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13 top blogs for response professionals

13 top blogs for response professionals

Templates & guides

I like to think of RFP response managers as the unsung heroes of their organizations. In a typical company, around […]

Category: Templates & guides

13 top blogs for response professionals

13 top blogs for response professionals

Templates & guides

I like to think of RFP response managers as the unsung heroes of their organizations. In a typical company, around fourty-five percent of revenue begins with an RFP, and response is becoming more and more competitive every day.

In addition to having a range of titles — proposal manager, bid manager, capture manager, or RFP manager — response managers wear a lot of hats. They’re part researcher, part writer, part salesperson, and part ringleader, although they may claim that they’re more than part ringleader. Keeping up with that evolving skill set can be exhausting!

You could go back to school, I suppose, or you can hone your skills through blogs. Every morning, I read a handful of curated blog posts to help up my game. They’re quick, convenient, and easy to come back to when interrupted, and the great ones make me feel a little bit smarter.

In this post, I will share some of my favorite blogs. Some are about RFPs and response management and others dust off and refine all those other hats you wear.

  1. Gartner
  2. McKinsey
  3. Learning Hub from G2
  4. Insight Partners Blog
  5. Hubspot
  6. Seth’s Blog
  7. Martech Blog
  8. Proposal Pro
  9. Presentation Zen
  10. RFPIO
  11. Winning the Business from APMP
  12. Grammarly
  13. Business Writing

Best blogs for general business trends

1. Gartner

Gartner is a fantastic resource for all things tech. They offer business consulting and some of the most thorough statistical research out there. The blog contextualizes their research and offers invaluable actionable insights to increase revenue and navigate a dynamic business environment.

Post you should start with: Is now the time to stand up or invest in sales enablement?

Generating revenue is the single most important business goal. As a writer, I like to feel as though I am part of the revenue generation process, although not directly. My colleagues in the marketing department and I are responsible for creating brand awareness and helping our sales department sell. Does that make marketing “sales enablement?” Is RFPIO a sales enablement platform? Doug Bushée with Gartner thinks so.

“(Sales enablement is) an opportunity to help your sales force be more effective, not just through technology or training but with a complete package that includes content, technology, communications, sales process, and training to enable your sales teams to drive revenue.” – Doug Bushée

 

2. McKinsey & Company

McKinsey & Company is an OG in the management consulting world. While their blog isn’t specifically geared toward RFP response, they offer insights and best practices for all verticals and organizational structures. Many in the response industry look to McKinsey for inspiration or statistics for their own blogs. McKinsey’s blog covers a wide range of topics including mergers and acquisitions, analytics, risk management, sales operations, and more.

Post you should start with: Better forecasting for large capital projects

You’d be hard-pressed to find an industry with more variables, at least when it comes to proposals, than construction. The larger the project, the more difficult the bidding process. Most (we hope) companies don’t want to underbid, but all too often, it happens. This blog post explores the psychological factors behind underbidding.

“Why do project planners, on average, fail to forecast their effect on the costs of complex projects? We’ve covered this territory before but continue to see companies making strategic decisions based on inaccurate data. Deliberately or not, costs are systematically underestimated and benefits are overestimated during project preparation—because of delusions or honest mistakes on one hand and deceptions or strategic manipulation of information or processes on the other.” – McKinsey & Company

3. Learning Hub from G2

I am sort of obsessed with reviews. I refuse to try a new hair stylist, dog groomer, or restaurant without first checking their online reviews. I’m that annoying person who scans QR codes in the aisles of Costco or Target to make sure I’m making the best buying decisions.

Before accepting my job with RFPIO, I made sure it was a cultural fit for me and I checked G2 to see what their customers had to say about the platform. G2 is more than a software review site. Its blog is a phenomenal source of information for nearly every vertical and every skill set.

Post you should start with: What is accountability in the workplace? 12 ways to foster it

Most RFP responses require several stakeholders, which is where that unofficial role of ringmaster comes in. Guest blogger Susmita Sarma has several very helpful tips to create accountability in the workplace, which is sure to help you spend less time chasing stakeholders down and more time doing the rest of your jobs.

