RFP arrives.
Cue excitement.
Then, occasionally, several days of frantic proposal writing followed by the dawning realisation that perhaps we should have asked a few questions first.
In this week’s episode, we talk about the three broad choices we think businesses have when an RFP lands:
Try to win it. Reshape the process. Or walk away.
The important bit is deciding which one before mobilising half the company, cancelling everyone’s weekend, and asking AI to produce 47 slightly different versions of the executive summary.
We cover why even an RFP from an existing client should be treated as a fresh opportunity, why you still need to qualify the buyer, budget, stakeholders and competitive landscape, and why procurement’s process does not automatically have to become your entire sales process.
We also touch on something we’re starting to notice more with AI: it can compress an extraordinary amount of work into a much shorter period… which is brilliant, until your brain sends you an invoice.
Our main takeaway?
Permission to participate is not probability of winning.
If you’re responding to RFPs, that distinction can save an enormous amount of time, energy and disappointment.