DISQUS

Carl of PseudoPower · 2 years ago

Hah, I don't have a lot of experience of RFPs, but I do recall having a micromanaging boss that made me send out a million of them with the most ridiculous questions to try to get a copy machine.

I felt sorry for the other businesses. They eventually never returned our phone calls.

Anyway, nice post. I agree with the "hey were invented by process-loving bureaucrats, whose sole mission in life is to procrastinate, justify their jobs and cover their asses." :)

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

Carl - So you don't have a lot of experience responding, but sounds like you were sending plenty! The horror! *grin*

Hopefully you don't work for that boss anymore...

Steve Graupner · 2 years ago

Responding to RFP's are a way of life for government contractors. Although they may at times appear overly long and difficult to respond to, it's nothing more than a want ad. The client (government agency) wants a specific job done and asks who can do it and for how much. Think about it: long gone are the days of wants ads in the paper looking for someone with generic job skills, like, "Wanted: Computer worker for engineering firm." Now want ads are more like, "Wanted: Computer engineer for engineering firm. Must be proficient in C+, Java..., ad infinitum" Well, just like the personal job market, the corporate job market. (Don't know which is the chicken and which the egg.) Instead of agencies looking for some company to manage a call center to help folks, now they want some company to create a manage a virtual tier 2 and tier 3 help desk based on ITIL concepts and manage by someone with a PMI, PMP certification, as well as being a SME.

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

Steve - Glorious government work. Great for the pocketbook, but insanely frustrating for vendors. I've done some government work in the past, and been involved with other companies that focus almost exclusively on it. Very, very tough. Not a business I'd want to be in, although there are advantages.

The government RFP has to be one of the worst ever, since the government is most likely really clueless on what they want, what they need and how it all works.

I understand with the government that RFPs are used as a way of having a standardized system for everyone to try and get work. It's designed to create some transparency and consistency in the tendering of projects.

Given how many scandals we continuously see (at least in Canada) over the awarding of contracts to friends, family, etc. I question whether the system works at all.

Carl Dickson · 2 years ago

Whether you are dealing with a government RFP or a commercial one, I think it's best to look at the proposal as the closing of the sales process. In government proposals the successful companies are the ones that are marketing the customer _before_ the RFP is released. The same is true with commercial RFPs. You always need more information than is in the RFP and it's easier to get before the RFP is released. Plus, it gives you a chance to influence the RFP. Finally, even in government contracting, your relationship with the customer counts for as much (if not more) than the written proposal. While we approach our proposals as the closing of the sales process, they are only part of the overall sale.

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

Carl - That's very sound advice. RFPs shouldn't be the initial contact between prospect and vendor. But very often they are, and those are RFPs to stay completely away from.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment!

Mason from SmallFuel Marketing · 2 years ago

Ben,

I really appreciate you distilling all of this information into simple and concrete tips. Personally, wading through tons of information to find good advice is tiresome. Your post is refreshing.

I used your advice when writing a proposal earlier today. And guess what, I got the deal. So thank you again.

- Mason

Ben Yoskovitz · 2 years ago

Mason - Great news! And congratulations on closing a deal.

Do I get a commission? *grin* (joking!)

Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Hope to see you around some more...

David Kutcher · 2 years ago

I know RFPs suck, but sometimes you really DO need to use them to find projects to bid on. If you're in that boat, head on over to the RFP Database. The site is free to publish and download RFPs and all of the data is user-contributed! You can also help out and drive traffic to the site by incorporating the RSS feed into your blog :)

Bill · 1 year ago

Even worse is the RFI, then the RFP. Talk about a time suck.