The Importance of a Quality RFP

This guest post by Matthew Ferm talks about an important topic….RFPs.

We spend a great deal of time creating and facilitating Request for Proposals (RFPs).  Clients request RFPs because it helps them to make decisions.  We like doing RFPs because it brings precision and process to something emotional, the sales process.

I would like to tell you we don’t want to interfere with the vendor/customer relationship, but it would not be true.  We teach our clients to strive for fact-based and unemotional procurement decisions.  This is the opposite of how vendors (including Harvard Partners) sell customers.  Vendors try to convince customers the vendor’s products are unique, special, and something the customer MUST have.  Deep down inside, we all want to own the “shiny object” and be better than our peers.  Unfortunately, that is not always the best answer.

The RFP process brings parity to procurement decisions and a good RFP process allows the solution with the best value to rise to the top.  A good RFP should also be quick and simple for the vendor to complete.

What makes a quality RFP?

• Statement of Purpose – It is important to clearly state why the RFP is being issued.  The reader of the RFP (vendor) is looking to uncover the problem being solved by the RFP.  This is what good salespeople do.  Hide the true purpose of the RFP and your response will probably not meet the mark.
• Detail – Details matter.  The more detail you put in your RFP, the more accurate (I did not say detailed) your response will be.  Details will also save the vendor time in creating their response.  By removing ambiguity you remove wasted time.
• Setting Expectations – Let the vendor understand the process and when they will receive a response.  Appreciate that they have put time and effort into responding and deserve to know what is going on.  Allow them to contact you for status.
• Response Template – Whenever possible, give the vendor a template for the response.  It will save you time when compiling responses and it will save the vendor time in creating the response.
• Non-Technical Response – We are typically asked to create RFPs for technology procurement by people who are not that technical.  They are decision makers who rely on their vendors and others to be technical.  Pack an RFP response with too many technical acronyms and too many speeds and feeds and you lose them.  By creating a detailed RFP you cause the response to be mostly yes, no, and pricing.  This is something a non-technical person can understand
• Allow for Errors – When we evaluate RFP responses we work to uncover a bad response and give the bidder the opportunity to correct their mistake.  Most of the time this was due to a bad assumption on the part of the bidder.  In the spirit of getting the most accurate information for our client, we feel bidders should be given the opportunity to correct mistakes.

While we strive for high-quality RFPs we also recognize the need for the vendor and customer to have a strong, positive relationship.  RFPs do nothing to make that happen.  We recommend prospective customers visit with each vendor, prior to the RFP process, and allow the vendor to ask questions and sell the customer.  This gives the prospective vendor an opportunity to get to know the sales people and delivery team.  After all, in the end, “people buy from people.”

The RFP is a great tool to aid in the quality and timeliness of the decision-making and procurement processes.  Like any project, your procurement process needs a plan.  Think of the RFP as both a requirements document and project plan rolled into one.  With a clear understanding of the problem and expectations, vendors can focus on proposing a better and more cost effective solution.