RFPs are simple as your ABCs

"Freedom lies in being bold."

~Robert Frost

Oops, I did it again:  I fell into the nightmare of acronyms. When we become conscious of a pitfall, we become aware of the bad habit and take steps to avoid it.  I continue to discover that they're as much a part of business lingo as it is to breath.  However, for the sake of folks entering the business, entrepreneurial or sales arena, I will continue to strive to be remarkable, and avoid them. 

Firstly, I will disassemble what an RFP means:  Request for Proposal: A request for proposal is a process in business whereby a buyer or purchaser (typically from a company and more often from a major Enterprise corporation) is looking for a vendor who can enter into a contract or agreement for a period of time (1 year, 2 years, with an option to renew) to be their supplier of choice.  In many fields or industries, it is called a "tender"


Typically, the procurement (purchasing) department has received a request to put out an RFP from their executive, operations or internal group with a group of Vendors that they have determined that said vendors have the capabilities to meet their criteria of, for example:

• Location:  Local, regional, national or global
• Size:  Has the means to meet needs (equipment, process, service, personnel)
• Capacity:  Based on equipment, process, service, or personnel.  It answers considerations like bandwidth, equipment, personnel, financial resources that meet the volume of business being requested to meet
• Capability:  Usually falls under Technology:  i.e.  The right technology could mean software, process, equipment available, training
• Extras:  What do you have to offer that may be perceived as "Extra"?  It could also mean the additional support that is required to meet the contract SLAs:  (i.e.  in printing, marketing or website design it could be graphic designers), software, services, distribution channels that would be "nice to have" to meet the contractual obligations.

There I went again!  See, how difficult it is to eliminate acronyms, jargon or business speak from our vocabulary?  SLAs translate to "Service Level Agreements".  SLAs are predetermined by the organization issuing the RFP, the minimum they consider acceptable to be considered a supplier of choice, such as:

• Timelines/turnaround
• Service team response time based on the time difference between an incoming problem or troubleshooting and  capabilities  (i.e.  within 2 hours, same day, 24 hours, 5 business days, etc.)
• SLAs are often the area in the contract that addresses:  if you win our RFP or contract for business -- how are you going to measure, ensure that we're satisfied
• Your team should examine internally what SLAs you are able to meet, excel or struggle with so that you have identified same

You see, I don't want you to end up with your first RFP and then be a) scrambling to figure out what to do, or b) have questions that you've never examined before even though they are issues or problems that have surfaced c) miss the submission deadline! (YES:  There is usually a deadline that disqualifies many a disorganized teams who don't make the dateline stamp) More often than not, sales organizations are the organizations that are set up as "in it to win it" mentality.  Not only are they completely conversant in embracing and understanding RFPs, they are set up to be successful:

• They are in tune with what their best customers and potential customers want from them
• They have testimonials, case studies or white papers that exemplify where, how or when they have been successful;
• They have the right level of sales professionals who are equipped, educated or knowledgeable on how to approach or be considered for RFPs.
• They have the support available to the sales team to collaborate, review, address what has been asked for on the RFP (see previous Blog on "Fix your organizations dysfunction")
• They have tools readily at hand to be able to track, measure, monitor, or proactively respond to RFPs (i.e.  CRMs:  Customer Relationship Management software to key in pertinent details).
• They have more tools available to respond to RFPs:  i.e.  letterhead, color printers, proposal covers or templates that are on hand to create, print, issue the RFPs
• They have a team of experts that contribute on various sections of the RFP.
• They have partnerships or third party vendors lined up to take pieces of the RFP that the organization themselves don't have the infrastructure to handle (this often falls within distribution or "time to market" requirements)

"There's still the part of me that wants to leap at every opportunity, but now there's the other side that says, 'Let's just wait a minute and see what happens.' That's intuition, and it comes with age and experience."

~Kim Cattrall

 
I've just shared a sampling of the items for consideration that should be foremost in an entrepreneur or organizations mind, if they think they should, must, or want to be on the RFP track.

Large sales organizations like Xerox, HP, SAP or mid-size companies already have on hand the sales support in place to respond to RFPs because they have designed, recruited or trained their sales professionals on their unique "Value Proposition". These successful teams have huddled, examined and debriefed on failures many many times. 

The "Value Proposition" is different than a mission statement that is formed very early on in the infancy of the organization.  I see this area should be tabled for another blog to avoid tangling up the ABCs of RFPs. 

For homework or as a team assignment:  take the bullets out provided above and put them on a flip board, piece of paper (a napkin won't give you enough room) and gather your team of resources to answer these bullets.  Schedule a meeting time, go into the boardroom (or coffee area) and huddle.  Turn off cell phones, computer alerts, and disallow interruptions for that scheduled hour or two.  It may take a few times but don't worry, this is a great habit.

You have this assignment because you don't want to start hiring sales professionals if you don't have the infrastructure in place to go after RFPs.  I am approached and had discussions with numerous entrepreneurs and business startups that want to hire a salesperson and even have a fistful of money to pay that person, but are jumping too far ahead.  You are setting up that person, your organization, to fail without considering the direction you are going in.  I'm sure everyone wants to be an overnight success, however, that isn't realistic or practical.  There are steps to growing.  How fast you do, is dependent on how you manage growth.  Managing growth should normally address the questions your basic customers may ask long before you're ready to go after the big guys.

I look forward to writing about the next step of RFIs and explain  (ha! acronym for "Request for Information") a portion that may surface while your team is starting to think about tackling RFPs ... but only after you have sorted and completed your homework.  I would hope that you haven't hired a sales rep or team to punt out the door expecting them to perform miracles before then.  I look forward to writing about it in my Blog!

Take the time to comment or communicate your thoughts on what I wrote, your organizations obstacles, whether you agree or disagree, or have additional tools or points to help others.  After all, the websphere is where we can all gather to help each other move beyond average to remarkable!  For consideration, you can read my Blog "Stop before you jump ....)

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

~ Benjamin Franklin