RFPs (Requests for Proposals) – Are They Worth Your Time?
I get many RFPs that come across my desk every year (5 in the last month), and I almost never end up submitting a proposal. I haven’t in the last 3 years. Am I a snob? Am I so burdened with work that I don’t want more? Am I too lazy? No, no, and no.
Generally when a company asks for a proposal for a service, they wish to replace time-consuming meetings with RFPs and not have to meet with people until they’ve narrowed down the playing field. Makes sense if you’re a busy person managing a larger operation, right? Additionally, to make sure they’re getting the best, they will ask for proposals from around 10 companies, and try to find the best from that pool. The companies solicited will be some personal connections, some recommendations, some they’ve heard of and some new companies, typically.
So what’s wrong with the RFP process that makes me not submit proposals after getting them? There are three key elements:
- The Human Element Services are a unique creature that largely involve the human element and a relationship built on trust. With a small service-provider, often times you will be dealing with the owner for the transaction (like with us), and you need to know who you’re dealing with. Additionally, with certain services, you simply cannot compare apples-to-apples. So how does a small service provider stick out – especially if they offer something to the left of what the potential client has asked for? They don’t.
- Efficient Use of Time I’m ok with not getting the business if they won’t meet with me. I believe it’s important to have mutual respect and understanding of what one asks of the other. If someone hands me an 8 page RFP and won’t meet with me, after essentially asking me to put 6 hours blindly into a proposal for people I’ve never met and had the chance to get to know and impress, they’re not a company I want to work with. My time is valuable, and any shred of time I spend has to be centered around making my clients happy, doing my work, and making the most efficient use of my sales time. If you’re a client already, do you want me taking 6 hours away from possibly spending it on your projects so I can go after new business? Probably not. Chances are, you highly endorse my approach for that very reason. So why would a prospect want me to treat my clients that way? They’re asking for us to try and make them our client… *scratching head*
- Most Importantly – Proper Education Now most importantly, many of the things included in RFPs are quite limited and exclude possibilities for other preferred courses of action. Many times you’ll see a potential client ask for old technology or a very narrow scope of services, purely out of unawareness of alternatives. The chance to meet with someone is the chance to educate them on possibilities, options and new trends in that chosen field, and perhaps redirect the conversation to something that would save them time, money and help them reach their goals faster. This is the ideal time to remember – you are the expert in your field, and you can use that to really make a difference.For example: These 5 I’ve gotten in the last month have all asked for a web site, but haven’t mentioned the use of social media leverage.As you know (and if you don’t, where have you been!?), I’m the leader in the social media arena in the area, and have been for about 2 and a half years now. So, if they’re asking for a proposal from me (the social media expert that happens to offer websites), how can I possibly stress its importance and provide solid education WITHOUT a meeting? If I’m the only one out of a stack of 10 mentioning it because my “competitors” don’t offer those services, I’m in the minority, and in a world of “well, the majority says it so it must be right” – it would be ignored.
Half the reason I’m the leader in the field is my personality, ability to lead rousing seminars about it and I’ve landed myself on Fox News to talk about it. The other half is sheer skill and results.
All THAT wallop is hard to pack onto a few sheets of paper. If only on paper, it’s next to impossible to change the direction of the conversation and truly help the client.
The folks that ask for RFPs are all very busy people that need to make the best use of their time. That’s why they’re requesting it in the first place. They want to cut through the tangle of having to spend perhaps as much as 2 hours with 10 companies. I don’t blame them! Who would want to do that??? When they put together the RFP, they try to be very specific to be helpful to the companies that will submit the proposal, and generally the ones I get are very detailed and want very specific things. It’s all in the interest of getting to a mutually beneficial end point, maybe only have to meet with 2 or 3 companies, and then make a decision to go with the best company. It makes sense, doesn’t it? You’d think so, but I know the other side. Having over 10 years of experience in the field, I know that when it comes to what *I* do, a meeting may be an investment of a little time on everyone’s part, but when the client chooses my company, they’re glad they met with me because I changed the conversation and educated them. The best and happiest clients are educated clients that know what they’re buying, and most importantly, WHY.
So – if you want to stick out, actually stand a decent shot of getting the business and change the conversation to include what it should, stand firm on requiring a meeting first. You’re the expert!
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How do you handle RFPs? How much time do you spend on them before sending it in? Do you win the business, ultimately? I’d love your input. Don’t be shy on comments, my friends! The best thing about blogs: they’re not a speech – they’re a conversation!
Spot on Laura. All of those key points are why I don’t respond to them either. Too much time goes into creating an effective proposal and if they can’t be bothered to spend more time discussing their project with me, that I’m not going to waste my valuable time.
Another key point is that I feel that submitting a proposal based on a RFP, they are just competing on price which is something my business never does. Never let your business expertise become a commodity.
Just my 2 cents!
~ Jenn
Re: “Another key point is that I feel that submitting a proposal based on a RFP, they are just competing on price which is something my business never does. Never let your business expertise become a commodity.”
