How Successful Consultants Respond to Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
13.6 هزار بار بازدید -
5 سال پیش
-
In today's video, you'll learn
In today's video, you'll learn best practices for responding to request for proposals as a consultant.
TRANSCRIPT:
Have you ever thought about using RFPs to grow your consulting business? It's Michael Zipursky from ConsultingCuccess.com. And I got a question recently from a consultant wondering what is the best practices to use RFPs, to leverage RFPs, to grow their consulting business. And my response was, "I can't help you." And I can't help you because we don't go through RFP processes.
I'm not a fan of RFPs. I think that they waste a lot of time. And ultimately you spend time trying to create a document for someone who you haven't, in most cases, actually had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with. Now that being said, if you are in an industry where there's a lot of RFPs, there's great resources out there than can help you. A book by Tom Searcy called "RFPs Suck!" is a fantastic book about RFPs.
But let me offer you how we approach RFPs and how we've counseled many consulting clients to handle the opportunities that present them around RFPs. So when you have a buyer that reaches out and you feel this is an ideal client, and they're saying, "Yeah, we're gonna be going through an RFP process. "Can you please submit a bid?" So on, so on, so on.
The first thing that you should do to them is say, "Listen, we don't do RFPs. "We're very focused on engaging closely "and partnering with our clients "to help them to achieve real success. "And so what I would suggest "is that you can go through your RFP process, "and if you still haven't found the right organization, "if you still would like to have a conversation "after you've gone through the RFP process, "I'd be more than happy to go through that, "to have that conversation with you."
And what we've seen with many clients who have used that type of language is that in fact the buyer will go through the RFP process, but they'll still be wondering in their mind, 'How does this compare to this other consultant 'or this other firm who said that they don't do RFPs?' 'There's some differentiation there. 'They're clearly unique. 'They have a lot of confidence.' And so in most cases what happens is the buyer ends up contacting the consult and saying, "Hey, we've gone through the RFP process. "We're still kind of thinking about what's best here. "Can we have a conversation?" And then you go in and you have a conversation about their current situation. You dig deep into the true value and the problem and the cost of them staying where they are and the opportunities for them.
And if you're truly great at what you do and you can provide real value, what you will find is that most buyers will be very receptive and in fact, will say "Okay, let's do this. "You don't need to go through the RFP process, "we've done that. "We've kinda looked at what's out there, "but clearly what you are offering in terms of the product, "the service, "the support, "the level of engagement, "the partnering aspect, "the results that you've been able to create "for others and so on, "is convincing for us. "It's compelling for us. "And so we'd like to engage with you."
And so we've seen many clients who have been faced with option for an RFP say no to it with full confidence, letting the buyer know, "We're happy to have that conversation "once you've gone through the RFP process if you'd like." The buyer then comes back and says, "Yes, okay we've gone through the process, "we still would like to have that conversation with you." And then they end up winning the business without having to go through the RFP process.
Why is that so beneficial? Well it's beneficial because you then don't need to spend a whole bunch of time filling out documents and trying to make your case. Essentially, an RFP is like trying to win business through a piece of paper, where you don't even have the ability to engage with the ultimate buyers and really hear about what they want. So you might hear about what one person wants or what's written in the request for proposal, but you don't actually get to hear or speak with the ultimate decision makers.
And that's what is necessary in almost all situations to truly have a buyer in a pure to pure relationship, right? Sitting down with the decision makers or with those who really influence the decision and asking the questions that can help you to truly identify the value that they care about so you can communicate it. So you can ensure that you're providing them with a significant return on investment, help them to get what they want, and doing it in a way that provides significance and the right level of compensation for you.
So that's how I would suggest that you approach RFPs. But if you're really looking to do RFP after RFP after RFP, then there's other great resources out there that could help you with that.
TRANSCRIPT:
Have you ever thought about using RFPs to grow your consulting business? It's Michael Zipursky from ConsultingCuccess.com. And I got a question recently from a consultant wondering what is the best practices to use RFPs, to leverage RFPs, to grow their consulting business. And my response was, "I can't help you." And I can't help you because we don't go through RFP processes.
I'm not a fan of RFPs. I think that they waste a lot of time. And ultimately you spend time trying to create a document for someone who you haven't, in most cases, actually had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with. Now that being said, if you are in an industry where there's a lot of RFPs, there's great resources out there than can help you. A book by Tom Searcy called "RFPs Suck!" is a fantastic book about RFPs.
But let me offer you how we approach RFPs and how we've counseled many consulting clients to handle the opportunities that present them around RFPs. So when you have a buyer that reaches out and you feel this is an ideal client, and they're saying, "Yeah, we're gonna be going through an RFP process. "Can you please submit a bid?" So on, so on, so on.
The first thing that you should do to them is say, "Listen, we don't do RFPs. "We're very focused on engaging closely "and partnering with our clients "to help them to achieve real success. "And so what I would suggest "is that you can go through your RFP process, "and if you still haven't found the right organization, "if you still would like to have a conversation "after you've gone through the RFP process, "I'd be more than happy to go through that, "to have that conversation with you."
And what we've seen with many clients who have used that type of language is that in fact the buyer will go through the RFP process, but they'll still be wondering in their mind, 'How does this compare to this other consultant 'or this other firm who said that they don't do RFPs?' 'There's some differentiation there. 'They're clearly unique. 'They have a lot of confidence.' And so in most cases what happens is the buyer ends up contacting the consult and saying, "Hey, we've gone through the RFP process. "We're still kind of thinking about what's best here. "Can we have a conversation?" And then you go in and you have a conversation about their current situation. You dig deep into the true value and the problem and the cost of them staying where they are and the opportunities for them.
And if you're truly great at what you do and you can provide real value, what you will find is that most buyers will be very receptive and in fact, will say "Okay, let's do this. "You don't need to go through the RFP process, "we've done that. "We've kinda looked at what's out there, "but clearly what you are offering in terms of the product, "the service, "the support, "the level of engagement, "the partnering aspect, "the results that you've been able to create "for others and so on, "is convincing for us. "It's compelling for us. "And so we'd like to engage with you."
And so we've seen many clients who have been faced with option for an RFP say no to it with full confidence, letting the buyer know, "We're happy to have that conversation "once you've gone through the RFP process if you'd like." The buyer then comes back and says, "Yes, okay we've gone through the process, "we still would like to have that conversation with you." And then they end up winning the business without having to go through the RFP process.
Why is that so beneficial? Well it's beneficial because you then don't need to spend a whole bunch of time filling out documents and trying to make your case. Essentially, an RFP is like trying to win business through a piece of paper, where you don't even have the ability to engage with the ultimate buyers and really hear about what they want. So you might hear about what one person wants or what's written in the request for proposal, but you don't actually get to hear or speak with the ultimate decision makers.
And that's what is necessary in almost all situations to truly have a buyer in a pure to pure relationship, right? Sitting down with the decision makers or with those who really influence the decision and asking the questions that can help you to truly identify the value that they care about so you can communicate it. So you can ensure that you're providing them with a significant return on investment, help them to get what they want, and doing it in a way that provides significance and the right level of compensation for you.
So that's how I would suggest that you approach RFPs. But if you're really looking to do RFP after RFP after RFP, then there's other great resources out there that could help you with that.
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