How to respond to a request for proposal RFP

Most companies and government agencies use request for proposals (RFPs) to get the vendors or suppliers they need

The idea is simple, an organisation has a problem and you as a supplier write a proposal showing how you will solve that problem and how much it will cost to do that

But how do you effectively do that?

In this post you learn two main things, that is;

1. What is a request for proposal (RFP)
2. How to respond to a request for proposal (RFP)

But before we jump into how to respond to a request for proposal RFP, lets start by understanding what that is.

What is a request for proposal (RFP) and why companies use it?

A request for proposal (RFP) is a document issued by a buying organisation that shows the project specifics such as scope and price and asks potential vendors or suppliers to come up with a bid for the work required.

Basically, a company needs you to provide a proposal showing how you are going to undertake the given tasks that company requires and how much that will cost the company.

Why do organisations generally use an RFP?

There are many reasons for the use of RFPs by organisations, for example they would like experts’ opinion on the matter but all in all with RFPs price is generally not the main reason even though price is still a major thing.

Think of it this way, if price was the issue, then the company will just go with a request for quotation

Because with an RFQ you are just telling vendors or suppliers to quote how much it would cost to have a certain problem fixed then you choose the price you like

What the point of this?

The point of for you to know that you don’t have to underbid yourself because you are desperate to land the contract

What if you under price then get the contract…now how motivated are you doing a job you are going to be underpaid at?

How to respond to a request for proposal RFP

First of all, you need to know that various responses to RFPs will have their own formats which will be set up by the writer of the Request for proposal this way the proposals are standard

In our case we are going to focus on some areas that all RFPs responses will have, in this case;

1. RFP Cover Letter
2. Executive summary
3. Deliverables and strategy
4. Project summary
5. About us
6. Contract

 but you always have to ensure you fill all the relevant details as proposed by the client.

Regarding your cover letter

With cover letters you want to set expectations upfront and give the client a reason to read more

Don’t just dive right into the strategy and the tactics. Set expectations upfront and entice the client to read more.

Think of this as an application letter coz effectively that is what it is… you want the client to hire your services

Therefore, you need to give the client a proper summary of what you’ll offer them and why you think they’ll benefit from working with you.

An example here could be something like this:

Dear [clients name or author of the RFP]:

Regarding your request for proposal (RFP), [insert your company name] is thrilled about the opportunity to provide you with [insert service requested].

Having worked with [mention some clients to add credibility], we believe a partnership with [client company] would have a tremendous impact on your customer satisfaction and bottom line.

 Be creative don’t just stop at that point, you can add things like…

• a description of who you are
• what qualifies you to work with the RFP’s sender
• as well as the benefits they can expect to see

Executive summary

This is one of those parts of the RFP response that appears first but in reality, you write it after you are done with most of the other things

The mistake most people make here is they just summarize the proposal and call it executive summary

What should you do instead?

1. state what the prospect wants
2. where they want to go
3. and what they will need to get there

The point of this document is to shows why the client should select your firm

Here is a simple way you can write one:

As one of [insert the industry the client is in] leading providers of [client’s main service], you know just how critical this time of year can be for your customers.

On average, the cost to deliver is $[xxxx.xx], and [client name] is committed to “[client’s mission statement].”

As these challenges become more common, it is increasingly important to provide customers with a solution that’s driven by [your industry]’s latest knowledge and expertise.

With this in mind, [your company’s name] intends to help [client’s name]:

• [Client benefit #1]
• [Client benefit #2]
• [Client benefit #3]

Deliverable and strategy

This is actually the key part of the proposal that tells the client exactly what they will get and how they will get it

Depending on the service you are offering categorize the proposal into different sections, such as creative, technology, etc.

This way each section is easy to understand

You should list out the specific deliverables and also indicate what is not included.

Avoid putting price in this section otherwise that is all they will focus on and ignore what they are getting for that price

Here is how this can look like:

As mentioned in the executive summary, [Insert your company’s name] intends to help [client’s name] [brief mention the benefits outlined in executive summary].

To do this, our team has outlined a proposed set of deliverables, an order of operations, division of labour, and expected dates of completion to ensure the partnership between [your company] and [client’s name] is successful.

DELIVERABLE	TEAM MEMBERS	START DATE	COMPLETION DATE
xx	xx, xx, and xx	xx/xx/xxxx	xx/xx/xxxx
xx	xx, xx, xx, and xx	xx/xx/xxxx	xx/xx/xxxx
xx	xx and xx	xx/xx/xxxx	xx/xx/xxxx

Throughout these operations, we expect your team to see heightened efficiency across your organization and progressively higher customer satisfaction over our [length of project or proposed contract] project.

It’s important to note, however, that the deliverables outlined below do not include:

• [Product/service not included]
• [Product/service not included]
• [Product/service not included]

Project summary

Now that you have already talked about the benefits the clients will receive and the relative timeline you can now tell them about the cost

Again, remember various RFPs will have a format so we are just doing a general format here

remember the client wants a recommendation.

Make it easy for them by giving them a solid plan showing what needs to be done and what it will cost them.

Here is a simple example of such:

[insert your company name] can’t wait to work with you to help [client’s name] in addressing [client’s challenges you mentioned in Executive Summary].

To recap, please see below a brief overview of the services included in this partnership:

SERVICE	DELIVERABLES INCLUDED	TOTAL COST OF SERVICE
xx	xx and xx	$xxx.xx
xx	xx, xx, and xx	$xxx.xx
xx	xx	$xxx.xx

About us and agreement

About us

This part you put towards the end of you RFP response and the reason is simple…

The client is first of all interested in knowing how their problem will be solved and not in who you are

This part you can just copy from your company profile

The agreement

Some clients will reserve the right to draft a contract which won’t be binding until signed by both parties otherwise you will do this on your own.

RELATED: Here is a quick look at contracts and how the work