The Confluent Forms blog

The RFPdb has opened its archives of old RFPs to everyone, for free

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:10:00 +0000

Confluent Forms LLC, owners of the RFP Database, are proud to announce that we have opened our archive of expired RFPs to the public, without credits or even an account being required.

If you are searching for historical RFPs, or examples of RFPs to use in creating your own RFP, you now have free access to approximately 66,000 Requests for Proposals. Some old RFPs that consisted of a link to the originating source might not work (they could have been removed from their site), but there are tens of thousands that will work that include the original RFP file(s).

Our goal in making this database repository public is to aid in the creation of new Requests for Proposals. RFP authors will now have access to dozens of RFPs that are similar to the RFP they're preparing to issue, can learn about best practices by evaluating other RFPs, and if so inclined, can reach out to the issuers to find out how their RFP process progressed and if there were any updates the original author would now make in retrospect.

It is our hope that by providing this data we will aid in the advancement of Requests for Proposals "Best Practices" and more efficient procurement practices.

Confluent Forms' articles on Requests for Proposals can be found here.

About Confluent Forms LLC:

Confluent Forms LLC is a boutique branding, graphic design, web design and custom software development firm based in Northampton, MA. Incorporated in January of 2002, Confluent Forms has provided technology consulting, branding, graphic design, web design, PHP and MySQL development, Web 2.0 software development, application development and hosting services to customers from the Fortune 100 to local non-profit organizations, startup businesses and academic institutions.

For More Information:

David Kutcher
President
Confluent Forms LLC
+1-413-303-9612
info@confluentforms.com
http://www.confluentforms.com

Requests for Proposals (RFP), the Drinking Game

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:16:00 +0000

Drink if/when*:

If this is your first time responding to a RFP

The RFP asks for liability insurance coverage exceeding 10x the amount of your project proposal

The RFP requests 5 or more years of financial statements
x2 if the RFP states that they'll be running a background check on your company and all of its employees

The RFP contains a legalese to project content ratio of greater than 5:1
x2 if the project content is only 1 page
x3 if the ratio is greater than 10:1

The RFP does not contain budget information
x2 if it contains budget information that is a small fraction of what you'd be pitching
x3 if it states that they don't have any money (at the moment), but need your proposal to raise capital
finish your drink if part or all of your project is expected to be done for free, for trade/barter, or for part equity

The RFP contains information that is clearly from a different project (architecture information in a web development project, etc.)
x2 was clearly copy/pasted from some other organization's RFP and includes their name

The RFP repeats the same question multiple times
x2 if it repeats the same question but with very slight variations
x3 if you respond by copy/pasting the same answer for each question

The RFP gives 2 weeks or less, from release of the RFP to due date

The RFP provides you with answers to your questions less than one week before the proposal is due
x2 if the RFP does not allow any communication with the issuer at all

The RFP is a poor scan image of a text document preventing you from copying information from it.

The RFP asks you to send a digital copy of your proposal by email, a copy on disc, AND multiple printed copies
x2 if it specifies how your proposal needs to be bound
x3 if the number of copies is 5 or more
finish your drink if the entire packet needs to be hand-delivered by someone in your company

The RFP asks you for bios of your entire company
x2 if it also states that your proposal can't be longer than a specified number of pages making it impossible to provide all of the bios
x3 if it asks for "all persons having a financial interest in the company, including shareholders, members, general or limited partner" and you're a publicly traded company

The RFP requires spec work
x2 if it also requires that you present your spec work in person
x3 if it requires your entire project team to be present at the presentation of the spec work

The RFP has conflicting information
x2 specifies two different due dates within the document

You begin working on the proposal only to realize after you've spent a number of hours that there is a requirement that precludes you from being able to bid on the project

You rush to have the proposal out the door only to be notified that the due date has been extended
x2 if the due date was revised and proposals are now no longer being accepted

The RFP states that the project is a "life changing idea" or a "huge opportunity that can change the world"
x2 if it then states something such as "it's sort of like [Facebook, Craig's List, LinkedIn, etc.]"
x3 if "it's sort of like a mashup of [two or more existing products/ideas/services]"

The RFP includes math that is supposed to add up to 100% but doesn't.

The RFP includes lorem ipsum text, or placeholder text that was supposed to be removed.
x2 if it includes internal-only comments that were supposed to be removed
x3 if those internal-only comments are incriminating in some way

The RFP payment terms exceed 30 days.
x2 if the payment terms exceed 60 days
finish your drink if they state that they'll pay you only if they like the finished product and it exceeds their expectations

The RFP is due the day before a holiday
x2 if it is due the day after a holiday
x3 if the RFP is due on a day that the RFP says that their office will be closed

You learn about the RFP the day before proposals are due

x2 if you end up pulling an all-nighter to finish the proposal

x3 your boss tells you "winning this RFP is a must!"

* Please drink responsibly. If you find yourself intoxicated after the above drinking game, please 1) call a cab and 2) consider not bidding on that RFP.

Articles we've written include "9 tips for running a more considerate RFP process", "Developing your Go/No-Go Decision Tree", and "6 steps for writing a better RFP". More Request for Proposal articles can be found here. We are also own and maintain the RFP Database

Do you believe it is impossible to win a blind RFP?

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 22:03:00 +0000

"Conventional Wisdom" in the sales arena says that if you weren't involved in writing the Request for Proposals with the client, chances are you have no shot at winning the resulting project. This cynical viewpoint is in just about every publication we've read that has an article on RFPs.

We decided to take the question about whether it was impossible to win a RFP and up the stakes to the "blind RFP", the RFP that you weren't even personally sent, but that you found out in the aether and decided to bid on. Is it impossible to win a blind RFP?

We posed this question to our LinkedIn group and received quite a few responses. All of the responses were appropriately cautious and realistic in acknowledging the long odds of winning. But almost all of the respondents said that yes, they do submit to blind RFPs and have won blind RFPs in the past. No respondents said that they will not submit to blind RFPs. And the tool for many of them was a good go/no-go decision tree.

Please check out the conversation and add your thoughts!

Don't play the RFP budget cat-and-mouse game

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 13:40:00 +0000

We're often called by organizations that are preparing to formulate a RFP and are looking for guidance on one of the biggest questions that you need to tackle in the process: Should I include our budget for the project in the RFP?

Mistaken belief in receiving lower prices

Organizations believe that if you provide vendors with your budget, that they will almost certainly charge the maximum amount that your budget allows, and we hear that mistaken justification almost every time. If a vendor knows they are going into a competitive bid process they're going to give you their best price for the project since they're afraid to lose out to a less expensive competitor. It is highly doubtful that they will raise their rates and project estimates in this case as it would potentially cause them to lose the project to a vendor that put in a lower rate.

Good talent will not respond

Not knowing whether the project has a budget, or what that budget is, is often a cue for quality vendors to decide against spending the non-billable time working on your proposal since they're essentially throwing darts in the dark. A quality proposal from a quality company requires that they fully understand the scope of the project, and budget is a large factor in scope. They might pitch you the greatest project ever conceived, but if your budget is 1/10th of the budget necessary to implement it, you've just wasted their time and yours.

Working towards the best solution for the budget

With a stated budget vendors know that this is a real project. They know that you're serious. And using that number they can work with you to formulate their best project pitch. Looking at the budget a web development firm might say "we can't give you a truly custom solution for this budget, but we can use some off-the-shelf packages to get you 90% of what you need". Or a firm might say "Ok, this isn't the budget we'd like to have for this project, but we'll discount our rates to do it for this price". Or they might simply say "we can't do it for anywhere near this price, but perhaps we'll forward this to a firm we know that might want to bid on it".

All of these responses are better than wasted time and wasted responses from companies that missed the mark in terms of hitting your undisclosed budget.

The moral of the story? Give your vendors the information they need in order to craft the best proposal that meets your needs but also fits your budget.

Your proposal lost, now what? Conducting a RFP post-mortem

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 15:35:00 +0000

The harsh reality is that more often than not your proposal will not win the project during a Request for Proposals. You won't win 50% of the time, and you might not win even 25% of the time. If you don't have a thick skin when it comes to rejection you might want to consider a different business.

But all is not lost, through adversity comes triumph, in much the same was as Ulysses in the Odyssey.

Tempting RFPs are like the Sirens, projects-by-committee are like Scylla...

If you've been following our blog articles regarding Requests for Proposals you are familiar with our repeated philosophy of being selective in the RFPs you respond to as well as developing an objective means of selecting the right RFPs to respond to. If you're following the advice in these two articles, you're already on your way to establishing a foundation for performing a post-mortem on your proposal.

Do you know why you lost?

Sometimes we go into a project knowing the likelihood is that we have no chance of winning. We put time into a proposal because, well, even though the chances are slim, we could pull an upset and win! Not to mention that there could be secondary benefits to us simply taking the field. But even if you think you know why you lost it is still beneficial to you in the long run to complete a RFP post-mortem because every failure is a good opportunity to learn.

There is no failure except in no longer trying.
~Elbert Hubbard

Have you asked them?

Don't be afraid to ask why another company's proposal was chosen over your own. They might not always respond or give you any real answer, but it can't hurt to ask, and the knowledge you gain might be extremely useful in future proposals. It also reiterates to the client that yes, you were very interested in the project, in more than a casual way.

Were you too expensive?

We included this because, when you lose a proposal, you immediately assume you were too expensive. Don't make this assumption! For all you know you were the least expensive and that led them to disbelieve your proposal. Again, don't be afraid to ask details about the winning proposal. Ask targeted questions and you should receive targeted responses.

Even if you were more expensive than the selected proposal, that doesn't necessarily mean that you should lower your rates. In your proposal you should always be pitching the rate that you want to receive and feel your value dictates. If you lose to a lower-priced competitor, it means one of two things: either the client didn't have budget for your increased project cost, or you didn't do a good enough job of justifying your value as it related to your pricing. And if you had properly pre-qualified the lead, that leaves your proposal coming up short.

Was it something you didn't do?

One of the most common reasons for rejection is one that you can easily avoid: non-compliance with the RFP. Font size, length of proposal, required questions, number of copies of the proposal... all of these are simple things that could have stood in the way of you and winning your project. The good thing is that once you realize that non-compliance is the reason why you lost a proposal you'll likely never make that mistake again!

Was it something you didn't say or how you said it?

You're intimately knowledgeable about the product or service that you're proposing; the problem is often that the recipient of your proposal might not be as up-to-speed on the topic. Without knowing it, your proposal could be losing because you failed to mention something so simple and obvious to you that the client was looking for but didn't see in your documentation! While the conversation might be like "We were looking for xyz in your proposal / Didn't you see that on page 9 in the section discussing vwx?" it'll bring this issue to your attention and enable you to fix it in the next proposal.

Are you capturing their attention?

Some people learn this the hard way. While not a recommended practice as most clients prefer you deliver all of the proposal material to them instead of making them go get it, in this case it clearly articulated that the client only gave their proposal a cursory glance. How many of your proposals have only received a cursory glance without you even knowing it? The right solution shouldn't be to spy on the client, but perhaps ask follow-up questions such as "what parts of our proposal were considered winners? which parts of our proposal did we lose you on? did we articulate the cost-benefit-analysis of our product/service sufficiently?"

