What makes an amazing RFP?
Responding to a Request for Proposal (RFP) generally is a lengthy and painful course of. And but, it’s turn into a essential a part of gross sales.
Everybody who responds to an RFP has an image of their thoughts of what the profitable submission appears like.
Will or not it’s me or another person who wins this deal? What makes one of the best response? Is it the font?
(Trace: it’s not the font)
I’ve seen lots of of proposals through the years. And whereas there’s no precise science, there are some repeatable methods that may enhance your odds of profitable.
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Listed here are the 5 RFP greatest methods:
1. Don’t write notes, write responses.
I’m all the time 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 give the impression of being extra like scribbled notes than knowledgeable response to a proposal.
Quick, unexplained solutions go away room for the shopper to fill within the blanks. That’s not going to enhance your probabilities of profitable.
At all times attempt to clarify your solutions. In the event you don’t meet a requirement, clarify why.
We get it, you wish to spend as little time writing as potential. Assuming you’re not already utilizing an RFP automation software, that is smart. However think about how a lot effort your buyer places into crafting the proposal doc. It could 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 ebook.
An efficient RFP doesn’t have to learn prefer it was written by knowledgeable writer. Each reply doesn’t have to 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 potential.
For instance, as a substitute of writing 3 paragraphs in your community structure, embody a diagram. This leads us to our subsequent level.
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3. Embody hyperlinks to supporting content material
You get a query like this:
“Do you assist [insert obscured integration here]?”
You reply “Sure.”
The client might be going to ask “How do you do this?”
As a substitute of ready for the inevitable follow-up query, embody your supporting materials upfront. Hyperlink to net pages, paperwork, or diagrams that may assist clarify your response.
Most RFP response templates comprise a “supporting info/clarification” part so be sure that to make use of it. Even when they don’t, you’ll be able to all the time add extra depth to your solutions or submit content material alongside your submitted RFP supplies. Who’s going to cease you?
4. Ask questions
This can be a nice strategy to preserve your buyer engaged throughout the RFP course of.
Far too typically, respondents will full an RFP and throw it over the wall. Then they wait, hoping for a response. This isn’t a profitable 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 utilize these as alternatives to disclose details about the aggressive course of.
Clarifying questions on necessities can be essential to writing a profitable response. Don’t assume it makes you look “weak” – the truth is most respondents is not going to meet each requirement for a challenge. Getting readability on what’s really essential to the customer can significantly enhance your odds of profitable.
Listed here are some examples:
- “Why did you ask this specific requirement, is it one thing you’re seeing from rivals?”
- “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. Deal with buyer objections preemptively in your response
The most effective 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.
Fake you might be having a dialog and the shopper 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, battle again and clarify your case.
Embody trap-setting questions the shopper can ask your rivals. For onerous necessities you don’t meet, ask the shopper why these necessities are essential. Clarify options and supply buyer proof for a way they’ll go about the issue along 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
This can be a frequent piece of gross sales recommendation:
“Don’t reply except you realize you’re ready to win.”
Sure, it is best to keep away from losing time on an RFP the place you’re not greatest positioned to win. Nevertheless, declining to reply to a possibility just isn’t a technique.
It is best to be capable of shortly decide in the event you’re simply getting used as a comparability to somebody who has already gained the seller choice course of. If not, then there’s no purpose why you shouldn’t reply - Ready till the final minute
Early chook will get the worm. You don’t wish 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 finished shortly will help you get again to promoting.
Far too typically, we see firms delay the method to a degree the place it appears like they’re submitting a rushed ebook report on the final minute. - Assuming nobody reads the doc
Nobody’s REALLY going to learn these large responses, Proper?
Incorrect.
The truth is that almost all firms that run vendor picks have devoted workforce members who handle the method. That’s a mistake that can 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 enhance your probabilities of success.
Picture by Drazen Zigic on Freepik
