The Ultimate RFP Checklist
As agency owners, many of you have doubtlessly encountered RFPs: Request for Proposals. While I usually encourage clients to explore alternative business development avenues, certain industries require RFPs to secure new work. Navigating this process can be challenging, requiring meticulous attention to detail and differentiation from competitors.
However, I believe there's a way to streamline this process and make it less resource intensive. By following a well-organized RFP checklist, you can ensure that your team covers the bases—all while significantly reducing the drain on your resources.
With that in mind, I've created the ultimate RFP checklist: an all-in-one guide to help you master the RFP process and elevate your business development efforts.
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS IN YOUR RFP CHECKLIST
When it comes to RFPs, each proposal is unique; but most request similar basic information. I've witnessed many agencies resort to using their last proposal as a template for new opportunities, only to find themselves wading through older proposals to reuse previously-answered questions. To efficiently manage the RFP process, it's essential to organize frequently-requested information.
My recommendation is simple: leverage tools like Confluence or Notion. In doing so, you enable your team to access and collaborate on information in real-time, eliminating concerns about outdated documents. By creating an internal workspace with links to standard documents, you can easily tailor each document, incorporate relevant information from previous proposals, and ensure consistency across projects.
For example, one of your links will be a cover letter. While each cover letter must be tailored to the current project, previously-written cover letters may contain introductions or paragraphs that can be incorporated into your other proposals.
RFP CHECKLIST
To help you get started, here are the key components to include in your RFP checklist:
Agency Profile: One-page overview of your agency.
Cover Letter: A working template with key messages you want to communicate.
Project Approach: A description of your unique approach to managing marketing campaigns, launching websites, activating events, etc.
Current Workload: A list of ongoing projects with completion percentages or dates.
Project Roles: Clearly-defined responsibilities of the team members involved in a project, e.g., project manager.
Resumes: Highlight the expertise and experience of team members assigned to the project.
Case Studies: Showcase relevant experience and success stories.
Project Lists: Organize projects by type or category.
References: Identify current and past clients that can speak to your expertise.
Awards List: Clients like winning awards as much as we do. This is your opportunity to flex and demonstrate industry recognition and achievements.
Affirmative Action Policy (or EEO Statement): Usually for public-sector projects—precisely the kind of entities that require an RFP to do business with them.
Vendor Questions: A working list of questions you typically ask when bidding on an RFP.
Project Costs: Develop a pricing table as a starting point for each proposal.
QUALITY CONTROL
Once you've completed the checklist, it's important to perform a quality check by answering these five questions:
Have we provided all the required information and documentation?
Does our response demonstrate a thorough understanding of the project?
Have we clearly established our marketing expertise?
Are our case studies relevant to this project?
Have we demonstrated our capacity to meet the timeline?
KEY INSIGHTS
Investing time in developing a well-organized library of your agency's qualifications will yield significant time savings in the long run. Moreover, this process provides you more time to research the client's needs and tailor your proposals accordingly. By incorporating an evaluation process into your RFP response checklist, you can efficiently determine which opportunities align best with your agency's strengths, thus enabling you to focus your time and effort on the RFPs that are truly winnable.