Coaching
and Consulting > Requests for Proposals and Proposal
Preparation
Preparing and responding to RFPs can be one of the more stressful
tasks that both the buyer and seller experience. Unlike a Tender
or Quote method of procurement, the RFP solicitation form is
used due to the often complex nature of the project including:
- finding the most cost effective solution (not just the
lowest price as in a tender bid or quote)
- establishing real and measurable objectives (outcomes)
and deliverables
- determining the mandatory and preferable vendor qualifications
and the proposal evaluation criteria (using a point scoring
system), and
- costing rationale.
RFPs do not need to be excessively long as the proposal
response will likely be as long or longer. In terms of certain
project
specifications, one can appreciate that some of these can
be long. However, the actual project requirements, which
could
be referred to as the Statement of Requirement (SOR - main
part of the RFP) must be clear and concise.
The proposal has to address all of the issues, concerns and
requirements of the RFP in such a way that encourages the
reader and evaluator to conclude that this proposal has the
best overall solution or at least the best preliminary project
scope of work, the qualified project team and an acceptable
budget/price.
Planning, preparing and writing effective RFPs and Proposals
should not exhaust both parties to the degree that more
energy
and effort is used in the solicitation and response than
in the performance of the actual work requested. As well,
excessive
use of "templates" and / or boilerplates removes
people from objective thinking to "filling in the blanks".
Some templates or boilerplates do provide guidelines to
assist
in planning, especially for RFPs. However, caution must be
exercised to ensure that "tunnel-vision" is left
out of the planning process.
Stevens Consulting provides prescriptions through proactive
and synergistic coaching methods that allow individuals and
organizations to produce effective, well-planned and written
RFPs including:
- Emphasis on both the buyer's and seller's perspectives
- Objective thinking and rationalization, emphasizing easy
to read, rather than over-complicated documents
- Best practices in use of project planning, implementation
and performance measurement and evaluation
- Preparing / Defining Statements of the Requirement (SOR)
and Scope of Work (SOW) / Project Definition / Preliminary Project
Plan
- Establishing contractor evaluation criteria, scoring methods
and the evaluation process
- Establishing writing and submission guidelines formats
and language (both RFPs and Proposals)
- Presentation requirements and process, if required
- Proposal feedback/debriefing
|