“In reality, accountability at work is all of the above, which runs like a machine. But if the employees keep no accountability mechanism in place, things quickly fall apart. To avoid this, every employee should be accountable for their own actions at work. It builds confidence within teams and organizations because people know they can depend on one another.” – Susmita Sarma

4. Insight Partners Blog

Do you follow economic or industry news? If not, I completely get it. Sometimes our plates are so full that it’s difficult to see the world outside. Few know more about business trends than venture capitalists, which is why my go-to blog for all things business is Insight Partners.

Post you should start with: SaaS pricing tactics for a high-inflation environment

Pricing is one of the key components of an RFP, and the ultimate component of an RFQ (request for quote). Should you offer the same pricing structure today as a quarter ago? Should you raise prices to cover inflation or lower them to gain a competitive advantage?

“Properly setting prices is an untapped opportunity for SaaS providers to squeeze more value out of what they offer. We often see companies who haven’t touched their pricing for three years or more — which might explain the lack of inflationary growth in the sector. Usually this means companies have built up a significant amount of pricing power through market growth and product improvement which they haven’t yet monetized. While this was also the case well before the current inflationary environment, now the opportunities are even greater — while the risks of not adapting your pricing are more severe.” – James Wood

Best marketing blogs

5. Hubspot Blog

Hubspot is one of the top CRM platforms and it has a strong focus on marketing. Their blog could have gone under the “general trends” category, but I read Hubspot for their marketing tips. In their blog, industry experts discuss everything from a product’s life cycle to how to be more productive.

Post you should start with: 12 free personality tests you can take online today

Aren’t online personality tests so early 2000s? In most cases, I’d agree, but there is value in learning how you tick. By understanding your personality and triggers, you can help establish a more harmonious and productive work environment. And because more data is almost always better, have your teammates take the tests.

These tests are great conversation starters, especially among groups of people who don’t know each other very well. They can help create connections and establish common ground at work. Learning about your colleagues’ personality traits can reveal how each team member prefers to receive feedback and criticism. This can help your team avoid unnecessary miscommunication down the road, as well as lead to more productive projects and meetings.” – Caroline Forsey

6. Seth’s Blog

I guess you could call Seth Godin a marketing guru. He’s a Stanford Business grad, a published author, and a dot com alumnus. Now he blogs. Some of his posts read like streams of consciousness and others like social media posts. I call them bursts of marketing wisdom.

Post you should start with: Contracts and Power

Proposals aren’t technically contracts but many contain the same terms. Who has the power? Would it surprise you to know that the power shifts depending on where you are in the sales cycle? Can you control the shifts?

“In the moment before a contract is signed, the lower-powered party momentarily has more power. That’s because the other entity wants what you have. But as soon as they have it, it’s only the contract that offers concrete protection against future events.” — Seth Godin

7. Martech Blog

The content-rich Martech blog is the leading resource for tech marketers. Their team of marketing professionals blogs about diverse topics such as content strategy, World Cup marketing, and how to survive the death of cookies. They have a robust search engine, so if you have a marketing, or marketing-adjacent, question, just plug your query in to get expert tips. Check the site often as they typically post three or more blogs per day.

Post you should start with: Only 28% of B2B content marketers report having the technology they need

This post caught my attention because it’s one of the many areas where marketers and proposal professionals share common ground. Twenty-eight percent of B2B marketers have the technology they need. Proposal management is somewhat better; 43% say they have the technology they need to perform their jobs.

“The technology issues are likely the results of two things. First, too many B2B companies are letting features and functions determine what’s in their stacks, when it should be determined by their own strategy. Second, they may not understand the level of complexity and amount of resources needed to manage and maintain their martech tools.”

Best proposal blogs

8. Proposal PRO

I’ll be the first to admit that we don’t spend as much time talking about nonprofit grant proposals as we should. Even when taking profit out of the equation, as with any for-profit company, nonprofits still need to create a compelling case for organizations to untie their purse strings. Competing for an organization’s budgeted grant money is challenging. Because you have to demonstrate that your nonprofit meets a donor’s values, a captivating and clear narrative is perhaps even more important than with for-profit industries.

Jodie Eisenberg, the founder of Proposal PRO, specializes in government grants and has more than $500 million in federal grants and contracts under her belt. In her blogs, she shares the tips and tricks to win those super-competitive federal grants.

