More Gain, Less Pain: Tips on Answering RFPs

 

Great news! You've received a Request for Proposal (RFP) from Big Bucks, Inc., your top sales prospect for this year. This is tangible proof that your business development efforts are starting to pay off, and that your company is "on the radar screen" in your target market. Once the euphoria wears off, you start to think through the logistics. The response is due in two weeks. Simply reading and digesting the 50 page RFP by then could be a challenge given everything else that's going on. What happens now?

While there is no way to guarantee a winning proposal, the following tips can help increase your chances of success--and take some of the pain out of the process.

Understand the Value of Winning
In most cases, you will want to move ahead with responding to the RFP. Falling off the radar screen is much easier than climbing on--and your future prospects could be hurt if you decline too many opportunities. However, you need to do a quick, high-level assessment of the pros and cons before beginning to craft a response. This allows you to avoid wasting time on a proposal if it clearly does not represent a good business opportunity.

In making your assessment, think through questions like the following:

• If we win the bid, do we know how to deliver the solution?
• How much would we need to supplement existing products, methodologies and staff?
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