Guide to successfully responding to RFPs

We reveal the steps for making your RFP proposal stand out and giving it the best shot at closing the deal.

Hearing the term “RFP” can make you shudder. You can sink hours into planning and writing your request for proposal (more often known as an RFP) just to hear nothing back. 

There’s a better way to get a reply, and hopefully a signed contract. You can use this process to make future responses to RFPs even quicker, smoother, and less of a headache.

In this article, we break down tips for creating a proposal that not only stands out but gives you the best shot at closing the deal.

What is an RFP?

A request for proposal (RFP) is exactly what it sounds like. A company sends out a document asking other companies to pitch solutions for a specific project or problem.

RFPs can be stressful for everyone involved. The organizations submitting responses are trying to make the perfect sales pitch, while the company receiving them needs to sift through a mountain of proposals to find the best fit.

However, there are other requests that can be confused with RFPs, such as RFIs and RFQs. Let’s explore the situations where a full proposal isn’t necessary.

What is an RFI?

Requests for information (RFIs) are often confused with RFPs. Essentially, they’re requesting information on a topic rather than an official plan. 

An RFI might be used when a company wants to investigate potential solutions to their problem. They’re more educational than RFPs, and therefore generally don’t involve contracts with those who respond.

While the two types of requests are different, RFIs are used to initially understand a market, problem, or other situation before using that information to put together a more comprehensive RFP. For example, if a company doesn’t know much about the industry or work involved in the eventual RFP, an RFI might be a necessary educational step.

What is an RFQ?

A request for quotation, or RFQ, is the opposite of an RFI. You already know what you want, but you need pricing details for it

RFQs are typically more structured and formal than RFIs, since they’re much higher-intent queries. Someone looking for pricing is much more likely to make a purchase than someone who’s just looking for information.

An RFQ might be used if a company is looking to solve a problem that their team already understands, but lacks the time or resources to take on themselves. It also helps when a company is only looking for pricing information, not data on capabilities or packages offered by proposing vendors.

When are RFPs used?

This brings us back to RFPs. They’re used in conjunction with, or as a hybrid of, an RFI and an RFQ. While it’s a mix of the two, it’s used more often than the others because of its versatility and comprehensiveness.

An RFP gives the requesting company a lot of information with which they can compare solutions and vendors…but the sheer amount of data can be overwhelming.

And for the provider (a.k.a. you), an RFP can also be a stressful and frustrating process. You might spend days or weeks polishing your pitch and pricing. But if the company doesn’t choose your proposal, all that effort feels wasted.

So how do you make your proposal rise to the top? We’ll break down what you need to know about giving your proposal the best shot at closing that deal. 

The RFP response process

A winning RFP response isn’t about writing better copy – it’s about organizing your process. Breaking the response up into distinct steps helps you better manage the project and make your final product shine.

But before we start on the steps to a great RFP, a quick reminder: It’s about the customer, not you. Of course you want to sell your product, brand, and knowledge. But the requester is the one who’s making the decision. As you write your RFP response, think about how your offering helps them. Highlight how your product solves their specific problems and helps them reach their goals.

Step 1: The cover letter

The cover letter is the first part of your response that the requester will see, so it’s important to get it right.

Here’s what to include in your RFP cover letter:

• A brief introduction to your company and proposal. (Emphasis on brief!)
• Mention past clients’ success stories to bolster your authority.
• Bring everything back to the requester’s goals. Show how your solution solves their problem, and how it can support their ongoing success.

Once the requester sees that you understand their perspective, they’ll be ready to tackle the rest of your proposal.

Step 2: The executive summary

The executive summary is the high-level overview of your solution. It should:

• Touch on the main points of your proposal
• Cover questions or objectives presented in the initial RFP
• Discuss how you arrived at your recommended solution
• Show why your company is qualified to take on this project
• Prove how your solution is the perfect fit to solve the requester’s challenges

But don’t drill deep into the details here. You’ll be doing that in the next two sections of the response.