Post you should start with: 4 ways that grant-writing can ruin your personality

Confession time: one of my closest friends is a grant writer. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard more polite variations on #4, “Don’t talk to me—I’m on a deadline!” Proposal writers of all kinds are arguably some of the busiest in their organizations. Jodie empathizes and offers advice that might help save grant writers from themselves.

“Let’s face it, deadline pressure is a thing, and if you’re still waiting for people to sign documents, provide a final budget item, or just call you back with an OK to submit, things can get tense.” – Jodie Eisenberg

9. Presentation Zen

The first thing that caught my eye with Presentation Zen was, well, the name. I’m willing to bet that your job, like mine, is fast-paced and requires you to turn on a dime. Presentations, where perfection is expected, only add to the stress. Presentation Zen is all about bringing confidence to your presentations by featuring the best advice from presentation experts.

Post you should start with: Pixar Studios *still* offers free storytelling lessons online

You may wonder why I recommended a post about the largest animation studio in the world. I’m not suggesting you include cartoon characters and fantasy in your responses, but proposal writing, like most writing, should offer strong narratives and follow a similar arc to your favorite Pixar movies.

Pixar may be the best at the technical side of animation, but what really made them successful is their understanding of story and storytelling. In an old interview regarding Pixar’s success, Steve Jobs said this: “Even though Pixar is the most technologically advanced studio in the world, John Lasseter has a saying which has really stuck: No amount of technology will turn a bad story into a good story.”

10. RFPIO Blog

I know how it sounds to recommend our own blog, but we’re truly passionate about improving the full-circle RFP process with response management software. That means that within our blog we cover procurement in addition to proposal themes. This broad range of topics helps deepen understanding and collaboration between buyers and sellers. Not only that, but many of the posts in our blog are inspired directly by recent conversations with our customers.

Post you should start with: RFPIO CEO sees opportunity in the changing economy

This post from Ganesh Shankar, CEO at RFPIO, offers a vision of how response teams can help their companies navigate economic uncertainty. Currently, for many, RFPs are manual, time-consuming, painful, and downright annoying — but they don’t have to be. In addition to identifying challenges faced by organizations, the post explores how technology, transparency, and collaboration can drive significant revenue.

“In the grand scheme of things, this is a time when companies are looking for ways to be more efficient. Technologies tend to help companies become more efficient.
Better efficiency doesn’t mean that automation will take people’s jobs. I strongly feel that technology will allow companies to produce more and deliver better outputs with less infrastructure.” – Ganesh Shankar

11. Winning the business

APMP (the Association of Proposal Management Professionals) is the resource for proposal managers and stakeholders. Their blog, not surprisingly, is a wealth of information. Some of it is serious and some is rather tongue-in-cheek although most posts focus on best practices and industry news.

Post you should start with: Is a business proposal different from a marriage proposal?

If you google “proposal,” you’ll find that most dictionaries offer two definitions. One is a written proposal and the other involves a ring and a knee. Is it a reach to compare the two? Winning the Business makes the case that the two types of proposals have a lot more in common than we think.

“This article considers the logical progression of the capture methodology by comparing it with (the) universal experience of personal courtship. Couples go through a multi-stepped process that is remarkably like the four-step capture methodology. Both scenarios have several similarities including a common means to prompt a positive response during the proposal stage.” – Alan L. Lewis, CP APMP

Best writing blogs

12. Grammarly

What do proposal managers and college students have in common? In a word, writing. And in both cases, grammar matters. sixty-two percent of procurement departments say that they regularly receive error-riddled RFP responses. Sadly, grammatical and spelling errors can take a bidder right out of the running, which is understandable since most customers want to see attention to detail throughout an RFP response.

There are several writing and grammar tools online, but I love Grammarly because it covers many of the confusing basics like when to use accept vs. except.

Post you should start with: How to write a great business proposal

Grammarly is far more than just an online grammar checker. Its blog offers real-world advice and business writing tips. Grammarly can help boost your win rate by showcasing your company in its best light. Rachel Meltzer offers guidelines for creating a business proposal, whether solicited through an RFP or unsolicited.