What to do next?

Learn from your mistakes and make the next proposal better. Evaluate the reasons why you lost and re-factor them into your go/no-go decision tree. Revisit your "default proposal"; is the format and content working in your favor or working against you? It might be convenient, but if it doesn't provide results, perhaps it's time to revise it in some major way. And lastly, consider bringing in a specialized consultant to review your proposal materials and perhaps help you craft stronger presentations.

9 tips for running a more considerate procurement (RFP) process

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:21:00 +0000

We've been on both sides of the procurement process and have seen more than our fair share of RFPs. With this background in mind we've put together our top 9 tips for running a more considerate procurement/RFP process.

1. Be upfront with bidders

Creating a winning proposal can cost thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of nonbillable work within a company. If you are issuing a RFP you can never forget that. Being upfront and honest with bidders on your RFPs will save bidders who, upon knowing the full details of your project, might not feel it's right for them, and will save them lots of nonbillable time, effort, and expense.

2. Speak with one voice

When you receive a proposal you expect it to be well-written, concise, and a meaningful response to your RFP. In order to write that meaningful response bidders need a document that clearly articulates the bidding opportunity. RFPs are often times the work of committees, and this fact can be seen mirrored in the RFP document through a mixture of voice, strategies, goals, and definitions. These different voices make reading and comprehension difficult, and can result in a proposal that is just as mixed in its messages.

3. Don't ask for freebies

We've spoken about this before, but asking for free ideas, free designs, free consulting, or free anything is known in the business world as "Spec work". Spec work is a huge disincentive to companies interested in bidding on your project for a number of reasons, many spelled out by AIGA, and can result in top talent making a decision to NOT bid on your project. A better, more considerate practice is to ask for examples of work similar to your own project, or perhaps even consider compensation in the form of stipends for proposals that provide spec work.

4. Receive organizational buy-in

In order to be successful a project needs to have complete organizational buy-in. Nothing sinks a project faster than having the President of the company behind a project, but a Senior VP quietly destroying the project through foot-dragging, poor communication, mixed messages, or outright hostility towards the initiative. Internal teams need to be in harmony before calling for the time and effort of outside firms. This often manifests itself through projects being canceled after proposals have been received because no decisions can be made.

5. Develop your information distribution strategy

"Didn't you get the addendum? We changed the ... last week!" In our last article we spoke about how and where to publicize your RFP; assume your RFP is going to get lots of attention and have a strategy in place for how to respond to everyone equally before you publish your RFP.

6. Research detailed requirements

The more effort, in the form of greater requirements detail, the better the results will be. Not only will responders be able to reply with targeted responses based on the details, but you won't be swamped with inquiries from bidders all asking for the information you neglected to give them. So, instead of scrambling to put together that detailed information in enough time for bidders to respond properly, you can be ahead of the process and provide it to them in the initial RFP.

7. Provide budget information

Stating your budget in a RFP is often a touchy subject. Issuing organizations often think that a RFP is so they can get a product or service for the cheapest price possible through competition. We choose to believe that RFPs are better used as a way to find the best product or service for your actual budget. Look at it this way: if you state your budget and it's below what a company can afford to charge, you won't have to read their proposal (because they won't write one). Companies that would normally deliver for less than your budget still will because they'll try to be the low bidders. And companies that could potentially deliver but might otherwise charge more than your budget might be inclined to discount their pricing.

8. Formulate exit surveys

One of the tools we'd like to see more procurement departments use is exit surveys. Require a simple registration (name, company, email) in order to gain access to the RFP files. You can use this information in your "information distribution strategy". After the project is completed, go back to that list. Ask the companies about your process, why they did or didn't submit a proposal, what parts were problematic, how they learned about the project, how the process can be improved, etc. Track responses, track distribution, and generate statistics.

9. Organize your communication

You want to make sure that every interested bidder on your project has equal access to all information related to the project, so keeping your communications equal and open is necessary. If you provide an answer to one bidder you should make both the question and the answer available to everyone at the same time through the use of addendum published along with the RFP. And no matter what, don't send out an email to all of the bidders with their email addresses in the To: or CC: fields; that is exactly what the BCC: field is for!

In conclusion

Please remember the time and nonbillable investment that bidders put into every proposal. Treat this time and effort as a responsibility on your part to run a fair and considerate procurement process. Not only will you find the right partner for your project, but you'll also earn the respect of the bidders. And while not one of the 9 tips, don't forget to contact everyone that submitted a proposal to you and thank them for their time.

For more on the subject please read a previous article entitled "RFP Etiquette: Dos and Don'ts for Business Matchmaking", my interview with Vince Giorgi of Touch Point City.

How and where to advertise your Requests for Proposals (RFP)

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 00:14:00 +0000

An important part of the Request for Proposals process is the distribution strategy that you use for disseminating your RFP. Without a good distribution strategy you likely won't receive the proposals you need to make your process competitive and in line with your project goals.

Some factors to consider:

Distribution requirements
Physical location of the company to you
Type of company that you are seeking
Size of company you are seeking
Monetary value of your contract

There are lots of other factors that you might want to consider, but these are typically the top five. The primary one you need to worry about is the distribution requirements of your organization or agency; those requirements might dictate the methods you need to employ for distribution and advertisement. The middle three factors are preferences that should be stated in your RFP, but also factors that will impact where you might want to announce your project. The last factor will impact where you announce the RFP, but also how hard you promote it (why get 200 proposals for a $500 project?).

Publish it on your website

The first step to advertising your RFP is to create a landing page within your website for the project. Use this page as the staging ground for all information related to the project and the place that you can direct people to go for that information. Place your RFP on this page as a downloadable file (PDF or DOC are good choices), and when you issue addendum, you'll add them to this page. In addition to the files for download, include the schedule, contact information, contact preferences, and other basic information.

Once that page is created and ready, find places within your own site to announce it, whether it is in the "News" section, the homepage under "What's Happening", or other sections that already see traffic. You don't want your RFP to be hidden within your site on a page that nobody will ever find.

We also recommend encouraging that people interested in submitting a proposal to your RFP register with you in some way so that you can alert them to changes in your RFP and send them addendums. This registration can be as little as an email with their contact information, but something that enables you to get a headcount as well as their contact information.

Seek out recommended providers

Not every project has to start out cold; ask around to business owners that you know about their experiences with vendors for projects similar to yours. See if they recommend anyone. Seek out instances of similar services that you like and find out the vendor that worked on them. Invite them to bid on your project.

Source local companies via your Chamber of Commerce

While economists and theorists such as Thomas Friedman like to say that the World is Flat, reaching out to your local businesses is often a much better idea. On complex projects a local company's proximity will enable you to have more face-time with the client, fewer communication issues, and a greater sense of connectedness as opposed to a faceless voice on a phone. In addition to these benefits to your project, establishing connections with local businesses can often lead to a greater local awareness of your organization and yield secondary benefits.

Publicize it on the RFP Database

The RFP Database is a free and efficient website for publicizing your project to thousands of vendors, many that will be interested in bidding on your project. Make sure to specify your location and location requirement if there is one. Head over to the site, register and create an account, then click on the link to "Add an RFP". A short form that should take 60 seconds to fill out and your project will be announced on the site.

Announce it through professional associations

Almost every product or service has a professional association to represent it. For instance, if you're seeking architectural services, you can visit the American Institute of Architects and their pages for RFPs. Or, if you're seeking public relations services, you can visit the Public Relations Society of America and visit their RFP Exchange to announce your RFP.

Print advertisements

Print advertisements are probably one of the least effective means of publicizing your RFP and receiving good results. RFP listings are typically buried in the back of the newspaper, rarely read, and the advertisement will cost you money that doesn't need to be spent. However, sometimes print advertisements of your RFPs are a requirement, specifically if you are representing a government agency.

Craig's List

Craig's List can be a good way to publicize your project, but be warned: you'll be on the receiving end of LOTS of worthless communications, pitches, and spam.

Should stipends be provided for a pre-qualified RFP response?

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:40:00 +0000

David, as a board member of the Northampton Arts Council, has recently been helping prepare a RFP for a public art project that will replace a mural at the entrance to the downtown. During the course of developing the RFP a number of suggestions were floated amongst the Committee about how we could create a public call for proposals that would result in a high quality of submissions, but also be fair to the artists that we are tasked with supporting knowing the non-billable time and effort that goes into a quality submission. We came up with two ways that we believed would accomplish these goals: a two-step submission process and a stipend for the finalists selected for the final, complete proposal.

Two-step submission process
We decided to employ a two-step submission process; the first step would be to complete a short-form proposal submission that was more akin to a "Request for Qualifications" or RFQ. In the first step artists are asked to submit a short proposal that provides the selection committee with an overview of the project's concept, approximate budget, artist's qualifications, timeline, and sketches of the proposed concept. The selection committee will then review these proposals according to a pre-established scoring criteria and invite the top 3 to 5 submissions to create and submit a comprehensive proposal for the project.

Finalist stipends
The Committee wanted to explore ways of making the process more artist-friendly, and knowing that it is asking a lot from a group that we are both tasked with supporting that is traditionally economically challenged, we investigated ways we could compensate the artists for the time spent preparing a proposal. We found that, while not exactly customary, it is a common enough practice in public art call for proposals to offer a stipend to pre-qualified submissions. With this in mind finalists will be invited to submit comprehensive proposals to the Committee and will receive the stipend for their comprehensive proposal development.

The Question: Should stipends be provided for a pre-qualified RFP response?
Working with the non-profit Arts Council and offering this stipend had us wondering: should stipends be customary for a pre-qualified RFP response? Is this done in the corporate world? One of the most common complaints heard from businesses is that they feel cheated by RFPs, that RFPs are a way for an organization to get dozens of companies to provide them with free consulting and spec work at the cost of thousands of dollars of non-billable time per company. After some quick research we found that yes, there are some organizations out there that compensate submitters for their pre-qualified proposals with a stipend, but apparently this was deemed a questionable practice by some.

So what are your thoughts? Should more organizations that issue RFPs be encouraged to run their competitive bidding opportunities this way?

Writing a winning proposal: start from the champagne and work backwards

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:40:00 +0000

Writing proposal responses to a RFP can be a mind-numbing affair, and after responding to a few lengthy and complex RFPs, it's easy to fall into bad habits. One of those bad habits is approaching the RFP by trying to demonstrate how you can fulfill the requirements of the RFP, the other is writing a proposal that nobody wants to read.

Yes, we know, we gave you advice that you need to work towards demonstrating that you fulfill RFP requirements in writing a successful proposal. Rather than trying to win the project by demonstrating your competence in fulfilling the letter of the RFP, why not try winning the project by starting the proposal with the premise of your company creating a final deliverable and strong concept, and working backwards to fulfill this concept?

Knowing that the issuer is probably going to be reading a stack of boring proposals, if you are to win the project it is imperative that you differentiate yourself. Bring the excitement to your proposal by leading off with an unconventional executive summary. Get the issuer excited about your final product and their project. Paint a big picture, an exciting vision, and bring them into the enthusiasm that you have for their project.

