Requests for proposals (RFPs) generate a whopping common of 35% of annual gross sales income, in accordance with Loopio’s RFP Response Benchmarks and Developments Report.
The analysis, which surveyed 650+ groups, discovered that regardless of financial uncertainty over the previous 12 months, RFPs will proceed to be an integral a part of gross sales development. Nevertheless, maintaining with RFPs could be a problem at one of the best of instances. Busy technical consultants, tight deadlines, and tough approval processes can all throw a wrench within the gross sales cycle.
6 methods to rework RFPs into alternatives
So how can gross sales groups deal with rushing up their response course of whereas nonetheless rising income for the 12 months forward?
Carry on studying for the six finest practices gross sales groups can implement to rework these pesky RFPs from impediment to alternative in 2022, based mostly on behaviors of top-performing groups uncovered from Loopio’s analysis.
1. Designate an RFP lead
With regards to responding to RFPs, it’s all about constructing efficiencies in your course of, which ought to start earlier than you obtain a request. Analysis reveals that high performers have a chosen RFP workforce or gross sales workforce member(s) proudly owning the response course of.
When the RFP course of is owned by a devoted particular person or workforce, the information reveals that stress ranges lower compared to these with advert hoc possession.
However do stress ranges truly influence efficiency? The reply is sure. Groups with extra manageable stress ranges have 5% increased response charges (that means they will reply to extra RFPs yearly) and 10% increased win charges than different groups. Mainly, a chosen RFP lead helps gross sales groups reply to extra RFPs, quicker.
Ensure your workforce has somebody monitoring and proudly owning RFP tasks so that they don’t get off observe or forgotten, whether or not that’s a selected workforce member on the firm or a salesman that comes with this duty into their position.
2. Be proactive, not reactive
An necessary lesson to recollect: your response course of shouldn’t begin whenever you obtain an RFP. Whether or not you’re making a brand new connection, or have a relationship with an present buyer, chances are high that they’ve dropped a touch or two about an upcoming RFP.
Take a second to proactively notify your workforce a couple of potential RFP on the horizon. It can present a chance on your workforce to make room of their schedules for this mission and think about key themes wanted to win the bid.
In case your workforce doesn’t have a typical means of taking up RFPs, attempt making a easy consumption type to proactively handle the upcoming work.
Right here’s what to incorporate in an RFP consumption type:
- Firm identify
- Gross sales routing data (geographic area, vertical, and firm dimension)
- Format for responding to the gross sales request (web-based portal, Excel spreadsheet, or Phrase doc)
- Due date
- Prospect’s wants and potential key themes (i.e. themes that differentiate your organization from rivals)
3. Be selective about which RFPs are price responding to
Responding to a better share of bids isn’t a straight shot to success. The common RFP has 115 questions and takes 23 hours of writing time to finish, so it’s merely not in your finest curiosity to spend this type of time on bids that aren’t prone to win.
So how must you assess if an RFP is price responding to? It’s all about buyer match. Seventy-two % of top-performing RFP groups (those that win greater than 51% of their bids) use a go/no-go determination template to find out which RFPs to tackle.
By implementing an efficient decision-making course of up entrance, you may deal with high quality alternatives that take advantage of sense for your corporation. Plus, a streamlined and environment friendly course of will unlock extra time to deal with what issues most—closing offers and hitting targets.
Growing a scoring system will assist your workforce shortly resolve which RFPs to tackle. Loopio’s free go/no-go determination template is a superb start line. It covers the principle components gross sales groups ought to think about when evaluating the chance to win an RFP.
4. Automate your response course of
The precise software program can assist gross sales groups put together a primary draft RFP in minutes as an alternative of hours. The truth is, analysis reveals that groups utilizing devoted RFP response software program submit a median of 43 extra RFPs yearly, compared to those that don’t have software program.