“A business proposal is a document that presents one company’s products or services to another company in detail. Business proposals are often customized for the potential client. It’s a way for the company to market its product and get on the same page as its potential client before they agree to work together.” – Rachel Meltzer

13. Business Writing

While I love Grammarly, its reach is broad. There are tips and tools for students, fiction writers, and writing hobbyists. If you’re looking for something that’s specifically focused on business writing, there’s the Business Writing blog. Like Grammarly, they write entire blog posts covering confusing words like “council vs. counsel,” but their posts all have business angles.

Post you should start with: Is “data” singular or plural? Does it matter?

A tech copywriter, technical writer, and data scientist walked into a bar to ponder the word “data.” Okay, I’m open to suggestions as to a punchline, but a debate over whether “data” is singular or plural could get a little raucous, especially if one of the writers is, shall we say, traditional. Business Writing’s Ryan Fisher tackles that surprisingly controversial issue just to conclude that we’re all right.

“A look at Google’s Ngram graph shows that in American English, while the plural form (the data are) has been predominantly more common, the singular form (the data is) has been rising and is now on par with the plural form.” – Ryan Fisher

 

Brand storytelling in RFP responses

Brand storytelling in RFP responses

Templates & guides

What do Dr. Suess, Toni Morrison, and winning RFP responses have in common? They all tell their stories in surprisingly similar ways. A great story follows an arc. It draws the reader in, moves the story forward in an emotionally engaging way, and provides a satisfying conclusion.

You might think that comparing RFP responses to great works of fiction is going a little too far, especially because a quality RFP response is proofed and fact-checked to ensure complete accuracy. But fiction, nonfiction, or business proposal, it doesn’t matter.

Why using brand storytelling delivers a better RFP response

A study by neuroscientist and tech entrepreneur Paul J. Zak, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense, found that regardless of the medium, storytelling that captures emotions signals oxytocin—the love hormone—in the brain.

But wait, you aren’t trying to make people fall in love with your company, are you? In a sense, yes. Odds are that your company is one of many that can meet a prospect’s needs. So, how do you make your proposal stand out? How do you make a customer want to do business with you?

You differentiate yourselves by appealing to the readers’ emotions in the hope that you’ll awash their brains in the love hormone. It’s important to note that oxytocin also signals trustworthiness and motivates cooperation, which are both critical factors in closing business deals of all sorts.

“I advise business people to begin every presentation with a compelling, human-scale story. Why should customers or a person on the street care about the project you are proposing? How does it change the world or improve lives? How will people feel when it is complete? These are the components that make information persuasive and memorable.” Paul Zak

Examples of companies that use storytelling to connect with their customers

Nearly every B2C ad you read or see attempts to emotionally connect with you. Apple wants to “share the joy.” Subaru wants to “share the love,” and Patagonia will help you help save the environment.

But what about B2B examples? How can a business document make a reader “fall in love,” or at least emotionally connect with your company? Straddling that line between professional and oxytocin-producing content takes some skill, but these two companies get it right:

Salesforce

Salesforce is the top customer relationship management platform in the world. Tracking customers through sales cycles might not exactly trigger love, so Salesforce took another approach. Their story is as much about their customers’ stories as their own.

KPN is a Dutch telecom company. While their customer success story includes the pain points/solutions specifics you’d expect to find, their customer quotes use emotional trigger words like “happier” and “excited.”

You’ll find emotionally engaging words peppered throughout their customer success stories. Salesforce helped T-Mobile’s customers feel “crazy about its service” and gave American Water “peace of mind.”

You get the idea. You don’t have to pivot away from your main selling points to insert some emotion. If you feel your story could be more engaging, tell your customers’ stories as part of yours.

Amplifi

Is there anything that evokes a sense of warmth and comfort more than the yeasty, buttery smell of freshly baked bread? What about a freshly baked data strategy? Are you hungry yet?

In one blog post, Amplify, a data management company, does a brilliant job of connecting these two disparate subjects to tell a story about creating and following roadmaps, just as you should follow every step of a recipe when baking bread.

In another, the author compares data management to alchemy and even TNT. In short, if data is well-managed, it can turn into metaphorical gold, and if not…boom!

