2 A careful and stepped approach to responding to RFPs

Many Sales Forces view RFPs as a dream come true – a request to pitch a solution without investing time or resources in moving a client through the sales funnel.

The justification is simple: Surely our team stands just as good a chance of winning as anyone else?

Other teams dismiss RFPs out of hand, recognising that most RFPs that are received out of the blue are little more than check box exercises that Procurement must adhere to, in order to prove that more than one supplier was considered for a solution.

Unfortunately, these RFPs are often written with a solution already in mind (that of Procurement’s favourite candidate) and are therefore biased.

So, should you respond to every RFP? With Procurement’s importance on the rise, RFPs should not be dismissed out-of-hand. Instead, they can become strategic drivers to increase your potential win rate, because even if you aren’t the preferred candidate to begin with, they provide a key