What makes an incredible RFP?
Responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) is usually a lengthy and painful course of. And but, it’s grow to be a important a part of gross sales.
Everybody who responds to an RFP has an image of their thoughts of what the successful submission seems to be like.
Will or not it’s me or another person who wins this deal? What makes the most effective response? Is it the font?
(Trace: it’s not the font)
I’ve seen a whole lot of proposals over time. And whereas there’s no actual science, there are some repeatable methods that may improve your odds of successful.
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Listed here are the 5 RFP finest methods:
1. Don’t write notes, write responses.
I’m at all times baffled by a number of the brevity of the responses.
Rushed solutions like “Sure. No. Perhaps sooner or later. We don’t do this.” is not going to assist your case. They appear extra like scribbled notes than knowledgeable response to a proposal.
Quick, unexplained solutions go away room for the client to fill within the blanks. That’s not going to enhance your probabilities of successful.
At all times attempt to clarify your solutions. For those who don’t meet a requirement, clarify why.
We get it, you need to spend as little time writing as attainable. Assuming you’re not already utilizing an RFP automation software, that is sensible. However take into account how a lot effort your buyer places into crafting the proposal doc. It will profit you to reciprocate that effort in your solutions.
2. Much less is extra
In that very same vein, let me advise you to not deal with the RFP such as you’re writing a guide.
An efficient RFP doesn’t must learn prefer it was written by knowledgeable writer. Each reply doesn’t should be a college-level dissertation.
There’s somebody on the opposite finish of that submission who has to make sense of your solutions. So preserve your solutions to the purpose and trim the fats the place attainable.
For instance, as an alternative of writing 3 paragraphs in your community structure, embrace a diagram. This leads us to our subsequent level.
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3. Embrace hyperlinks to supporting content material
You get a query like this:
“Do you assist [insert obscured integration here]?”
You reply “Sure.”
The shopper might be going to ask “How do you do this?”
As a substitute of ready for the inevitable follow-up query, embrace your supporting materials upfront. Hyperlink to internet pages, paperwork, or diagrams that may assist clarify your response.
Most RFP response templates comprise a “supporting data/clarification” part so make sure that to make use of it. Even when they don’t, you may at all times add extra depth to your solutions or submit content material alongside your submitted RFP supplies. Who’s going to cease you?
4. Ask questions
It is a nice strategy to preserve your buyer engaged in the course of the RFP course of.
Far too usually, respondents will full an RFP and throw it over the wall. Then they wait, hoping for a response. This isn’t a successful technique, and extended episodes of silence can damage your deal.
Asking your prospect questions all through the method cannot solely preserve you within the dialog, you should use these as alternatives to disclose details about the aggressive course of.
Clarifying questions on necessities can be important to writing a successful response. Don’t suppose it makes you look “weak” – the truth is most respondents is not going to meet each requirement for a venture. Getting readability on what’s actually essential to the customer can tremendously enhance your odds of successful.
Listed here are some examples:
- “Why did you ask this explicit requirement, is it one thing you’re seeing from opponents?”
- “How essential is that this requirement? Do you know you may get higher outcomes with XYZ?”
- “ABC is on our roadmap. How do you advocate we reply to this query?”
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5. Handle buyer objections preemptively in your response
Among the best issues you are able to do is to make use of the responses as a way of objection dealing with.
Each RFP is basically an asynchronous gross sales dialogue in written kind.
Faux you’re having a dialog and the client challenges you on a selected requirement. Are you simply going to surrender on the decision proper then and there?
Clearly not.
So when confronted with a difficult RFP requirement, struggle again and clarify your case.
Embrace trap-setting questions the client can ask your opponents. For laborious necessities you don’t meet, ask the client why these necessities are essential. Clarify options and supply buyer proof for the way they’ll go about the issue together with your answer.
Each reply is a chance to embed one thing you do higher than the competitors.
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Bonus: Listed here are 3 RFP practices to keep away from
- Not Responding
It is a frequent piece of gross sales recommendation:
“Don’t reply until you understand you’re able to win.”
Sure, it is best to keep away from losing time on an RFP the place you’re not finest positioned to win. Nonetheless, declining to reply to a possibility isn’t a technique.
You must be capable of rapidly decide should you’re simply getting used as a comparability to somebody who has already received the seller choice course of. If not, then there’s no cause why you shouldn’t reply - Ready till the final minute
Early chook will get the worm. You don’t need to be the final firm to submit on the eleventh hour. It doesn’t matter if the choice course of takes weeks, and even months. Getting the RFP performed rapidly will will let you get again to promoting.
Far too usually, we see firms extend the method to some extent the place it seems to be like they’re submitting a rushed guide report on the final minute. - Assuming nobody reads the doc
Nobody’s REALLY going to learn these large responses, Proper?
Unsuitable.
The truth is that almost all firms that run vendor alternatives have devoted staff members who handle the method. That’s a mistake that may lead you to poor/incomplete responses.
Keep in mind, “assumption is the mom of all.”
Conclusion
Responding to an RFP is painful. We get it.
However what’s actually painful is losing the chance on a sub-par response.
Comply with these pointers to generate responses that may improve your probabilities of success.
Picture by Drazen Zigic on Freepik