While Amplifi doesn’t rely on emotional statements like “happier” or “excited,” they use clever metaphors to take readers on an emotional journey through the world of data management.

Best practices and examples for writing competitive RFP responses

We probably don’t need to mention that RFP response storytelling is not about making up characters and plotlines. Your job is to use the company’s story to sell a product or service. Write for your audience, not award committees or even yourself.

The academic journal Psychology and Marketing published a study called “Brand narratives: Content and consequences among heritage brands.” The study authors interviewed brand managers, analyzed heritage brand websites, and tested their findings with consumers to pinpoint what customers wanted to see from a seller’s story.

While it is true that their study focused on B2C organizations, it’s always good to remember that human beings spearhead every step in a B2B purchasing cycle.

So, what resonated with consumers?

  • Founding date – Interestingly, it didn’t seem as though a long history was important, but consumers still wanted to see how long a company has been in business. Most RFPs ask for the founding date.
  • Your unique approach or method – How are you different from your competitors? How does your product or service relate to your company’s core values?
  • Linking the past to the present – Even if yours is not a heritage brand, link your vision or product to the past. For example, if your product uses a modern solution, such as artificial intelligence, give a brief history lesson of the challenge before your company addressed it using AI.

The study also examined common storytelling elements that don’t resonate, such as:

  • The founder’s story – The buyer wants to go into business with your company, not its founders.
  • Your business’s struggles – Readers like success stories. They don’t want to know that your company almost folded in its first year, even if it rose like a phoenix. They definitely don’t want to know about your cultural or product-related struggles.
  • Where you were founded – Today’s business world is nearly borderless. Your California location, for example, will mean very little to a company in Europe.

Now that we have the very basic dos and don’ts, it’s time to further break down response stories.

1. Tell your why

As every middle school journalism teacher will tell you, there are six elements to a good story: who, what, where, when, why, and how. It’s the same with RFP response.

“Who,” as we mentioned above, is about your company, not your founder (with an exception we’ll talk about in a moment).

“What” is the product or service. “Where” is less about your location than the product or service (e.g., Where will onboarding take place? Where are your products manufactured?). “When” should outline deliverable dates. “How” is pretty self-explanatory, but what about “why?”

“Why” is an opportunity to genuinely resonate with your audience. Perhaps your company began because your founders were once in the customer’s shoes, or they saw a need that they were in a position to fill.

It might be tempting to include “why” when responding to a question about your company’s founding date or one that asks about product specs, but you’ll run the risk of annoying your customers by using valuable space for what they might see as superfluous information in those contexts. Also, you might have character and space limits.

Unless the RFP offers organic opportunities to present your “why,” save it for the cover letter.

RFP response example:

If, for example, a company wanted to improve efficiency. Here at RFPIO, we might say something like:

“We understand your desire to improve efficiencies in your organization. We founded RFPIO for that very reason. Our platform helps you take back time to spend with your customers, family, and of course, on yourself.”

2. Show you’re human

Individuals and company decision-makers all want to feel good about their buying decisions. Highlight the good that your company does.

RFP response example:

At RFPIO, we’re proud of our workplace ideals and culture. But simply patting ourselves on the back might seem inauthentic. We let our employees speak for themselves. In our RFP responses, we often include something like:

“RFPIO is committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. Our employees voted this year, and we were honored as a Comparably Award winner for Best Outlook, Best CEO for diversity, and Best Leadership team.”

3. Share a testimonial

Who better to speak for your company’s quality and customer service than your customers?

RFP response example:

We might, for example, use the words of Brian Z. of LinkedIn:

“Hundreds of hours saved in responding to questionnaires and RFPs. RFPIO offers very competitive cost savings over most of the larger RFP software providers. The same functionality at a fraction of the cost of the big guys. Customer support is top-notch — all questions or requests for help are addressed within the same day (or within 24 hours at most). Great, direct support from the management team — no call centers, no outsourced product support. You get assistance from people who helped build the product.”

4. Customize answers with specific deliverables

When an RFP asks about deliverables, the customer wants more than just a timeline. They want to know that you understand their needs. If you sell a product, how long will it take for the customer to receive it? If you sell a service, what is the onboarding process? Sure, it’s easy to answer these questions with dates or predicted time from purchase, but remember, you’re telling a story.

