of the work they demonstrated that they wish to share.  It is advisable that this is done in a separate section call out and not mix the essentials with extras.

Finally, clients expect a simple, well formatted, not overly 'salesy' and to the point responses from the bidders.  These are considered more genuine, real and no fuss applicants. 

Please do keep in mind that with emerging trends and style of evaluations, client find it easy and rely more on data driven proposals with holistic approach, case studies and your way of working toward approaching a partnered solution.