RFPing in the Wind
Last week two RFPs arrived from international companies looking for our proposals and prices for training courses. Both made me mad as hell. If I had my way there would have been an Act of Parliament banning RFPs for anything more complicated than the purchase of paperclips. Corporations looking for the best creative ideas, because they have a negotiating problem or a need which requires the development of training or coaching, do themselves no favors by making potential suppliers go through the mechanical hoops demanded by an RFP. It is undoubtedly not best practice.
Rather than moan, I thought it might be more useful to offer those readers in procurement who are users of RFPs some advice based on the mistakes I have seen committed over the years. Here are my Top Eight Improvements for RFPs.
1. Tell us more about the problem or the need, and less about how you want us to solve it. We want to know what your objectives are, and what are the outputs you expect if our solution succeeds. In detail. We don’t want to know that (for example) you want a blended solution involving e-learning and face to face training in groups of 14, or for not more than 16 hours delivered by 1 trainer. We are the subject-matter experts; that’s why you ask us for our ideas. Please don’t limit our creativity.
2. Meet us face to face much earlier in the process. We have lots of ideas which you will find interesting, and a meeting will give us the opportunity to identify your corporate style and personality, so that we can direct our attention to those ideas most useful for you.
3. Set realistic deadlines. You send us the brief on Day 1, you expect our proposal by Day 10. Not long enough. If you want us to do some serious thinking we need at least 3 weeks.
4. If you ask us how we will approach the research process to ensure that our solution meets your need, don’t ask us<