Convey the excitement that you'll have on the day you launch their project into that opening of your proposal.

Make them want to read the other 20 pages of your proposal.

Open, Competitive, Transparent and Strategic: words that procurement departments should live by

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

We view government fulfillment as having two priorities: getting the best product for the best price and being as transparent as possible in doing so. All products and services able to be competitively bid should be bid that way, and the ability to submit a bid for a RFP should be open to any business able to fulfill the requirements of the RFP. Too often procurement managers seem to be more concerned with fulfilling the letter of their obligations while neglecting the spirit of their obligations.

It's amazing when, after a RFP finds its way onto the RFP Database, an "uninspired" procurement manager gets upset that our site is driving more competitive bids towards the project and that it was "unauthorized". In our view procurement managers should be going out of their way to publicize their projects and welcome new audiences to bid on their projects. These same procurement managers feel that simply posting a link to the project on some hidden corner of their agency's website, and maybe running a 1-day advertisement in the local paper (last page!) fulfills their obligations of transparency and competitiveness. Sometimes they project disappointment when they only receive 2 bids on the project and their higher-ups assume that those are the only companies that were interested in the project. That hardly seems like the competitive process that was probably envisioned, especially if those 2 bids were from companies that were personally notified about the opportunity.

We understand that there are rules, established by elected officials in all levels of the bureaucracy, that specify how procurement should operate so as to avoid conflicts of interest and to set the bar for a competitive process. But we think it's fair to say that the bar is set fairly low in many instances, and too often these procurement departments do the bare minimum that is required. As overheard in a recent discussion on the subject, "The procurement directors... are obliged to extract maximum juice from every single tax payers' dollar spent".

What this translates into is the need for a proactive procurement policy, one that actively engages and solicits feedback in the interest of getting both the best deal, but also the right final product, and one where the procurement department isn't tasked with running each RFP as if it's a commodity based solely on price. If procurement officers are only used in the capacity of taking the requirements from other departments and putting them into a formal document for publication, is that procurement department truly fulfilling its obligations?

For example, if a department puts out a RFP and now has a huge project running on one type of database, and a little while later another department puts out a RFP and now has their project running on a different type of database with their own set of hardware and software, has the procurement department saved the tax payers money or negotiated the best deal? Is it possible that the second project could have made use of the same database and saved the cost of licensing and additional hardware?

There is exceptional value and savings to be gained by having an active and engaged procurement process and purchasing officer. Not only will this officer help direct the organization towards a unified purchasing strategy that can potentially avoid the above situation, but in the process negotiate better pricing and purchasing through a detailed process that solicits stronger proposals. Combine this with a disbursement strategy that puts the project opportunity in front of companies, large and small, from all over the country without any artificial barriers, and you've accomplished the open and competitive procurement that is the supposed goal.

Open, Competitive, Transparent and Strategic should be the words that procurement departments live by.

Reviews and recommendations for the RFP Database

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:56:00 +0000

On October 1, 2009, the RFP Database surpassed a membership of over 53,000 registered users and having announced over 15,000 RFPs. On a given week there are over 250 to 350 new RFPs listed on the site with a value exceeding $200 million for services ranging from Accounting, Architecture and Engineering to Public Relations, Marketing and Web Development.

But most importantly, what do the users think about the site?

"[Confluent Forms LLC] provides one of the most valuable resources for a sales professional especially one in the IT world. [Confluent Forms LLC's] RFP Database website is an excellent resource for sales leads and a wonderful peer to peer network. I would recommend them and their services to anyone in the sales industry."

Carl Barcroft
Sales and Marketing Manager, Project A

"Some ideas are so good that they seem obvious as soon as someone else has thought of them. The RFP database is one of those. It offers extraordinary value to a very large group of people, who both add RFPs that they can't use from their own searches and draw on the finds of others. But not only did [Confluent Forms LLC] come up with the idea, they have done an extraordinary job of maintaining and promoting it (not a task to envy)."

Sam Frank
Principal, Synthesis Partnership

"I am very impressed with the quantity and quality of information captured and posted on the RFP Database. It is a "must-read" for me each morning and has been a source of business leads since I registered. Good work and thank you for making it easier to find opportunities!"

Linda DiMario
Owner, DiMario & Associates

"Your database is a tremendous resource and a great help to us. We received 11 solid proposals. We will certainly use your services in the future."

Town of Irondequoit NY

“QTI has been members of [Confluent Forms LLC]'s site (www.RFPdb.com) for a few years now. I highly recommend their site to all professional firms that bid any overall projects. There is no Lead Generation site on the net more user-friendly, current and valuable when participating in uploading and downloading prospective projects. In addition, our company posted our first ever banner ad and decided to do so with www.RFPdb.com. Thank you so much for your help with bid opportunities and the existence of www.RFPdb.com!”

Darren Ferona
Marketing and Sales Manager, Quality Teleservices, Inc.

“[Confluent Forms LLC] has assembled the largest collection of RFPs and does an amazing job serving their audience with information they need to know about RFPs. I rely on their company to keep us informed of opportunities that benefit our bottomline.”

Kristine Forsberg
Owner, Vertical Methods, LLC

"I was not aware that our RfP had ended up at the RFP Database, but I'm happy it did. We are always looking for ways to get our RfPs broadcast as widely as possible and we will be using your site in the future!"

Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange

“I have found the service offered by [Confluent Forms LLC] through RFPdb.com to be an excellent resource for new business leads. The RFP Database is a cost effective means for gathering a large number of potential projects in a short period of time.”

John Silentio
Independent Computer & Network Security Professional

"It was a funny story getting to you as I had said to the staff "Wouldn't it make sense if there was a place you could post the RFP rather than digging through all of these directories, etc." One motivated staffer came back after a little research and said – it exists. With appreciation!"

Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation

"[Confluent Forms LLC]'s collaborative site has generated a number of additional prospects and leads into our pipeline. The deals closed after bidding on the sources provided on RFPDB.com have amounted to around $160,000 in revenue. As our small business drives forward, we will continue to utilize the RFPDB community to hunt down attractive government-based projects."

Daniel Nyquist
Business Development, Artemis Solutions Group

"We were wondering how we gathered proposals from as far as California! Yes, we received 6 proposals in total and that is more than we expected. Thank you!"

Addison County Transit Resources

"[Confluent Forms LLC] has built a community for people like me to find new business opportunities. Their website, The RFP Database (www.rfpdb.com), allows users to look for & post RFPs. As a digital marketing consultant responsible for new business development, rfpdb.com is now my favorite website."

Mark Wilson
Drennon Construction & Consulting, Inc

"I would like to take this opportunity to recommend [Confluent Forms LLC] and commend the fine work they are doing at RFPdb.com. I have been using their service to identify RFP's in my field and have had continued success in not only making the finals, but winning bids I have found through his service. I consider RFPdb an instrumental tool and valuable resource in my new business prospecting."

Graham Stinchcomb
Senior Director, Business Development, Employment Enterprises

Have feedback on the RFP Database? Please send your feedback to david@confluentforms.com

Developing your Go/No-Go decision tree

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:28:00 +0000

The situation:

A potentially juicy RFP falls into your lap. You try not to get too excited because you know that creating a winning proposal can be an expensive and time-consuming affair. Before you get invested in the project proposal you want to determine whether this is, in fact, a worthwhile project for you to chase, or one that you should pass.

Companies should always be taking a hard look and evaluating their leads as a way of increasing their win percentage and return on investment (proposal writing), but this is especially important in today's tough economic environment. When you receive a RFP it is easy to get excited about it, especially if it was specifically sent to your company. However, it is important to be able to quantify your chances of success so you can avoid becoming column fodder. Spending time developing a Go/No-Go decision tree, and continually working to improve it, is a way for your company to keep these decisions objective and to approach sales opportunities with your eyes wide open.

So what is a Go/No-Go decision tree?

Interested in learning more about RFPs?

Read some of our other articles on Requests for Proposals.

A Go/No-Go decision tree is a document that you create to numerically quantify your chances of success in winning the project. We have seen it take the form of a multiple choice test, an evaluation form, a flow chart, and others. The Council of Public Relations Firms has a rudimentary form that they call their "Fit to Win" questionanaire that might be a good starting point. You want to ask tough questions of both yourself and the project to determine whether it is a good RFP but not the right project for you, a bad RFP but possibly worth responding to, or whether it is a good RFP and one that you're definitely going to bid on. (You might notice we're not advocating the half-measure of sending in a weak proposal as we believe that just makes you look bad).

In creating this document you want to ask tough questions of yourself, the project, and the client. By asking tougher questions you'll develop a better, more realistic view of the project, and in the long run save on non-billable time but probably also win more projects. These questions also don't need to be limited to questions designed for helping you win the project, but can also be designed to determine whether the project is actually one you want to win. For example, you might have had bad experiences with projects run by a committee; perhaps that should be one of your questions.

How do I create my Go/No-Go decision tree?

Your decision tree should not be treated as a simple sales tool; a good decision tree will both help you in determining which leads to pursue because you can win them, but also enable you to target the leads that result in the best projects for your company. And don't limit these questions to the positive; which projects and project leads turn out to be losers. These decisions go beyond the sales team so we advise including more than the sales team in formulating your tree.

1) start by identifying your best and worst projects
2) evaluate your portfolio and identify your strengths and weaknesses
3) revisit your proposals, both won and lost

The purpose of this introspection is to be brutally honest in identifying trends in your business that can aid you in both finding the right projects while avoiding the wrong projects. Use this information to formulate the questions that will enable you to put proper perspective into your business prospecting.

Now take a look at the proposal. Start writing the tough questions that will enable you to figure out if you have enough information to bid on the project and if you have a worthwhile shot at winning the project. Some questions to start you off might be:

Is the current vendor bidding on the project?
Is there an established budget, do we know the budget, and is it reasonable for the project?
How well can we demonstrate we should be awarded this project?
Are we a good fit for this project?
Is this project a good fit for us?
Have we won similar projects to this in the past?

If you don't have all of the information you need to answer your questions make sure to ask the client the questions that will enable you to continue. Ask questions, lots of questions, until you feel you have enough information to make an educated evaluation of your chances.

Turning it into cold, hard mathematics

Everyone has a different method for turning the questions into a formula, and everyone's questions will be different based on the results of your business introspection. We've seen companies working upwards to a weirdly weighted seemingly random number, we've seen companies working backwards from 100% and subtracting based on negative questions, and we've seen ornate flow chart decision trees. Perhaps a spreadsheet of 50 questions works best for you where a full value is 2 points, half-value is 1 point, and you work upwards to 100. There's no right method beyond finding the formula that works for you.

The next step is to look at the numbers that are generated and create a numerical-based sliding scale of "RFP worthiness" that will help you in both determining how good your chances of success are, and how worthwhile chasing this RFP will be. We encourage you to document your results for each RFP received, especially for those that you choose to respond to. Track your win percentage and any post-mortem results/feedback from each proposal and use these results to further refine your decision tree.

