RFP Software2023-03-14T17:22:37+02:00

Win more bids

To select the right supplier, companies send questionnaires to determine which supplier they can ask to bid. These are also called tenders, bids, or Requests for Proposals (RFP). You have to answer these. This is a lot of work because all companies ask different questions, which often creates problems for sales teams since it is not a traditional sale. How to make sure you win more bids?

Common problems:

Customer's problem definition is mostly unclear

Because the client explains its problem in the RFP, only one view becomes clear. It is precisely by engaging in dialogue that a broader perspective can be created.

Tenders are often time eaters. The customer sends all their requirements in a document to several potential suppliers. Of course, that will never fit into your standard proposal. You have to be on the ball every time, which disrupts other sales processes.

On average, parties invite more than three suppliers within an RFP process. Statistically, this would mean that with a market-based success rate, you will win about 33% of RFPs. This is mostly lower than the success rates on other pathways.

Using an RFP, a client is precisely trying to be able to compare apples to apples. This makes many of your Unique Selling Points or Unique Buying Reasons unrecognizable. So you are often in direct competition on the initial service. The difference must be made primarily on other issues.

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Root Cause Solution Options Resources

  • Root Cause

The causes of these problems vary from company to company. Do you recognize any of the following problems?

  • Little experience with RFPs
  • The process is not (correctly) set up
  • Retrieving answers every time
  • Responding to RFPs not in fingers
  • No one chasing the RFP internally
  • Answering rests on the shoulders of 1 or 2 staff members

If you want to win tenders and RFPs more often, it helps to understand where the causes of not winning now lie. We’ve summarized the six most common reasons for you in an article. Causes low win probability bids

RFPs and procurement, most start sighing when they hear about it. Because it is synonymous with a lot of work under high pressure. We’ve summarized the four main reasons for a time-consuming answering process for you in an article. Why does Bid Management take so much time?

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Solution Options Resources

  • Solution

Bid Management is a profession. Not for nothing do large companies employ specialists whose sole purpose is to answer tenders.

If you want to win more bids and save time in answering, there are three areas to focus your attention on:

Whether you answer a tender, RFI, or RFP, the process has the same steps. You go from pre-bid to receipt and qualification to answering, submitting, and then the so-called questions phase. It makes an incredible difference in the odds of winning and turnaround if you have a set protocol for each stage.

That doesn’t mean you should always follow this strictly because no two paths are the same. You can always fall back on a standard, though. Learn more about the bid process. This leaves much less chance and luck. And it gives you room to improve on a part-by-part basis. Improve your conversion rate and speed.

When should I set up a bid process? A standard process already adds value to any team that answers more than three bids yearly.

A Bid Management tool supports many of the process components. If you link this tool to your CRM, you can automate the process from A to Z and then analyze and improve it.

If your process is in order, it’s time to improve the content. Also, have you thought about making texts you’ve previously written readily available? You can do that with templates and a knowledge base. Many tools are available for this purpose.

For example, Google Drive or Sharepoint in text search, and you can build templates in Word just fine. You can also go one step further. Tools with a knowledge base that directly match the questions from the bid… They are here! You can even go so far here as to add texts specific to the different industries you serve. Customer Intimacy!

Sales staff do not answer bids daily. If they did, they would be bid managers … So they are not experts. You can make that of them by training them. Want to know when it’s time for a Bid Manager? Read When a bid manager? to learn more.

Understanding bids and vital writing texts are the two components covered by the training. Keep in mind that the skills and knowledge of a training course sink in over time. Annual repetition and assurance in Sales Playbooks help prevent this.

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Root cause Options Resources

  • Options

You now know many ways to increase your chances of winning and save considerable time. So how do you know which solution fits best? Are you going for templates, tools, or training?

In every area, people, process, and content, there is always something to be gained. Stryfes’ tip is to generate time savings first and then move on to content. Simply reasoned: if you have more time, you can focus more on quality.

So what provides the most time savings?

It doesn’t matter so much whether you answer a tender, RFI, or RFP; the phasing is always the same. All bids will go through the following steps:

  • Pre Bid: no document has been sent yet
  • Qualification: bid received. Will you participate or not?
  • Planning & Strategy: what steps will we take when, and what will we focus on?
  • Answer & Submit: asking, answering, and checking questions
  • Evaluation phase: the client evaluates you, and you evaluate the process

We have detailed the stages all for you in an article: The bid answering process.

Bids are always written under high pressure. Anything that makes that piece faster pays off. And then, if it also delivers better answers, the odds of winning an offer go up. That’s why it pays to use a Bid Tool that supports your bid process. However, using a tool like that usually doesn’t work. We wrote an in-depth article on the complexity of bid tooling and how to make good choices: Complexity implementation Bid Tooling.

If you make searching through your previous answers easy, you create a method to answer new bids faster.

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Root cause Solutions Resources

  • Resources

Tools make a huge difference, especially in the bid process. You also know that buying and implementing a tool is not easy. Stryfes puts it all together for you.

Apart from choosing a specific tool, you often want to know what a tool costs. Depending on your tool, license fees are €50 to €500 per user per month. The more functionality you want, especially in the links to other tools, the more expensive you will be. If you have a complex IT security environment, quickly consider a price range of €150 to €500 per user.

Buying a tool and handing out some login codes doesn’t work. Consider technical and functional implementation. Again, the larger your environment is (more complex), the more expensive the implementation. Whether you do these yourself or have them done. After all, internal hours cost money, too.

Often, the larger the company and, therefore, more sales teams, the more complex the environment. For a simple implementation for convenience, keep in mind about €5,000 per sales team for one-time costs.

The more functionality the bid management tool has, the longer it takes to adopt all the required functionality. More buttons to learn… The more straightforward tools require about one-half day of the average salesperson, and then they can get started. The superusers, also called admin, often need more time to become proficient with the tool. So count on €500 per sales employee who starts working with the tool.

How soon can I start using the new tool? That’s often up to you. After all, you (and part of your company) must set aside time to implement. Consider intake, process design, information delivery, and training. All those parts require you or other people in your companies. Therefore, a simple implementation has a lead time of about four weeks. The most complex implementation takes as long as six months.

The bid management tools always deliver immediate results, even on your first bid. Especially if the training has been done and the setup is well known, working with a tool will help Salespeople answer faster and better. So time savings can be seen as early as the first RFP response or procurement. After 3 to 5 bids, the results are even more vital because everyone is used to working with the tool.

Time savings of 40% on answering is widespread. And that alone usually results in an immediately higher conversion rate as well. 5% better is easily achieved. When sales teams go next level with Bid Management and use tooling properly, conversion improvements of up to 100% are achievable.

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Root cause Solutions Options

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So what can we help you with?

Do you also want to become successful in responding to RFPs? Stryfes helps you make a difference. We’re made up of visionaries & doers. Realists and pragmatists alike. We do not write hours but offer fixed methodologies that, therefore, have a fixed price. We believe in taking action. Vision and action.

“Want to know what Stryfes can do for your RFP response? Schedule a no-obligation appointment.”

Hanneke Vogels

Sales Technology Director

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