Three Keys to RFPs - A Simple Guide to Tender Responses
A number of clients have recently asked about responding to tenders and what approach to take. I’ve always enjoyed preparing tender responses, even though time frames can often be challenging. It is better of course to avoid the need for them in the first place! But they are a key component of B2B sales and when you work in a small team you’ll need to pull them together yourself.
In my experience there are three key things to remember:
In the first instance you should have anticipated a tender or Request for Proposal (RFP) rather than be just responding to it. My mantra in regard to client relationships is “no surprises”. In the sense that you should know the tender is coming, what’s needed to succeed and be anticipating its arrival.
Influence
Influence the tender to give yourself the best chance of success.
In an ideal world your client relationships will be such that their level of trust in you, and your ability to provide problem solving solutions, means an uncontested process. Your client has historically enjoyed such a good level of service from you that they don’t go to tender. They may just ask you to price the solution you have already posed, or just ask you to get on with it.
However, they may wish to test the market, or company process and project values dictate a tender process. In this case, having done your job properly, the customer understands how your problem solving solution will benefit them. Your job is to ensure, as best you can, that the key elements of your solution that most benefit the customer are written into the tender specification. Accentuate your positives; those that help the customer but challenge your competitors.
Respond
The author of the tender specification will have written it the way they have for good reason. It might not seem apparent and you may not agree with it but you must respect it. That means responding as they have asked, addressing each point to show you are submitting a compliant tender. Your objective is to make it easy for the reader to say yes; yes this tender is compliant and can be shortlisted. Not following the instructions, making your response hard to read or full of fluff isn’t recommended.
If you have done your preliminary work well, you will understand what aspects are most important to the customer – make sure you nail those.
Where you exceed minimum requirements say so; meet and exceed. The trick is to then supply the supporting evidence in the appendices that demonstrates you exceed and answers the So What? It’s all very well being 1 mm shorter than the specification if that matters but irrelevant if it doesn’t.
Demonstrate
Most RFP’s will invite you to submit supporting documentation. This you chance to show your customer how wonderful you are, how wonderful your solution will be and how wonderful your solution will be for them; well, something like that.
Demonstrate means show, not tell:
Provide evidence of how you have helped similar customers and the positive impact of that.
Prove you exceed the specification and demonstrate the benefit for your customer.
Prove your experience, share reference lists, relevant case studies and testimonials.
Be creative but succinct, use hyperlinks to customer focussed videos on your website.
Customise your response, demonstrate you care – don’t just cut & paste.
Once you think you have completed your response; Check, Proof-read, Check. Have a colleague cast an objective eye third over what you’ve done and make sure you have responded to all requirements.
Remember your objective is to make it easy for the evaluation team to say yes.
Getting the commercials right is another issue and in some cases may be negotiated separately once you get to the shortlist – then you can boogie!
But in the first instance, make your response something you are proud to submit and gives you the best chance of getting on the dance floor.
If you want to evolve your sales approach to be more consultative and effective, I’m here to help. Check out my services or contact me directly for a bespoke programme of sales coaching at hello@iancartwright.co.nz