An important thing to remember

The most important thing to remember is that the Go/No-Go decision tree is a tool. It is a tool that will provide you with better results if you put more work into it and continually develop it. Every win and every loss can provide you with further insight into your selection process, so make sure to periodically revisit your tree's questions and valuation arithmetic. There are lots of opportunities out there, your time is best spent on the projects that are a good fit for your company and projects that you can win.

What the Great Recession means for competitive bidding

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:25:00 +0000

One prebid meeting I went to had over 150 people there. In the past I would have expected ten at a prebid and six to propose.

Betty Brennan
Taylor Studios, Inc.

This economy, the so-called Great Recession, is a different and challenging situation for business prospectors who likely have never faced the retrenchment that is occurring in both private and public spending. According to some estimates the economy has contracted at an annual rate of 3.8%, a number not seen since this information was tracked in 1947, including a drop of over 6% in the first quarter. Businesses, faced with declining sales, are faced with a choice of laying off workers or delaying purchases, so are trying to do a combination of both. Less spending in Corporate America is pushing companies into trying their hand at public/government projects, but even that isn't safe. States and local municipalities are facing revenue shortfalls themselves and are being forced to cut spending... and then cut them again as revenue projections are lowered a few months later.

I remember spending weeks writing a proposal only to find out that no funds were going to be available. The project was stalled for over 2 years and when the funds did become available, we had to go through the process all over again. We stuck with it because we knew we'd received high marks from the selection committee the first time, and we know we're the right firm for the contract.

Donna Stuart
Glen Group, Inc.

Many hoped that the Recovery Act would provide the resources necessary to take "shovel ready" projects that were delayed due to lack of funding and put companies immediately to work, jump-starting the economy and spending. It is possible that they severely underestimated the situation. In July the Lee County Board of County Commissioners issued a RFP for a firm or firms to provide "civil, architectural, structural, landscape architectural, land surveying & mapping, utility, mechanical and electrical traffic" services. They anticipated the awarding of contracts to "numerous" firms.

The project was canceled. The Board's cancellation message reads: "Based upon the overwhelming response received (167 Letters of Interest), the Committee has canceled this procurement process and Lee County will not proceed with awarding any contracts under this solicitation".

We don't know for sure if this project was to be funded by the Recovery Act, but we've heard similar stories from multiple sources expressing amazement, frustration, and a bit of hopelessness in trying to bid on projects where you're competing against so many other companies. Firms are now competing hard for projects that they would have rejected in the past because of low profit margins, ridiculous requirements, impossible deadlines, etc., and they're doing it because they need to survive.

And this isn't limited to the public sector. As many in the advertising industry know, Zappos issued a RFP this summer seeking a new advertising agency to represent it. Advertising agencies responded as if they were cattle in a stampede and over 100 agencies responded. We gave an interview recently discussing the Zappos RFP hubbub entitled RFP Etiquette: Dos and Don’ts for Business Matchmaking.

Regardless of the competition and the odds stacked against them companies continue, and must continue, to bid on these projects. Guy Iannuzzi, CEO of Mentus, explains his reasons for competing for a large and very competitive marketing services RFP for water conservation as:

It was a very large budget, which while very competitive, still was attractive.
The high profile of the project would be useful in promoting the agency in the community.
The campaign opened the water conservation and sustainability markets to the agency.
The agency had background in producing several of the organization’s annual reports for the previous years.
The agency had previously answered another large branding RFP for outdoor conservations the previous year, and had come a very close second (by a half point), which gave us confidence

His advice, and the advice of many others, teaches us that we need to become much smarter in our business development strategies and how they relate to competitive bidding. We can all agree that jumping into a competition like the ones mentioned above is awful, but that sometimes there is little choice. There are lots of resources for learning how to better respond to RFPs, and the companies that will win more of these projects are the companies that put time and effort into strengthening their RFP/proposal strategies.

What can RFP issuers do?
We're certain that the companies, organizations and municipal agencies that are issuing these RFPs are equally overwhelmed at receive 100+ proposals, each running 10-100 pages in length. But just as vendors can get smarter at choosing which RFPs to respond to, issuers can get smarter about determining who they request proposals from while still using a RFP process. We don't advocate the "open the yellow pages and choose 3 vendors" approach, but what issuers can do is put out a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) or a Request for Information (RFI). The purpose of these documents would be to get vendors to supply and answer basic qualification questions related to the project at hand in a shorter format (perhaps 5 pages instead of 50). Simple questions such as corporate history, examples of similar projects (scope, request, budget, etc.), executive summary for why they believe they are the most qualified or best fit, etc. The issuer would evaluate these responses and choose a handful of companies that they want to receive full proposals from instead of receiving 100 proposals from all around the globe.

Another suggestion would be to have issuers re-think their standard RFP and revise it so that the requirements of the RFP are more in-line with the scope of the project; vendors shouldn't need to write 100 page proposals for a 5 page website redesign.

Some vendor-side words of wisdom
The suggestions below were sent to us in response to a Help a Reporter Out request that read:

We're looking for stories of businesses that responded to a RFP and endured a lengthy/difficult/ridiculous RFP process to win a project. Looking for details such as 1) why it was so lengthy/difficult/ridiculous, 2) why you stuck with it, 3) whether it was worth it in the end and 4) what 1 piece of advice you'd give to other RFP issuers so they can learn from what you went through (besides directly hiring you)

The responses we received all showed companies who understood the process, were continually working to improve their win ratio and proposal ROI, and actively engaged in competitive bidding. Reading their stories it is fair to say that they all overcame adversity to win their projects, but they all continue to engage in competitive bidding. A selection of the advice that was sent to us is included below.

"I would advise people that it's all about the Q&A process. Reviewing the RFP immediately upon receipt and then preparing a thorough set of questions for the issuer is the most important thing you can do. In this example (and dozens of others) the Q&A process allowed us to develop a connection with the client and really understand what they wanted. Effectively, they trusted us before they even saw our response and that was why they asked us to resubmit when it wasn’t what they wanted."
-Mike D'Abramo, Youthography

"First, to examine what information is truly needed in order to make an informed decision - not just to ask for detail because every other prior RFP the organization has sent out has asked for it. And to be honest up front whether the issuer is willing to work with a firm that's not local. So often the knee jerk answer is "Of course, we'd consider working with an agency that's out of the area/state/region," but in actuality they really want someone down the street."
-Donna Stuart, Glen Group, Inc.

"The key to remember is that RFP are meant to be a framework for enabling a structured response but is not the final word. You still have to perform all the sales process steps and make sure you get a chance to speak to a human being who is the decision maker. Since then we have made a rule. If we cannot speak to a decision maker in an RFP, we will not bid. Better to save the time and pursue other meaningful clients or just improve your work life balance."
-Vivek Khanna, Neeyamo Enterprise Solutions

"I remember bidding on a rather small identity job (maybe $10,000) that had 20 open-ended questions that required a week to complete and ran about 6-8 pages with answers. At the same time I was asked to bid on a $100,000 project, met with the prospective for an hour input, and submitted a bid three days later. This contrast of open ended, time consumption vs. a quick and direct input session highlighted for me the difference between a good process and a weak one."
-David Langton, Langton Cherubino Group, Ltd.

"My advice is to not stint on the effort of demonstrating your competence or abilities in answering the RFP. As a consequence, you will need to choose wisely – you cannot afford to provide that level of effort unless the RFP is VERY closely aligned with your organization’s mission and competency."
-Guy Iannuzzi, Mentus

For more articles on RFPs and proposals please visit our other articles on the subject at http://blog.confluentforms.com. We encourage our readers to sign up to receive our articles by email (top right corner) as we post them on an irregular basis.

Why responding to RFPs might not be for you

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:30:00 +0000

Requests for Proposals aren't for everyone. Some companies simply don't need them in order to acquire new clients and new business. It makes complete sense; why enter yourself into a competition against other companies, spending tens or hundreds of non-billable hours creating proposals, only to lose more proposals than you win? We can certainly think of some methods to land new business that are less painful on the ego and lots more fun:

Invite potential clients to rounds of golf and free drinks
Hire junior sales members on commission only to make cold calls
Throw elaborate holiday parties with open bars
Sponsor networking events for large Chambers of Commerce
Place advertising in major industry journals, newspapers, and tv stations is major markets
Call people out of our rolodex
Hire connected sales people to call people out of their rolodex
Develop fancy marketing material, interactive advertisements, and holiday Flash games
Reserve a corporate suite at SXSW

With these sales resources and strategies in mind it's a wonder that any medium or large agency would ever consider responding to a RFP as there's simply no reason to dedicate the time and effort necessary to winning it, let alone give up any of these more fun and exciting methods of landing business. If you have access to all of the above resources for developing new business opportunities we wholeheartedly encourage you to skip the RFP process.

Really.

Don't even consider it.

If you get a RFP in the mail your best course of action is to set up a mail filter to immediately delete it or return it to the sender with a note that you're not interested. Don't think twice about this decision, let alone write gripes on your blog decrying the whole RFP process. With such better sales strategies and techniques at your disposal, RFPs are for suckers; let the suckers waste their time and efforts on them while you're finishing the back-9 with a potential client.

For everyone else I recommend reading "RFPs Suck!" by Tom Searcy.

Being unconventional with the RFP Database

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 18:20:00 +0000

If you're looking for RFPs, search no further: go to the RFP Database.

We fully realize that the following article might sound like an advertisement for the RFP Database, but as the site was built with the intention of helping construct business relationships, we want to showcase the more unconventional ways in which that site is being used to grow new relationships. We hope that some of the ideas listed below might spur you to approach the site with a new outlook and try some new ways of using it to advance your business goals.

When we built the RFP Database we really only anticipated the site being used two ways, to either announce your RFP for bidders or to find RFPs to bid on. At the same time, the site was built incorporating a credit system so that should we come up with ways to extend the site, ratios of cost could easily be added to the site and new uses integrated. Over the last few years we've been told about some unconventional or secondary ways that our site has been used to extend businesses that weren't as interested in finding or announcing RFPs, but still put our site to good use:

Teaching a college-level business course

We notice this when we have a sudden influx of students from the same college joining our site, other times we've been contacted by the professor. Sometimes we regret that we hadn't taken courses like this in college, but we're glad someone out there is teaching them! The assignment is often a combination of learning how to write a RFP and how to respond to craft a proposal response to a RFP. The teacher might download some sample RFPs to demonstrate in the class, the students might look for examples to download, or the students might even grab a RFP and be tasked with writing a proposal to be evaluated by the teacher.

If you're a professor or student looking for some RFPs to use as samples please feel free to register, the first two projects you download are entirely free. If those first two aren't enough, we recommend going to your college/university procurement site (almost all universities have one) and uploading a few from that site; for each RFP you upload you'll gain access to five more leads that you can use.

Free advertising of a company's services

Some companies aren't looking for RFPs themselves, but are instead looking to connect with the people issuing RFPs or looking for RFPs. The companies that stick out are the ones that are geared towards helping companies write killer proposals, or helping organizations write RFPs as many organizations often go looking for samples to base their RFP on. Taking advantage of our inexpensive advertising option, companies are able to purchase advertisement views in blocks of 1k, 5k, and 10k views for $10, $40, and $70.

