If I wanted to start responding to RFPs in 2024, I’d do this:
If you’re thinking it’s time to start responding to Request for Proposals (RFPs) this year or soon, then there are a few things you can do right away to ensure you’re successful.
Most companies skip these steps and are somehow surprised they have a shockingly low win rate. Proposals take a lot of time and energy to write, whether you’re doing them right or not. So do them right, and you will see success sooner rather than later.
Here are the top things to do NOW to win RFPs in 2024:
💰 Build a super-specific target account plan.
Instead of trying to win every opportunity that runs across your inbox or search results, focus the the number of accounts your sales team can handle and send them off to build meaningful, thought-leadership relationships with those clients.
Your customers only buy from people they know and trust, not from a faceless RFP response.
People buy from people they know, like, and trust. Even Fortune 500 companies are just run by normal people; the people who make their buying decisions are also just normal people - and just like every other person, they are biased, have favorite products and services, and most likely already know who they want to win the RFX before it’s even written.
There isn’t a magic bullet, but the best way to boost your RFP win rate is to meet the customer before they write the RFP. If you don’t, your best competitor most certainly is.
When a company releases an RFP, they aren’t going to open its doors to new conversations with a vendor and people they don’t know. Doing so is even illegal in certain industries, like finance and government. And even when it isn’t illegal, it’s often strictly against company policy. These relationships already need to be established before or as the customer is writing their RFP. By the time the RFP is released, it’s too late.
✏ Hire a proposal manager or consultant.
‘‘Proposals are so easy to write! Anyone can do it!’’ I hear you say.
Wrong.
You can do it, but you won’t do it well or quickly. A trained and experienced proposal manager can write your proposals faster and at a higher quality. They also know best practices, so your company won’t make the basic mistakes that an unqualified responder will make. This also gives your sales teams some time back to do the things they do well (aka. making friends with your customers).
So instead of haphazardly stumbling through complex RFPs, hire someone who can help you set up your process, and your content, and respond effectively. If you don’t respond to enough RFPs right away to justify hiring a proposal manager, then that’s ok. There is a world of freelancers and consultants who can work with you when are where needed.
📈 Collect all the data.
As you begin responding to RFPs, you’ll find that you are more likely to win specific opportunities and lose specific opportunities. But you won’t know which of these opportunities are good or bad unless you collect that data. Many companies forget to collect data until a year after they start responding to RFPs; don’t make that mistake.
So what data should you be collecting?
Every company is different, so decide what makes the most sense for you, but best practices include the customer’s:
Region
Size
Industry
Your proposed solution/service (if you have more than one)
After every quarter, you can review your data to see what type of companies you win and which ones you lose. This way you can double down on the ones you win and figure out why you lose the ones you lose.
🧠 Qualify, qualify, qualify.
If you’re just starting to respond to RFPs, don’t respond to everything.
Just because you found a list of RFPs in your industry, it does not mean you should be responding to any and every RFP on that list. There are quite literally thousands of lists of procurement portals, with 3,000 for the US federal government alone. You could spend every waking moment and every last employee searching for and responding to RFPs. But that is a terrible use of your time, resources, and energy.
It’s tough to say no to a large $$ RFP or an RFP from a famous logo that everyone knows. Yet these are not the reasons to respond to an RFP. You should respond to an RFP because you have a chance to win it.
Instead, create a data-driven qualification process so you can focus on the right things.
What Else?
There are so many things you can focus on as you build and grow your RFP practice, but don’t focus on everything at once. Focus on the important things that will get you those early wins, like building relationships with customers you want, qualifying your RFPs, collecting your win/loss data, and working with a proposal specialist.
Now go forth and win.