Step 3: Deliverables and timeline

Once you’ve explained the broad strokes of your solution, it’s time to get into the details of how you’ll get it done.

This section is the place to get specific. Here’s how to approach it:

• Explain the actionable steps you’ll take to address the requester’s problems.
• Organize the sections of the project by categories (like technology, administration, creative, etc.). This makes it more digestible, and more clearly illustrates how the multiple parts of your solution fit together.
• Set a realistic schedule for project milestones based on the timeline that the requesting company provided in the initial RFP. 
• Include contact information for key team members that the customer will be working with.
• Mention what you’re choosing not to include in your proposal. This helps avoids ambiguity and scope creep.

Step 4: Your requirements

Now it’s time to lay out the resources that you’ll need in order to complete this project as outlined. Here’s what should appear in this section:

• Pricing
• Work hours
• Hardware and software
• Documentation
• Approvals

Step 5: References and case studies

An RFP response is just a bigger version of a job application – and no hiring process is complete without references.

In this section, you’ll showcase a little more about your company and the clients who have succeeded thanks to your solution.

If you have them, reference case studies and customer stories that are similar or otherwise applicable to the requester’s situation. 

Additionally, emphasize the support you’ll be able to provide after the project is complete. It’s a big step in building trust with the prospective customer, and can help move your RFP response to the top of the stack.

Step 6: Include a contract

This might feel a little over-confident. But if the requester loves your proposal, you’ll want them to sign right away. If you’re confident in the quality and relevance of your proposal, giving them the option on the spot can increase your chances of being selected. (And the more time they spend on back-and-forth with your team hashing out a contract, the more opportunity they’ll have to second-guess their decision.)

Just make sure that your contract is just as clear and straightforward as the rest of the proposal. Their only question should be “why didn’t you reach out sooner?”

More tips for winning your RFP

Get the whole team involved

Tap the other experts on your team to bring their knowledge and experience to your proposal. And go beyond just them – bring in non-experts as well to check that the proposal can be digested by someone who isn’t as intimately familiar with the topic. 

This enhances your proposal’s impact, and provides a second line of defense against inaccuracies and over-promises. It’s also a major assist for both your success rate and stress levels.

Be best, not first

You don’t want to submit your proposal months after the winner has already been chosen. But at the same time, being the first proposal on the desk doesn’t mean you’re any more likely to be selected.

Putting in a little more time to proofread and polish, along with making sure that you’re thoroughly addressing all questions and concerns, goes a long way in making your proposal outshine the competition. Take the time to have multiple sets of eyes check it over, and make adjustments as needed to ensure that it’s as good as it can be.

Turn it into a template

Once you find a style and format that works for your proposals, don’t force yourself to start from scratch every time. Yes, every RFP situation is different, and you don’t want to use an obviously recycled proposal with just the names swapped out. But you can take pieces that have worked in the past and re-use them across multiple RFPs.

Here’s what you can repurpose in the future:

• The basic structure
• Tone of voice
• Level of detail
• The way you talk about your company and background

All this content can be organized in your knowledge base for easy access during future RFP processes. It saves your team time and effort, and can also help increase your win rate.

Turn your knowledge into your competitive advantage

An RFP response is effectively a test of your company’s collective intelligence. To pass, you need your subject matter experts, your sales team, and your writers all on the same page.

But that’s hard to do when info is buried in email threads or lost in a maze of storage drives.

Your intranet can be more than a place to post news – it can help put all that knowledge in order. It’s a place to store your best case studies, approved answers to security questions, and winning templates.

When you centralize your resources, you’re doing more than just organizing files. You’re giving your team:

• Speed: Access the right answers instantly, rather than waiting on replies from colleagues.
• Accuracy: Ensure everyone is using the latest, approved stats and language.
• Sanity: Collaborative spaces mean fewer version control nightmares and late-night fixes.

You’ve got the knowledge and expertise you need to win that RFP. We’ve got the platform you need to put it all in order. Explore Appspace’s workplace experience tools.