This becomes even more attractive for companies when it becomes free; as our system is based on credits, you can use credits earned from uploading RFPs to purchase advertisement views. In exchange for 7 RFP uploads, which should take about 15 minutes to find and upload, a company can run an advertisement for approximately one month on our site for free

White papers announcements

It seems that we're not the only ones that believe that the best way to impress potential clients is by demonstrating that we're knowledge leaders by self-publishing. A few users that are prolific authors have taken advantage of the above-mentioned advertising opportunities and, instead of simply publishing an advertisement for their company, their advertisement is instead an advertisement to read and download a new white paper. There aren't many better ways for a company to impress potential clients than showcasing their expertise on the subject matter in the form of a white paper, and it's ingenious that they're able to advertise their white paper for free to those potential clients.

Writing new Requests for Proposals

So this might not be the most unconventional of uses, but it's certainly a good one to mention. Often times, someone in an organization is tasked with writing a RFP but has no idea how to go about doing this. Why reinvent the wheel? Looking at examples of existing RFPs that are similar to the one you are seeking to write is one of the best ways of jump-starting the RFP-writing process. You can also join our LinkedIn group and ask for assistance. Vendors appreciate well-written and documented RFPs and will always give you tips on how to write a better RFP. And once the RFP is written you can announce it on the website and get the competitive bids that you need.

Keeping in touch with corporate partners

This is one of our personal favorites: one of our members is in sales for a company that, while they provide a service, it isn't a service that generally pitches directly to the organizations issuing RFPs. Their service is generally sought by the winner of a project who incorporates their offering into the project plan. As a way of keeping in touch with the primary companies who would be both bidding on these projects and then hiring the company to do their piece of the project, this sales person will find and send RFPs from the RFP Database to their clients who might be interested in bidding on the project. This practice both ingratiates the client to you for bringing leads to their door, but also keeps alive channels of communication and keeps you in the forefront of their mind for other projects they might be working on.

While the above is a bit vague, here's an example:

You represent a company that writes jingles for advertising campaigns. You receive notices about advertising projects listed on the RFP Database and one catches your glance: a RFP for Tourism marketing and advertising services. You think sure, there might be an opportunity for my services within that project, or you might know the perfect company for that project. You download the project for a mere 2 credits and send it over to your contact with a friendly note. Talk about a great way to make friends, especially if they win the project!

Project leads for an organization's members

Membership-based organizations are always looking to provide greater services to their members; this is especially true in down economies. One method we've seen in a variety of different forms is organizations incorporating leads from the RFP Database into their site. An example of this in use is Mike Rowe (of Discovery Channel "Dirty Jobs" fame) and his site, MikeRoweWorks.com. In the Job Site section of his site he has integrated a RSS feed of RFPs from the RFP Database as a way of showing projects that might be interesting to his visitors. Having this additional content and providing it as a service to your members will both encourage new visitors as well as keep your existing members very happy with what you're providing.

If you've put the RFP Database to good use in a way that's out of the ordinary please let us know!

RFP Etiquette: Dos and Don’ts for Business Matchmaking

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:00:00 +0000

The following interview/article was conducted by Vince Giorgi, Vince President of Hanley Wood Marketing for his blog, Touch Point City. The original article was posted here on July 21, 2009.

In case you haven’t heard, online marketing and media conversation has been buzzing in recent days over an incident involving a request for proposal (RFP). If your business purchases products and services, or competes for new business, through RFPs, you’ll want to read on.

The two parties in this scenario are Zappos, the online retailer, and a marketing agency, Ignited. Mike Wolfsohn, Ignited’s EVP-executive creative director, wrote a Sunday post for his agency’s blog describing Ignited’s experience during a recent Zappos agency search. His post tells of the agency’s chagrin at seeing, via Google analytics, that Zappos viewed only five pages of Ignited’s 25-page proposal (submitted as a blog), with an average page-view time of just 14 seconds.

While admitting to voluntarily joining what he and his colleagues suspected would be a “cattle call,” Wolfsohn states in his post that the “Zappos pitch underscores what’s wrong with the review process.” He argues, “If agencies are going to spend weeks preparing their response, the least any client can do is commit 30 minutes to look at it.”

The headline on Wolfsohn’s post: “Is 30 Minutes Too Much To Ask?”An article about the post in the AdAge Daily News e-newsletter triggered, at last count, 88 comments, many from marketing and ad agency pros. A majority take Wolfsohn to task for voicing sour grapes over a relatively standard RFP process in which his firm finished out of the running. Fewer express empathy for Ignited and disdain for Zappos’ approach. Several lament unfairness and imperfections inherent in the RFP process itself.

Rules of the RFP Road?

All this hub-bub over a single RFP made us wonder what exactly are the rules of etiquette and best practices for publishing, and responding to, RFPs?

For insight, TPC contacted David Kutcher, president of Confluent Forms, a Northampton, Mass., design firm. Kutcher also is founder of The RFP Database, a Web-based service that aggregates RFPs of all types for efficient distribution by issuers and searching by suppliers.

TPC: Without delving into the specifics of this case, David, what’s your overall takeaway? What tends to go awry in a situation such as this?

Kutcher: I think everyone is a bit too overwhelmed to think rationally; Zappos received over 100 proposals, which is not really surprising, and Ignited put their heart and soul into the pitch and felt a bit disrespected. It’s completely understandable. I’m not sure anything went awry from a process standpoint, but I think it’s a learning experience for companies that enter into the “cattle calls” as much as it is for companies that release their RFP to the wild.

In this specific case I might have recommended that instead of releasing their RFP to the wild, that Zappos instead release a simple RFI (request for information) that asks for a maximum of two to five pages of information, mostly as a way to get profile information about firms, examples of their work, etc., and from there, select a smaller number of firms to receive the full RFP.

With this sort of approach you can spend more time with the firms you do a final ask from, but also not ask so much non-billable time from firms who go overboard making a full-blown pitch. Only the firms that make the first cut would be asked to compose that full proposal.

TPC: Is every supplier that responds to an RFP owed a certain minimum level of review and consideration by the potential customer?

Kutcher: I think we all like to feel we should be heard and given ample time to make our pitch, but this harkens back to the idea of a company’s “elevator pitch,” which seems to be becoming a lost art. If you can’t connect with the reader in the first 30 seconds and explain why you are the best choice for the project, then you really should revisit your proposal-writing strategy.

Regardless if they keep reading, the reader is likely just going through the motions at that point, since they’ve become mentally disengaged. If you don’t capture your reader, that’s on you, not the reader. And that’s business; it’s up to YOU to make the sale.

TPC: On the client side, what are common things you see companies struggle with or miss when it comes to conducting an effective, fair RFP?

Kutcher: It all starts with the issuer, and generally the RFP process goes off the rails because the organization didn’t put enough forethought into the RFP. This could be that they didn’t do enough internal research for what they were looking for, didn’t think about how their process would be run, or failed to define the proposal format and information they wanted back, so as to have an apples-to-apples comparison.

Organizations need to fully appreciate that companies put a lot of unbillable time and effort into responding to RFPs. Releasing a poorly written, poorly defined, and poorly executed RFP into the world can ruin your reputation among vendors and, instead of leading you to a good partnership, can leave you with the bottom of the barrel.

TPC: What about suppliers? Are there things they need to remember, or ask the client, on the front end, in order to ensure they’re not left feeling badly treated on the back end?

Kutcher: Suppliers need to ask questions, LOTS of questions, until the point where they are assured that the issuer is serious about their project, has done the necessary homework, is issuing this competitive bid project with the full intention of hiring someone, and that a vendor with no prior relationship has a chance of winning.

TPC: What’s the trend line? Is RFP-driven sourcing becoming more prevalent?

Kutcher: I think the trend in RFPs matches the trend toward businesses using the Internet to conduct business and going online to find vendors outside their local areas. Online business, and RFPs, enable a vendor in western Massachusetts (like my company) to win projects from organizations located in Manhattan, beating out local companies because we can offer superior value and competitive pricing.

Instead of location being one of the primary determining factors, quality, value and ideal fit can be considered first. A well-run RFP process can be the most democratic, meritorious and pragmatic approach to procurement and purchasing, but it all depends on if the process is run well.

TPC: Does The RFP Database offer tips or tools to help both parties work effectively with RFPs?

Kutcher: We’ve written a number of articles on the subject of RFPs and proposals that can be useful to both issuers and bidders. You can find these articles on our blog.

The RFP Database also can provide help through our sheer library of RFPs. If you’re new to RFP writing, search our site and find some projects that are similar to the one you’re looking to undertake. See what others have done before. Look at how they described their project, their timelines, and get a feel for what you need to have in your own RFP. Call them and find out if they would revise their RFP if they had re-issued the project.

You can also join our LinkedIn group and find some talented RFP writers and strategists to assist you. You shouldn’t feel like you’re reinventing the wheel, and if you need some assistance or have questions, just ask.

TPC: If you had one piece of RFP advice for clients and suppliers, what would it be?

Kutcher: To issuers I would say this: The amount of forethought and effort you put into the process in the beginning will greatly affect the quality and ease of the process and final project.

To suppliers I would echo the words of the Oracle at Delphi: “Know thyself.” If you can clearly articulate why, on paper, you are the best choice for the project, then you really can’t do much more. Don’t fight for being the lowest bidder, the firm that can do it all, or try to wow them with your management team’s bios. Show them that you can rock their project like you’ve rocked lots of similar projects in the past.
_______________________
*The comments are both enlightening and entertaining, and we hoped to provide a direct link. But it appears you’ll need to register on AdAge’s site, then subscribe to the Daily News e-newsletter, in order to access the article. If you choose to do so, look for the July 15 issue of the e-newsletter, or search on “Zappos” or “Ignited.”

We seek RFPs for Innovation, not Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:30:00 +0000

One of the biggest conundrums that companies encounter when they are reviewing Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that they are interested in bidding on is whether the RFP is for a real project, or whether it's a fishing expedition for ideas to be implemented by an existing vendor or internally. The problem that companies run into is that they want to wow the prospect, they want to show that they have good ideas and can provide unique insight and value to the customer, but they don't want to give those ideas away and they don't want to waste their time by putting effort into coming up with those ideas for a project that doesn't exist or for a client that isn't ready to commit.

For us, this boils down to Innovation vs. Inspiration. If the RFP is asking for potential solutions to a clearly defined concept, challenge or goal, then that is Innovation (and good). But if the RFP is vague in its needs and throwing around a wishlist of ideas (wants) without a coherent concept, they are clearly looking for Inspiration (and bad).

We believe the situation boils down to whether the company issuing the RFP has established their requirements and are seeking innovative ways to fulfill those needs, or whether they are looking for inspiration and ideas of what they should or could be doing.

How can you tell if it's seeking Innovation or Inspiration?

We'll be the first to admit that we've spent lots of time and effort on projects that sucked us in, but turned out to be Requests for Inspiration. There is little more frustrating than hearing a few weeks after your submission that they decided to stick with their current vendor, not go forward with the project, or have delayed the project until they've done more research. It's even more frustrating when you don't hear from them for two months, and only after you contact them to find out what happened, hearing the above responses. At that moment you know you've been had and you can't help but feel frustrated and disappointed.