I agree with the second part, but regarding the first part, I have experienced instances where they’re not using SOLELY using price as the baseline – sometimes they want to see how well someone knows how to follow instructions, and how much razzle dazzle they can pack into a written document. But price is often a big comparative point. Unfairly – again, because you can’t compare apples to apples!!
Regarding the second part – I can’t agree more – and it applies all over the place!! Never let your expertise become a commodity! Well said Jenn!
Ok, so I like your position on RFPs . . . but if I don’t submit I don’t get even get an opportunity to win the business. I’ve tried to get the issuers of the RFP to meet with me in order to better understand their needs and to establish a relationship with them, to no avail. Most often they (and we) are prohibited from engaging in any such dialog – which is perceived as an attempt to subvert their RFP process.
So, what do we do? I’d like their business and if I don’t play by their rules I have no chance to win it.
Mickey,
If you don’t submit a proposal, you don’t get the chance. True. But you could very well spend hours and hours on a proposal only to be unaware of what points to stress and again – not be able to change the conversation and help educate the customer. What good is it if you don’t know their deciding factors (tho sometimes they’re included in the RFP, but not often)? You could emphasize price when they really want to see testimonials more than anything else.
Additionally, I believe you have to be willing to walk away from some business in order to get the best clients. Answer me this, Mickey – WHY would you like their business if they won’t meet with you and you don’t even know who they are? Just because there’s money at the end of it?
I believe in the dual interview process, not the one-sided. Meaning – they’re interviewing me, and I’m interviewing them too. You end up with a better working relationship this way, actually.
I wonder if perhaps the reason you’ve had trouble getting issuers to meet with you was because of your approach, not because of what you wanted to do. Could that be a possibility? I’m asking – not suggesting.
I know that my approach was WAY off about 5 years ago and I never got people to meet with me. Now I do. It’s all in how I ask that made the difference.
Some advice I frequently give out: “the one that holds all the power in the relationship is the one that’s not afraid to walk away.” I think it applies here (at least for me).
What do you think?
Our business is primarily focused on private industry. We’ve only ever attempted to respond to one RFP in the private sector. I say “attempted” because we didn’t like doing it, didn’t clearly understand the client’s needs, couldn’t educate the client . . . and didn’t win. Our standard policy for private sector projects is that if the client wants to use an RFP process and isn’t willing to dialog with us, we’re not interested in their business. And we do walk away, so your advice is bang on! We’ve found that walking away actually gets them to change their approach to one where we can actually work with them.
Public sector bids are entirely different. Much as I’d love to change their game, we’re powerless to do so. The only influence we have is pre-RFP, but this is increasingly coming under scrutiny. I agree with you that it makes no sense for anyone involved to use this approach. But, as I said earlier, if I don’t play by their rules I have no chance to win the business. Yeah, I could walk away but that gets me absolutely nothing. Any thoughts here?
Mickey – I agree with you about the public sector bids. Isn’t it frustrating? For me, I’d rather focus on smaller, “low-hanging-fruit” that isn’t so lofty for me to go after. I want to work with smaller, more collaborative clients that will value my input from day 1. This has cost me business, but …has it? To use a fishing metaphor, all those hours I didn’t spend going after the big fish, I spent working on my net to catch lots of happy small-to-medium sized fish. Dollar for dollar, I’ve made more money focusing on the quantity versus the “quality” (which is often only just a dollar figure, and nothing more). The smaller clients were ultimately easier to please, paid faster and frankly, made for a much better working experience. And also, think about this – if you lose one of the big fish, that HURTS. If you lose a small fish, you maybe lost 5% of your business, instead of 30%.
For me, I actually steer completely clear of government bids and any public sector opportunities. It’s all a “who you know” game anyway, and I know that I’m not a member of the good old boys network. I’m good, but I’m not old and I’m not a boy. So two strikes – how much of a chance do *I* stand? YOU might be in a different position, though. But it’s really all in who you know and how well you leverage your political connections.
You said “Yeah, I could walk away but that gets me absolutely nothing.” I’ve felt that way… but, when I thought about how I’ve used the time that I COULD have spent on those RFPs that probably wouldn’t have resulted in anything anyway, and how I used it instead to focus on proactive business development, I know I’ve come out on top.
Does this make sense?
You know, it does. You’ve certainly caused me to rethink my approach . . . and I’ve dropped out of one RFP submission today as a result. Saved 4 person-hours, which we used to win two other smaller projects instead.
We have outstanding political connections in the Caribbean, but not really in North America. So, the energy that we’d spend chasing RFPs here may not be as productive as I’d hope. Hmmm . . .
I’m impressed, I don’t often encounter people who force me to have to think. Thanks!
I LOVE that I could inspire thought and change! Congratulations on your two smaller projects – I think you’re on the right track!!
4 person-hours. I had to think about that. Tried to be politically correct, huh? lol I appreciate that. I still grew up with “man-hours” so don’t worry about staunch femminism here.
Thank you so much for reading my blog and engaging in the conversation – I hope to see you back and commenting in the future!
Have a great day (and go catch some more small fish!)!