Mastering the Art of Winning RFPs

by Robert A. Potter

Service provider competition has never been more brutal. The best way to win a request for proposal is to make sure you understand the motivation and process driving the client's selection. The more you know about why and how professional firms or businesses are chosen over others, the easier it will be to align your tactics to win. The following article reviews the motivations and patterns behind the typical RFP and provides tips for responding and winning each phase.

The formal RFP selection process is like a funnel with three phases, where criteria are used to increase choice and then to eliminate alternatives until the final selection is made. The three phases of the selection process are the search, screening and selection phases. Each phase is based on decision criteria that become increasingly selective and subjective. The number of candidates is narrowed down to a single winning service provider.

• Search Phase, or "All of the Usual Suspects." Decision criteria during the search phase are inclusive and designed to gather as many alternatives as necessary to assure (and demonstrate) a good decision. Inclusion is based on the client's awareness of, and access to, firms with relevant capabilities.
  
  
• Screening Phase, or "Who Will Be Voted Off the Island?" The search phase frequently uncovers too many choices to be individually evaluated. The client's objective in the screening phase is to reduce the group to a manageable short list for closer evaluation. Standards for comparing similar characteristics are set, and these criteria are used to eliminate all but the few short list competitors who most closely meet decision criteria. To avoid being "voted off the island" during the screening phase, determine the decision criteria, build preferences that fit your strengths, and position your capabilities to those criteria. For each criterion you must be able to clearly articulate how you are different and why that is important to this client, making it difficult for competitors to match up. Then be prepared to prove it with success metrics and referrals.
  
  
• Selection Phase, or "First Among Equals." The short listed candidates are invited to meet the decision-makers and present their cases. Anyone who has made it this far is well qualified, so decision criteria expand beyond capabilities to the unique rational and emotional fit of one provider over the rest. The winner in the selection phase will be chosen based on emotional preference value. Among subjective and non-verbal decision criteria that will determine the winner are comfort with the service provider, confidence in their understanding of the buyer's needs and situation, and the service provider's loyalty to and enthusiasm for the client and project. In a word, they're looking for trust. Build emotional preferences by focusing on what is different about this prospective client. To build trust, engage the client personally. Instead of telling them what you are going to do, give a preview of what a working relationship with you feels like. Actually start the engagement. This gives both you and the client a head start.

In summary, market awareness and capabilities get you invited, rational differentiation keeps you in the game, but it is emotional differentiation that gets you selected. Throughout the search phase, you can use your capabilities and expertise to build credibility and get invited. To survive the screening phase, you will need to determine and rationally align your proposal to the service buyer's decision criteria.

To win the selection phase, make as much personal contact as possible to demonstrate your understanding of the potential client and commitment to the project. Show them that you would make a good partner.

Robert A. Potter is the author of "Winning in the Invisible Market: A Guide to Selling Professional Services in Turbulent Times."