You can usually tell this by the information, or lack of information, that they provide in the RFP, and sometimes by the seemingly random insertion of buzzwords and industry jargon. And no, it's not a matter of how much information they put into the RFP, but the type of information that it contains.

Are they asking you targeted questions, seeking potential answers to specific questions?

Are they providing you with the necessary information to enable you to respond with detailed solutions?

Are they providing you with facts, figures, statistics and background information that you'll need to properly evaluate their RFP?

And simply,

Did they do their own homework before asking you to invest your time and effort?

If in the process of starting your proposal you find yourself actually defining the project (as opposed to defining your solution) you've clearly determined that they are seeking Inspiration, not Innovation.

Organizations must invest their time and effort... before asking Companies to invest theirs

In an earlier article we wrote 6 steps to writing a better RFP; there is a reason why the first step is to do your research and define what you are seeking. We also wrote that not all RFPs are worth a proposal. Beyond setting the stage for the project, enabling a hopeful apples to apples competitive bid process, and getting your internal ducks in a row, doing your homework shows to the companies that are preparing to spend lots of non-billable hours that you are serious about your project and serious about hiring a partner to work with you.

As an organization soliciting bids, it is important that you clearly articulate your vision of the perfect proposal and proposing firm for your project.

What are you seeking to accomplish?

What are the boundaries that the firm must work within in their proposed solution?

What are the factors that will influence your decision in selecting a proposal?

What are the constraints within your project (financial, technical, political, etc.)?

Is there a defined project or solution request here or are you simply seeking information and ideas for free?

In closing, it's important for organizations to acknowledge that companies put a lot of time and effort into creating proposals, all of it non-billable, in the interests of winning your business. It is unfair of you to put forward a Request for Inspiration, and in the long run, could hurt your reputation in the industry as well as the quality of future RFP responses.

Often maligned, RFPs are a valuable tool and opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:05:00 +0000

It seems that every month another expert writes an article on how RFPs are bad for business, RFPs are a bad idea, top 10 lists of why you hate them, RFPs should be done away with because they increase risk and cost, and that RFPs will soon be extinct.

While we have a vested interest in RFPs in that we run the RFP Database, we do find them to be one of the most democratic, meritorious, and pragmatic approaches to procurement and purchasing. They're not a full proof solution, and often times they are run poorly, but that's exactly why we recommend that you be selective in the RFPs you respond to.

A very quick intro to Requests for Proposals

Requests for Proposals (RFP) are a document created by an organization detailing a product or service sought and distributed to suppliers as a way of receiving structured competitive bids. RFPs typically consist of a listing of requirements for their needs, a structure for resulting proposals from suppliers, contractual information, profile information about the supplier, and pricing documentation.

Complaints against RFPs and the process

Many of the complaints against RFPs, such as the ones listed below, are problematic and fairly common. Some are more legitimate reasons than others, but as we've said before you should always be selective in the RFPs you respond to.

1) Cover for a pre-selected vendor

The biggest fear of every vendor is that they're spending time pitching a project against a stacked deck, that the issuing organization has already selected the vendor they would like to use but that the RFP is simply being issued to satisfy a requirement and attach a veneer of transparency.

This is a valid fear, but by simply asking the issuing organization pointed questions about the situation you can assuage this fear or learn enough to walk away from the project. Ask them: "is there a current vendor in place and are they bidding on this project?" or "did a firm assist in the writing of the rfp and are they also bidding?" If they are you know what you're up against and can make up your own mind whether or not to bid on the project.

2) Only about lowest pricing

Perhaps it's because we work in a service industry, but we have never encountered this problem when it comes to RFPs. Yes, everyone has a budget, and yes, almost every RFP says "pricing will be considered when evaluating proposals", but does anyone expect it to NOT be a consideration?

In assisting organizations with their RFP process we have often heard "they're too cheap compared to everyone else, there has got to be something wrong there" as often if not more so than "they are simply too expensive". This has lead us to believe that yes, pricing is important, but it is much better to price your solution in the middle of the pack than it is to price it at the bottom of the barrel.

3) Boxed in to a pre-determined solution

Vendors often feel that RFPs automatically put them at a disadvantage because the project might be structured by stakeholders based on their knowledge of their requirements and a specific direction clearly indicated. They might have already made up their mind that their project requires a Microsoft solution, or that they require a LEED certified architect, or some other requirement, or any other reason either because that's what their familiar with or that's the direction they are required to take.

A vendor might have a solution to the project and feel that it is a better solution for any number of reasons, but because it is not the exact project specified by the RFP, that it is the fault of the RFP process for not enabling alternative approaches to be submitted. Asking the project manager a simple questions such as "will an alternative solution that fulfills the project goals be considered?" will quickly let you know where you stand with the project and whether or not you should spend time responding.

4) Cattle call, not worth participating

If you're a sled dog and not at the front the view never changes, right? Sure, and open call for proposals will get dozens of respondents, but how can you possible win if you never take the field? Every business is in business because they believe that they have a product or service that is worth buying and that, somehow, they have enough market differentiation to set themselves apart from the crowd and win projects. No company is the #1 choice for every project because someone somewhere has excelled at that specific type of project and can win through a combination of experience, pricing and proposed solution. Unlike the other complaints, this one requires that you perform a bit of introspection to determine how likely you will be successful in setting yourself apart from the rest of your competition.

5) Impersonal, no ability to connect

This is the complaint usually heard from smooth-talking salesmen who often are heard bragging that they can sell anything to anyone. They're disheartened by the RFP process because it emphasizes fulfillment of specific criteria, turns slick marketing pieces into a negative, and limits conversation, golf outings and free dinners. This is usually spun as "we need to meet with the client, work with them to determine their needs, get a feel for the project, etc.", but what they're really trying to angle for is an "in".

When proposing to projects that we felt needed further definition or to work with the client to better formulate their needs we have often pitched a 2-phase project with the first phase being the "lets figure out the project needs together". This phase had the discussions, discovery, requirements gathering, etc. that then was put into a detailed SOW which became Phase 2. And if the organization isn't interested in this two phase approach, you can always walk away from the project.

6) Impossible odds

This complaint often arises from a correlation/causation issue in that "since I've never won a RFP" that must mean that "RFPs must be impossible to win". As we've disputed in the past, this isn't a problem with the RFP process, but is in fact a process of companies not being selective enough in choosing which RFPs are worth them spending the time in responding. If you're specialized and can effectively demonstrate that you are the superior option there is no reason why you'd be facing long odds.

Advantages for issuing agency

RFPs are often a mandated requirement for municipal agencies, non-profits and corporations as a way to try to get unbiased and competitive bids for their needs. Organizations often don't receive enough proposals to truly receive a competitive bidding process because they don't publicize them enough, but even when they only receive three bids, RFPs still provide them with advantages. They can also be seen as time consuming since they require that the organization put time and thought into their needs and requirements, but this is time well spent.

1) apples to apples comparison

How can you evaluate which is the best solution for you and which provides you with the best pricing for the features you want without the ability to put the two solutions side by side? The RFP process enable an organization to define their needs/goals, get specific pricing for the solution that meets their needs, and evaluate multiple solutions on a level playing surface.

2) promote open and fair competition

One of the worst things an organization can do is be seen as playing favorites and putting a veneer of competition on their purchasing process when they're simply going to award the project to someone's nephew. When you have transparent competition with a documented set of requirements and evaluation process the process for getting funding and approval for your project because that much simpler. People won't think "oh, they awarded this project to this company because the CEO took the PM out for a round of golf and a fancy dinner"; instead you'll be able to point to the proposals, point to the evaluation criteria, and say "this project was the one best suited to our needs and won on its merits".

2) competitive pricing and alternative solutions

Squaring away funding for a project is obviously more difficult when you've had a less than competitive process and/or only received one proposal; it's easy to question whether you've received a fair price if you don't have other pricing to compare it against.

During the competitive bid process many vendors will often propose solutions that deviate from the specified, or at the minimum ask you questions that might challenge your defined project and assumptions. This feedback might cause you to re-evaluate your project, and in the process, create a stronger project due to the added definition and discussion.

4) potential wide-range of submissions

If you are open to simply receiving the best solution based upon its merit and within loose guidelines for your specific project you will be surprised at how wide-ranging the submissions will be. Every solution provider tries to distinguish themselves from their competition and believes that they offer something different and something better than everyone else. Let them and encourage them. You want to find the solution provider that will not just meet the needs and requirements of the project, you want to find the provider that will exceed them.

5) non-sales documentation of solution

Once your RFP gets the submitters to move past their stock sales and marketing pieces you're actually able to learn something, minus the overkill in buzzwords, about the provider and their solutions. While vendors like to say that they despise RFPs because they have to jump through so many hoops and spend so much time writing proposals, if it wasn't for the RFP and the fact that you're telling the vendors the information YOU need in the format YOU want, you'd likely receive hundreds upon hundreds of sales material that wouldn't tell you what you were getting nor what it would cost.

Advantages for responding companies

Small and mid-sized companies shouldn't listen to the advice of experts that tell you that the RFP process is broken or that you should never spend time responding to RFPs.

1) small biz equalizer against large biz

How often do you as a small or mid-sized business get the opportunity to participate in a competitive bid process that is judged on its merit? An open RFP gives you the opportunity to submit your proposal alongside the "Big Dogs" and show how a small, nimble company can in fact be the best solution.

2) connections matter less

Not all of us have connections to Fortune 100 companies or Executive Directors for large non-profits, so while we might not have the time and money to invest in extensive marketing endeavors, open call RFPs provide us with the immediate open door. The trick is, now that the door is open enough for us to stick our foot in (in the form of a proposal), we need to capitalize on it with an amazing pitch.

3) can reward innovation and expertise

While not all RFPs encourage you to venture outside the box of their firm needs and requirements, there is always the chance that the reader will realize the brilliance in your proposal and the fact that you went a step further than your competitors in proposing a solution that would save them time/money or yield increased returns.

4) plays to your strengths

In the process of being selective in the RFPs you respond to, an open-call RFP enables you to select projects that play to your strengths as well as your more profitable projects. You can actively seek out the projects that, in your mind, are big, easy, and juicy. It's not longer about the projects that find you, but that you can actively seek out these long-ball business opportunities.

So in short, go out, find some RFPs, but don't forget to be selective!

6 steps to writing a better Request for Proposals, a primer

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:01:00 +0000

We believe strongly in Requests for Proposals (RFPs) as a tool for companies to find the best products and services at competitive prices, but also as an evaluation method for finding that elusive "best fit". However, too often the RFP process is run by people who have never experienced the process before, either from the issuer or vendor side, and essentially don't know what to say or what to ask. Our goal in this article is give you the basics that you might need to create your own RFP and run a RFP process without too much frustration. As an example we're going to use a small website redesign project (because that's what we do), but we hope you'll be able to extract the concepts you need for your own project.

