Column: Dealing effectively with RFPs

Some requests for proposals are going to be exactly right for your business. A lot could be a waste of time and energy. Ask these questions before jumping in:

• Why is the RFP issuer going out for bid? How much will a low bid be a factor?
• Does anyone at the issuing company know about my company or have reason to do business with us? If not, can we get intros to key players before the bid is awarded?
•  Is there anything unique that we do that increases our chances of winning?
• Who has the business now? Are they bidding?
• Are there any likely “inside bidders” who are well known to the issuer, who have the ideal solution or who have a fast track to the finalist list? Can we partner with them?
• What is our goal: To get introduced for future consideration? To raise our visibility in the industry? To win the bid?
• How much will it cost in time, money and effort to respond? Can we afford to make that expenditure and not win? What would we do with our time if we didn”™t respond?
• What will bidding and not winning do for our future prospects?
• In addition to winning, bids can be a great opportunity to get exposure, to introduce your company and to find out what other bidders are offering. Do keep in mind that your chances of winning, before considering any other factors, probably pretty small odds. If there”™s an inside track and you”™re not on it, your company”™s chance of winning drops through the floor. Carefully consider all that you”™ll have to go through to raise those odds.

On the other hand, some industries live on bids. Getting into the bidding game can be a way to add clients and increase revenue. They may get your company in the door and qualified for future opportunity.

Prepare to respond. Pull together a standard team ”” sales, marketing, operations, research and development, finance and human resources. Gather bids that have recently been awarded to your industry. Find out who won and why. Look for common questions. Save time later by building persuasive boilerplate answers. Highlight your sizzle. Make your company”™s advantages seem clear cut.

Ready to try? When you first open a new bid, make note of all deadlines. Bids usually have a due date for questions, specific bid conference date, and of course, final submission time. Put these dates on a calendar and make sure everyone on the team knows them.

Assign people to read every page of the bid. Consider if your company has something unique that increase its chances of winning. Ask if you can handle the work if you win. Would an award take your company forward or would winning be a diversion? Identify key issues posed by the bid. List things your company knows about that would be valuable. Hold a meeting to debate the bid.

Resolve the question: should the company respond? Then lay out a plan of action for attacking the bid, including who, what and by when. Identify any specialists needed. Figure out if you should partner with another company. Hold periodic meetings to bring the bid team together for updates.

Looking for more bids? There are RFPs circulating all the time in most industries. Check your industry for bid lists. Ask customers and their peers if they ever use bids. Try government bid lists ”” state, county, local and federal. There are RFP monitoring services, and their subscription prices vary. Do an Internet search for how to find RFPs, you”™ll find a wealth of information.

Looking for a good book? Try “Request for Proposal: A Guide to Effective RFP Development” by Bud Porter-Roth.

Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., StrategyLeaders.com, a business-consulting firm that teaches companies how to double revenue and triple profits in repetitive growth cycles. Have a question for AskAndi? Wondering how Strategy Leaders can help your business thrive? Call or email for a free consultation and diagnostics: 877-238-3535, AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com. Check out our library of business advice articles: AskAndi.com.