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Winning Business from Client Requests for Proposals (RFP)s.

Written by: John Brennan

Article Overview: Government agencies usually issue RFPs for significant projects, and increasingly, so do public and private companies. The deadlines put pressure on your organization which surfaces issues and challenges that can be counter productive if not effectively managed. Here are some that frequently occur, with some tips to manage them.

Winning Business from Client Requests for Proposals (RFP)s.

Issue
You win only a small proportion of the bids and proposals that you submit

Tips
• Don't bid on everything. With thoughtful analysis and a clear "bid/no bid" decision you can reduce costs by not bidding when you're unlikely to win
• If you don't have a prior relationship with the client be careful. What appears in the RFP is never the full story

Issue
You bid on everything, but you seldom win

Tips
• You will win more business by ignoring poor opportunities. The more opportunities you pursue, the less time you will have to focus on each of them
• Your chances of winning are very low if you find out about the RFP after it's been released. You should build a relationship with potential clients long before they release an RFP
• Collect business intelligence about your potential clients, and also about your competitors. But you must be clear about what kind of information you need

Issue
Your proposals look bad, they don’t win, and they take forever to put together

Tips
• Your proposal must be client-centered. It should be more about their solution than your offering.
• Use graphics effectively by making sure each one has an action caption that tells the reader what they're looking at, and why.
• Create a repository of 'boilerplate' materials like success stories, staff resumes and persuasive statistics, and put time and effort into keeping them up to date between RFPs

Issue
You can’t get everyone to focus on the same message

Tips
• Develop the Executive Summary early, so that you can use it internally to keep everyone on message.
• Make sure every idea your team brings to the table supports the theme for the section.
• Your message should take into account what your competitors are likely to claim, and what your client is likely to think of them, and of you.

Related Articles
  Mistakes Clients Make When Choosing an Agency: RFP process
  Issuing an RFP
  Sales Proposals Kit for Dummies
  Tender Writing
  Indecent Proposals

Article Tags: client requests, government agencies, proposals, requests for proposals, rfps



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