Step 1: do your research and define what you are seeking

Don't jump into the RFP without doing your own internal homework. After receiving your RFP vendors will be beating down your door with dozens of questions; you're not going to want to be scrambling to find out answers which could then derail your timeline (more on that later). Defining your project as best you can will enable you to pass that information on to potential vendors, but also receive proposals that are tailored to your needs (pricing and project plans) by vendors who understand the project they are bidding on.

Example: You say you want a website redesign. Do you have existing brand material that will be used in the design or does that need to be created? Do you have the content for your new site written, or will that need to be created by the vendor or through a collaborative process? Do you envision this as a 5 page website or a large, 100+ page website? Who will be handling upkeep of the site, hosting, etc.? Do you need a Content Management System for maintaining the site and keeping it up to date or do you think it's going to stay fairly static? Are there any interactive pieces you need in the site or specific functionalities that will need to be implemented? Does the website need to interact with any database or 3rd party software?

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the types of questions that vendors will be asking you. The more you know about your project, the better the answers you'll be able to give to guide the vendors into great proposals. Yes, vendors will also be asking you questions you've never considered (which is a good thing), so be prepared to do additional definition work once you've received the questions from them.

Step 2: decide your distribution strategy and information publication

How will you be distributing your RFP, how will you be collecting information from potential vendors, and where will you be providing project updates?

Our first recommendation is to create a project page or project site that will house your project overview, contact information, timeline, the RFP for download, and all other project documentation that you need to share with vendors. Include a link to this page in your RFP and direct people to it as a central repository for the project.

Our second recommendation is to think long and hard on whom you'd like to be bidding on this project. For example, are you only going to entertain proposals from companies local to you, or does location not matter so much? Do you only want to receive proposals from a specific number of vendors that you invite to participate, or do you want to open the process up to receive qualified proposals from anywhere? Regardless of your decision, be upfront about this decision so that vendors aren't wasting their time by creating a proposal when you're not interested in them because of location.

Step 3: provide the information necessary to a vendor

This might seem a bit obvious, but provide the above information to potential vendors by organizing it in the RFP. Spend time giving them information about your organization, culture, marketing/branding efforts, any deadlines that you need to hit, a narrative of the project that you wish to implement... anything that will enable the best proposals to be written. If there are specifics make sure to list them out. If you don't mention them most vendors won't know to include them.

Step 4: create a reasonable timeline

There are a number of dates that you should include in your RFP timeline. For example, take the following schedule:

June 1, 2009 - Release and distribution of RFP
June 15, 2009 - Deadline for vendors to submit written questions and/or non-mandatory notice of intent
June 17, 2009 - Questions with written answers provided to all interested vendors
June 30, 2009, 9:00 am EST - deadline for submitting proposals
July 10, 2009 - Finalists notified
July 13, 2009 to July 17, 2009 - Finalist interviews
July 22, 2009 - Vendor selected
July 31, 2009 - Vendor signed

This is a fairly optimistic schedule, but it provides time in the various stages for work to be performed. We highly recommend varying this schedule based on your specific needs. For example, if you're running a complex software development project and are receiving technically complex questions, you're likely to need more than 2 days to answer all of the questions and provide them to vendors. You might also notice that we provide time both before and after the Q&A deadlines for vendors to both pose the the questions, but also take the provided information and create their final proposal.

Step 5: identify the information you need from the vendor and proposal format

If you don't specify the information you need from the vendor you'll end up getting a hodge-podge of information, some of which might be useful to you, most of which will be boilerplate. Using the website redesign example, the following includes some of the questions and information you might ask and request:

Proposals should include the information outlined in this section; our ability to interpret and apply your proposal to these questions will factor into our decisions.

Describe in detail the firm’s proposal to address the requirements outlined in this RFP, including details such as technologies to be used.
Provide a timeline for the completion of this proposal; if the project involves a multi-phase approach please provide approximate timeframes.
Describe the fee structure and how the organization will be charged. The costs involved may be categorized separately as redesign, implementation costs, maintenance costs, and software licensing costs. Also include the firm’s plan for post-deployment maintenance, support and upgrades including hourly rates for services.
Provide a brief history and profile of the firm and its experience providing services for organizations similar to ours. Provide a list of the firm’s clients comparable to our organization; include contact name, telephone number, website location, services provided and length of service.
Describe the project process and methodology including sample deliverables from past projects of similar size and scope. Document examples of the firm’s experience in designing/developing each of the project requirements.
List the project team (including programmers and designers) and short biographies of each team member. If using freelancers or outside resources please indicate them as such; we reserve the right to approve/disapprove of selected resources. Indicate how many full time staff does your firm employ.
All proposals must include a hosting solution, whether that solution is provided by the company or a 3rd party service provider. Please detail the cost structure, hosting platform, uptime statistics, location of the server, data backup and integrity plan, etc. Clearly identify additional costs incurred with a change in hosting site.
Please provide an unsigned copy of your standard service contract for our review and any additional stipulations of which we should be aware.

Please be sure to document experience illustrating expertise in:

working with non-profit organizations and providing design services
building websites that engage the users and encourage them to register

This is by no means an exhaustive list. Determine the information that you need to make your decision and what information will enable you to select the vendor that is the best fit for your organization and your project.

Step 6: determine your evaluation criteria

Is pricing your only evaluation criteria or are you looking for the best fit and the best project for your budget? And if all of the companies give you proposals for roughly the same price, how will you choose your finalists?

Some possible evaluation criteria for you to consider:

Is the company good at communicating with us, for both our needs and for their needs during the project?
Is it important to us to have someone that can come in for occasional face to face meetings or is over the phone ok?
Do we like the project examples we've been shown and can we easily see our project reflected in those examples?
Do they seem to "get" us?
Is their pricing and timeline reasonable and within our parameters?
Did they educate us on how they will complete our project, the team that will be working on it, and the deliverables that will be provided?
Is their contract something that we can agree to or will that be cause for concern? (for more on this please read "How not to destroy a project during the contract phase")
Have they adequately detailed the costs and payment plan so we know how we will be charged?

These are just a few examples of evaluation questions beyond the "is their pricing the most competitive", but they'll hopefully lead you to a vendor that is more than just a supplier, but a partner in your project.

If you're having trouble writing your RFP, or would like feedback on it, please feel free to contact us at info@confluentforms.com or (413) 303-9612

5 quick tips to writing better proposals (RFP responses)

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:29:00 +0000

We're frequently asked for any tips we might have for people writing proposal responses to Requests for Proposals (RFP) that they've received. After finding us through the RFP Database, seeing the abundance of RFPs that it contains, and knowing that all of those RFPs are open competitions, the natural question is "if I'm going to spend time writing a proposal it has got to be a winner".

So here are our five quick tips that can make your proposal a stronger candidate:

write an amazing executive summary

While you might say you can't judge a book by its cover, when faced with a stack of 30 or more proposals, each consisting of 20+ pages, you better believe that your proposal is judged by its first page. Faced with the situation of having to read 300+ pages of different vendors' proposals many people read the first page and then start skimming, and if they're not skimming, their minds are probably going numb. Your executive summary or cover page should give a 1-page overview of your proposal, hitting all of the high notes for why you are the optimal choice for them, including budget and other pertinent details. Having that information on one page, the first page, makes a great first impression and says to the client "yes, we're thinking of you and trying to be helpful". It's one of the quickest and easiest things you can do to set the tone for the remainder of your proposal.

be succinct

Nothing makes a reader's mind go numb like endless shop-talk, buzzwords, and information that isn't requested nor has any impact on the project. Again, faced with 300+ pages of vendor proposals, you are actually punishing the reader by making them read more than they need to. If you can answer the question in one paragraph why make them read five paragraphs? Focus your proposal and stick to the points that are necessary to convey the information to the client. Go back to the maxim that less is more so long as you answer the questions.

answer the questions

It always makes us laugh when we find ourselves saying "this seems like a stock proposal" or "fine, but they didn't answer any of our questions!" What's the point in spending valuable time writing a proposal if you've answered questions the client didn't ask and didn't answer the questions they did ask? The best way to show a client you're a good listener? Answer their questions. The quickest way to show a client that you're not attentive to their needs? Not answering their questions. They asked the questions for a reason and they're judging you on the responses so does ignoring them give you a leg up on the competition? Doubtful!

provide relevant examples

The best way to prove to a client that you can successfully complete their project is to show them examples of past projects that you've completed that are similar to their own. Dispel any doubt that they might have regarding your ability to fulfill the project by listing out three to five projects of the same caliber as their own that you completed that have strong similarities. Spell those similarities out so that the client can say "oh, that's just like ours". If that sentence is immediately followed by "and I like what they did here" I'm confident you'll be a finalist.

articulate what makes you the best choice (and not the price!)

Too often companies fall back on pricing as the greatest differentiators between them and their competition. By focusing on price you end up with two problems: there will always be someone that underbids you and you're not bidding the project but instead what you think the competition will bid on the project... which greatly skews your pricing and sets you up for later failure. So instead of focusing on the price, focus on YOU. Get back to your elevator pitch, your 30-second explanation of what makes you new/different/unique/perfect-for-the-job. You want the client to come away from reading your proposal thinking "they seem like the perfect fit for us" which is a much better takeaway than "well, they're the cheapest".

The biggest question that you need to answer in all proposals is "why are you the right choice for this project". If you can do that you're halfway to a winning proposal.

Where to advertise/publicize your Request for Proposal (RFPs)

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Sun, 10 May 2009 21:49:00 +0000

After seeing so many search results end up at our website and blog for people searching for how to "advertise their RFP", I've decided that it's about time I addressed this issue head-on: you should go to the RFP Database right now, register in the site (there is no charge), and upload your RFP listing to the website (again, no charge).

You owe it to your project to get the most competitive bids that you can and the RFP Database can provide you with the most exposure for your project at no cost to you:

we have over 60,000 registered users, the majority looking for projects to bid on
for almost any RFP search in Google we're in the top 5 results (sometimes #1 and #2)
your RFP is announced through mass-emails to interested parties, as well as on blogs and Twitter
many professional associations look to our site for project leads to provide to their members

Over 300 Requests for Proposals are announced on our site every week. Organizations that were used to receiving a maximum of 3 bids on their projects have contacted us in the past, surprised at receiving 20 or more qualified proposals for their consideration. Unlike many of our competitors we don't have a registration fee, membership fee, listing fee, or any other fees that would get in the way of your announcing your project, and it's a much more efficient means of soliciting proposals than announcing it in your newspaper or other press release outlet. Our site also receives significant traffic that will bring the desired attention to your project which might not happen if you only announce the project on your own website.

So go ahead, give the RFP Database a try and register now. If you're looking for examples of projects similar to yours to help you with writing your RFP you'll also be able to download two RFPs at no charge.

Don't squander a great opportunity in the form of a bad RFP

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

It seems that every month another expert writes an article on how RFPs are bad for business, RFPs are a bad idea, top 10 lists of why you hate them, RFPs should be done away with because they increase risk and cost, and that RFPs will soon be extinct. I have theories about why these "experts" are all against RFPs, but in my opinion, let them go elsewhere and leave these business opportunities to the rest of us.

