Question

How do you come up with your bid/response for the Request for Proposal?

Answer 1

Accurate bidding is important for generating business and for making sales and hence is crucial for running the business successfully. Below are the steps for making a bid or response for Request for Proposal (RFP).

1. Understanding the RFP

The better the RFP and its details are understood, the better a bid can be made. The important parts or inclusions of an RFP include:

a. Introduction to client and opportunity.

b.. Response process description.

c. Work description.

d. Terms and conditions of the contract.

e. Instructions for making a response.

f. Evaluation criterion and process.

Further inquiries can be made if the RFP is not well written or it is not clear and there is a failure in understanding it fully. It is good to grasp the idea and know what the client wants. One should try to know the importance of the work in your client’s scheme of things.

2. Focusing on evaluation criteria

Not all clients will be satisfied with least or rock-bottom prices and some may try to judge based on other aspects, for instance, methodology. Therefore, it is good to have a close look at the evaluation criteria.

3. Pricing appropriately

Lower prices win the bids, especially of the government and public PFPs. However, the bidder should know the details perfectly. Also, it is important to know what is included in the scope and what is not. Assumptions may lead to greater inclusions in the bid, which will increase the price, and the bid may fail. However, for the bigger and complex projects, pricing cannot be accurately done at the very first stage itself because of the unknowns involved. For private clients and businesses, higher-priced bids may also succeed, provided that value is delivered and the right marketing methods are used.

4. Making the bidding decision

Some RFPs may give more weightage to experience and past projects in evaluation. For the firms new in the businesses, they can consider skipping these bid and project. It is important to make a thorough proposal and considerable response even if the winning chances are assumed to be lesser. This helps in learning more about the bidding process. Researching more about the client unveils information in many important areas, which also helps in making deals and working with the client, apart from making the bid.

5. Detail your strengths

There are many bidders to an RFP and hence it is important to make the client know the unique strengths. The bidder should try to create a preference for his/her bid. This can be done by refraining from generic presentations and by focusing on strengths. The bidder should include information that shows the unique proposition that it has to sell. There may also be a check-list included in the RFP. All the details and information given should be provided honestly.

6. Making the bid

The bid may start with an executive summary, however exact details on how to make the bid (and instructions for it) will be given in the RFP. Here the bidder needs to reveal his understanding of the client problem, and how its solution should be preferred, in brief. Pricing should be explained, and ambiguity and vagueness should be avoided. The bid should be backed by evidence and the bidder should let the client know exactly why its bid should be winning. Good quality visuals, tables, bulleted lists, and other inclusions provide for a more attractive bid. All the questions should be answered in detail and with accuracy, and the responses should be supported by data, wherever possible.