RFP software program automates tedious elements of the response course of by means of sensible libraries that auto-detect and autofill solutions to questions based mostly on previous responses. It additionally helps centralize tasks in a single spot for higher collaboration and to remove model management points.
No shock: 69% of top-performing RFP groups use response software program to streamline their course of. In all probability as a result of software program was additionally discovered to result in higher proposal high quality and improved effectivity, each of which tie to increased win charges. However there’s an necessary qualitative profit, too: staff at organizations utilizing RFP software program are 11% extra prone to say that their workforce has manageable stress ranges.
Right here’s the way to inform in case your workforce may benefit from an RFP resolution:
- Do you reply a couple of RFP or safety questionnaire every month?
- Do you contain 5 or extra contributors in every RFP? (Don’t neglect to depend authorized, safety, and exec approvals.)
- How typically do you reply repetitive questions in your RFPs? (Is it 40% or increased?)
In the event you answered sure to the questions above, your workforce would probably profit from utilizing RFP automation.
5. Create an RFP content material library
When requested what their high challenges within the RFP course of have been, the commonest points respondents cited have been discovering correct solutions to questions shortly, collaborating with inside material consultants (SMEs), and selecting the best solutions from a bunch of potential solutions. When pondering by means of actions their firm may win extra RFPs in 2021, 27% of groups steered improving how they retailer and search their RFP content material.
Having a centralized library of correct, pre-approved, and up-to-date gross sales content material that’s simple on your gross sales workforce to entry and search could be a critical game-changer. A content material library allows your workforce to arrange probably the most reusable and related content material in a means that’s simple for different workforce members to seek out at any time when they want it for a proposal, e mail, or gross sales name.
Constructing a library of RFP content material is best by means of a devoted RFP response software program resolution, however Microsoft 365’s SharePoint or a shared Google Drive folder may work as a brief resolution.
Rising the library will take time, however the effort can be price it. Finally, you and your workforce can use this library of inside experience to shortly pull collectively a tough draft for a proposal. Then, you’ll merely simply recruit your SMEs for gentle critiques and fact-checking of the ultimate bid.
Begin by including solutions out of your 5 to 10 most up-to-date proposals since these solutions would be the freshest. Then, any time you full a brand new RFP, add the brand new solutions to your library.
6. Construct an enormous bench of consultants to enhance proposals
The saying is perhaps that too many cooks spoil the stew, however that’s not the case relating to RFPs. The truth is, it’s truly the other. Analysis reveals that best-in-class RFP groups contain a median of 10 contributors.
Extra collaboration signifies that proposals usually tend to embody information from throughout a company, which improves total proposal high quality and your possibilities of successful.
It’s necessary to take into account that contributor numbers change with firm dimension.
Though extra collaborators are confirmed to result in increased win charges, it’s not with out its challenges. When requested what actions their firm ought to take to win extra RFPs in 2021, the highest motion respondents selected (29%) was requiring inside SMEs to reply requests in a extra well timed vogue.
Some methods your workforce can fight this potential roadblock and enhance collaboration embody:
Enhance your workforce’s communication
Use instruments to create a suggestions loop about RFPs with groups, like a devoted Slack channel. This manner, workforce members are simply notified every time they discover an RFP reply is outdated, or lacking data that would allow you to win sooner or later (sharing aggressive intel on this channel is vital). Bonus factors in the event that they’re built-in with instruments your gross sales workforce already makes use of.
Enlist the assistance of your SMEs forward of time
When an RFP is coming, make sure to put together your SMEs prematurely and clearly talk necessary deadlines. Internet hosting a kickoff name might be an efficient method to get all stakeholders to agree on the timeline and their stage of participation.
Schedule common content material critiques each quarter
A content material library of contemporary and up-to-date content material is what’ll allow you to reply to RFPs shortly, with far much less effort. Plus, the content material received’t want as many updates and also you’ll keep away from backwards and forwards communication whenever you’re all the way down to the wire on a deadline.