While I have a vested interest in Requests for Proposals in that I run the RFP Database, the consulting side of my company does respond to a few RFPs every month. I find them to be one of the most democratic, meritorious, and pragmatic approaches to procurement and purchasing. They're not a foolproof solution, and often times they are run poorly, but that's exactly why we recommend that you be selective in the RFPs you respond to.

We've all received a poorly written RFP at one point in time, often from an organization that we would love to have as a client. By poorly written what I mean is that:

the project is very poorly defined
has no stated budget or timeline
is looking for the vendor to define the project (strategic spec work)

There are many other factors that can lead you to consider the RFP as junk, but those are my top 3. Since most sales people typically have multiple RFPs infront of them at any moment these "junk RFPs" are the first to get disregarded as we move onto other opportunities that enable us to write a straightforward proposal. Our GO / NO-GO decision tree justifies the decision.

This can be an opportunity squandered.

I've read quite a few articles in recent days about huge projects that were awarded to companies after the organization received no more than 3 proposals. In almost all cases that I've read there was a common refrain: why didn't more companies bid on the project? Why didn't OUR company bid on the project? In the Austin project the RFP was sent to over 200 companies with only 3 proposals received, a response rate of less than 2%... if you had simply responded to the RFP you would have been "a finalist" so long as you were able to fulfill the requirements of the project!

Think about it: conventional wisdom would tell you to walk away from the RFP, to spend your time on better defined projects that you can write proposals tailored to the needs written in the RFP. RFPs that you can easily cut and paste from past proposals to create a response without spending too many hours of unbillable work. This "wisdom" is something that all good sales teams learn because it's seen as the most efficient use of your time and doing the extra work necessary to respond to a bad RFP hardly seems worthwhile. So they pass.

When everyone zigs, maybe you should zag.

My advice to you is this:

Try to get more information about the project
Explain how you'd first work with them to define the project better
Formulate what you envision the project to be and fill in the blanks
Propose alternative solutions that fulfill the requirements if some stated assumptions can be done better
Educate the prospect, illustrate how you're a subject expert
Press your best case

Use this opportunity, however poorly defined, as a way to both get your company in front of this prospective client, but also to get ahead of your competition since your competition has decided to opt out of responding. In some cases the simple act of responding with a qualified bid can make you a finalist; a thoughtful and well-written proposal can easily make you the winner. And at worst it can get your company's information to other decision makers within the organization that might want you for a different project.

Press Release: The RFP Database Hits New Membership Milestone of 25,000 Subscribers and Growing Steadily

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:00:00 +0000

RFP Database doubles in membership size in 10 months and hits 25,000 subscribers; becomes one of the largest private sector portals for Requests for Proposals.

Northampton, MA - October 30, 2008 - Confluent Forms LLC is proud to announce that their strategic business sourcing website, the RFP Database, has hit a milestone of 25,000 registered users and has doubled its membership in 10 months.

Requests for Proposals (RFP) are a valuable tool for companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies to solicit competitive bids as well as a integral sales channel for companies seeking to sell their products and services. Most RFPs are scattered across the internet on the websites of the issuing organizations, making it difficult for service and product companies to effectively find them in time to submit a bid; because of their scattered locations, many RFPs only receive a scant number of bids, defeating the purpose of the competitive bidding process.

Since its launch in 2006, RFPdb.com has become a premier online location for matching businesses with agencies that are searching for vendors. “The site was conceived to create a marketplace where projects could easily be found, shared, and posted,” said David Kutcher, creator of RFPdb and President of Confluent Forms LLC. "Confluent Forms built the site to harness the power of the collective by working with other sales people to locate and share opportunities through the internet."

According to Daniel Nyquist, Business Developer at Artemis Solutions Group and a member of the site, the RFP Database "has generated a number of additional prospects and leads into our pipeline. The deals closed after bidding on the sources provided by RFPdb.com have amounted to around $160,000 in revenue. As our small business drives forward, we will continue to utilize the RFPdb community to hunt down attractive government-based projects."

"I have been using the RFP Database to identify RFP's in my field and have had continued success in not only making the finals, but winning bids I have found through his service" says Graham Stinchcomb, Partner and Chief Marketing Officer at White + Partners, "I consider RFPdb an instrumental tool and valuable resourse in my new business prospecting."

As the economic climate grows more fierce, savvy salespeople are looking for cost-effective ways to learn about projects that are out for bid; at the same time, municipal governments, businesses and non-profits are trying to hire the best companies to fill their needs. Using the site for free, organizations of all sizes and specialties can broadcast their RFPs to a huge audience of interested service and product companies. The RFP Database brings the two together as a destination for finding and distributing RFPs.

The RFP Database can be found at http://www.RFPdb.com

About Confluent Forms LLC:

Confluent Forms LLC is a boutique branding, graphic design, web design and custom software development firm based in Northampton, MA. Incorporated in January of 2002, Confluent Forms has provided technology consulting, branding, graphic design, web design, PHP and MySQL development, Web 2.0 software development, application development and hosting services to customers from the Fortune 100 to local non-profit organizations, startup businesses and academic institutions.

For More Information:

David Kutcher
President
Confluent Forms LLC
+1-413-303-9612
info@confluentforms.com
http://www.confluentforms.com

You need to publicize your Requests for Proposals!

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 13:30:00 +0000

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody is there to hear it, did it make a sound?

Organizations, whether they are non-profits, corporations or municipal governments, spend a lot of time defining a project's requirements, crafting a detailed 100 page Request for Proposals (RFP), and then announce the project on their website, or possibly advertise in a local newspaper, and set a 3 week deadline for submissions. They then sit back and wait for the proposals to come rolling in. If they're lucky they get a small handful of proposals.

What happens is that only a small group of local vendors, or vendors known by individuals within the organization, are notified of the RFP. While the process started out with good intentions of an impartial competitive bidding process and finding new solutions, the process is essentially derailed by the inability to promote unsolicited bids.

Procurement officers, whether official or unofficial, need to understand that advertising their RFP and getting a number of unsolicited competitive bids is an essential element to the success of their bidding process.

Publicizing your RFP doesn't need to cost lots of money or be time consuming.

A quick way to advertise your RFP is to publish it on the Request for Proposal Database, you can list it on your local Craig's List site, or you could set up a project blog using sites such as Blogger or Wordpress. Since these sites get higher search engine placement and have good content distribution, announcing your RFP through these venues will likely significantly increase the number of competitive bids that you receive. Other sites are associations or portal sites for the service providers you are seeking.

For instance, if you are a non-profit seeking "Association Management" services, you could post the project announcement under your city's "Non-Profit Jobs" category on Craig's List, on the RFP Database's "Management" category, or perhaps submit it for distribution to the Center for Association Leadership.

All of these possibilities would be free or inexpensive, but would get your RFP in front of the people that would be interested in bidding on the project, bring you a wider range of project proposals, and provide you with a better chance of finding the right solution for your organization.

Not all Requests for Proposals are worth a proposal

noreply@blogger.com (David Kutcher) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:14:00 +0000

In an earlier article we wrote about how you could increase your RFP win percentage by being selective about the Requests for Proposals that you choose to respond to. Writing a good proposal can take an inordinate amount of time, and when time = money, proposals can be expensive propositions.

So how do you know when is the right time to sit down and start writing a proposal response to a RFP?

Motivation, Motivation, Motivation

Organizations can issue a Request for Proposal for a variety of reasons; understanding the motivation behind the issuance can provide valuable insight into the RFP process. Each of the reasons below offers its own challenges, but some situations are preferable to others:

looking for a first-time solution
to replace an existing solution
lower an existing (and preferred) vendor's price
background research and justification

Situation 1 is a blank slate, which is good for you because you'll be able to fully describe why your solution is the right solution; the drawback is that the client may not be all that saavy to the what is needed for the project and what would constitute the best solution. Educate them and help them see why your solution is the best for them, but also find out who, if anyone, assisted them in the creation of their RFP as a Situation #3 might be in hiding.

Situation 2 typically comes when they have a solution already in place, but either are not happy with the vendor, outgrew their existing solution, or have money in place to replace it. The prospect will be more knowledgeable regarding their specific needs, but make sure to learn about the solution that they're looking to replace as it might turn into a headache for you down the road. Again, be wary of the Situation #3 in hiding.

Situation 3 is every vendor's worst nightmare since organizations will never tell you this is what's happening, yet you're wasting your time to help them justify a decision that has already been made to go with someone else's services. An honest organization will answer you if you ask them innocently "Is your existing vendor being invited to submit a proposal?"... analyze the answer carefully. Existing vendors will always have a leg up on the competition, dramatically reducing your chances of winning the project since they'll most likely not want two separate vendors supplying them with similar services or want to learn how to work with a new team.

Situation 4, while it might not seem ideal, can sometimes be the best option. By pushing the "education of the client" and a bit of personal legwork connecting with the organization, you might be able to help shape the resulting second issuance of the RFP which would be to to look for a solution that makes you the ideal vendor or even get the organization to bypass the competitive RFP process in favor of your services.

Sometimes you can determine which of the four situations it is by the questions asked and information sought in the RFP, but we prefer the direct approach: contact them! Establishing a personal connection is the first step to winning a project in a competitive procurement situation which is why it is regulated, at which point you will be limited to emails. Don't let this stop you from asking as many questions by email as you need.

Unreasonable Demands

Organizations can ask unreasonable questions or make unreasonable demands for what information is required in your proposal. A common request in our field is is to ask for design comps; they want us to give them a mockup of the site that we are pitching them, called "spec work". Besides it being recognized within our industry as a bad idea, organizations continue to ask for them. We refuse to provide designs on spec; will that put us at an insurmountable competitive disadvantage, even if we educate the client on this issue?

Other proposal requirements that we've come across and balked at have included:

$10,000,000 in liability insurance
Multiple years of our company's financial data
Stakeholder social security numbers, presumably for a background check
Extensive project details and fixed pricing for a poorly defined project
In-person interviews of the entire project team before a finalist(s) is chosen halfway around the country
Guarantees and warranties lasting up to a year on all work performed

All of these requirements factor into whether or not you'll want to write a proposal, but we recommend that you get in contact with the organization, explain to them your reticence to one of the requirements, and find out whether the requirement is a deal breaker.

Critique the Criteria

Organizations go into a RFP process with an evaluation criteria or, worse, undocumented preferences for what they are seeking. Take a good long look at the criteria and be critical and objective about how you'd score in their criteria. If the criteria is not specified, ask. And if you don't receive an answer, go with the basics:

proximity to the client
affordability to what you perceive as their budget
portfolio project similar or identical to their project
ability to successfully complete the project

Of course there will be additional evaluation criteria but we tend to believe these are the most common as well as the being The Big 4 in terms of a potential client's priorities.

Investing in the Odds

At any given moment we typically have a number of RFPs that we're considering for a proposal. Evaluate them all and apportion your time effectively so that you're not spreading yourself too thin to respond to a proposal that you have a lesser chance of winning. Spend that time more profitably and redouble your efforts by writing a killer proposal for the project that you have a good chance of winning.

Don't let the potential dollar signs blind you by putting a longshot project in front of a sure thing.