RFP response example:

Let’s pivot from RFPIO for a moment. Perhaps your company offers SEO services. Rather than simply listing timelines, say something like:

“At ____ SEO Consultants, we value partnership with our clients. First, we’ll meet with your content strategists to help devise a plan to leverage your strengths and highlight your values. On average, we will deliver a detailed SEO strategy within X months.

By month X, we will begin weekly strategy meetings with content writers and key stakeholders. Implementation will be ongoing but expect your first results within X months.”

5. Be succinct and real

Most products or services are relatively dry. If you’re in tech, things can get rather *um* technical. If you sell a product, you might have to explain its manufacturing or logistics.

Odds are, the procurement person looking at your proposal has high-level knowledge of what they are seeking, but their eyes might start getting bleary if you go into too much detail, especially technical detail. Avoid jargon as much as possible.

RFP response example:

If, for example, the RFP asks about your approach to project management. Rather than describing your methodology or Gantt chart, say something like:

“Our project management team is agile. We tailor our proven process to each client’s unique needs with the main steps remaining consistent: build, test, and deploy to deliver value.”

6. Make life easier for the issuer

Reviewing a (long) proposal is a tedious enough process, don’t also make the issuer do extra work digging to find answers. Rather than directing them to an attachment or a URL to find the answer they’re looking for, answer their question within the proposal itself. In addition, you can always provide an attachment to expand on your answer or offer supporting evidence for it.

RFP response example:

“We practice secure application design and coding principles. Engineers are required to undergo security training for security awareness and secure coding.

We use third-party services to perform vulnerability/application security scans annually.

The most recent penetration report is attached to this package: .”

7. Elaborate when appropriate

You don’t want to be too wordy or provide unnecessary information, but there are instances where a bit of elaboration is valuable. Sometimes you have to read between the lines to determine what the customer needs. Rather than just providing the most direct answer to the question, try to understand what the buyer is actually trying to learn. If a more detailed response fits better, go for it.

RFP response example:

The customer may want to know how you communicate new features to clients. Sure, you could respond with something like, “Upcoming platform enhancements are communicated to customers via email. You can also access them from the Help Center.”

Yes, that answer is succinct, but does it set you apart from your competitors? Maybe they asked that question because their current vendor doesn’t listen to suggestions or communicate new features. Instead, try something like:

“Our roadmap is heavily influenced by our customers through a feedback/enhancement request feature within the application. Customers can interact with one another’s requests, as well as with the development team. Their comments, voting, and status reports all influence future enhancements.

We then communicate enhancements to our customers via email release announcements. This email will have the major highlights from the release, a document outlining all the release details, and a link to the release details that can be accessed 24/7 in the Help Center.”

8. Say no with style

No one likes to pass up a business opportunity, but there are times when your company won’t be the right fit, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Rather than responding to an RFP and misleading the customer into believing that yours is the right solution, tell them “no” but do it the right way.

A well-composed “no” response might help open doors to future opportunities with the issuer.

RFP response example:

Imagine the customer is looking for a specific integration you don’t currently offer. Instead of a simple “No, we do not integrate with that tool,” say something like:

“Currently, the solution does not integrate with XYZ tool. However, a potential integration is on our 6-12 month product roadmap. We would love the opportunity to partner with you in identifying the best path forward to build an XYZ tool integration.”

More RFP examples and response resources

While we’re on the subject of storytelling, part of RFPIO’s story is that we also respond to RFPs, so we have several experts within our ranks who are always willing to offer sage advice.

RFPIO’s website and blog have multiple resources to help you craft a bid-winning story, such as:

Sample RFP response cover letter

A great cover letter is short and sweet but also informative. Click here for tips and tricks for writing the perfect cover letter. Kelly Barnard, RFPIO’s Response Management Strategist, even included her go-to example.

Winning RFP response examples using storytelling

Are you hungry for more storytelling examples? Click here.

Free RFP response template

Hubspot has a fantastic RFP response template. Click here.

Modernize your RFP response process and complete more winning bids with artificial intelligence

None of these best practices are worth much if you can’t complete each potentially winnable RFP or find time to customize them when you do. To get to the point where you can actively put this advice into practice, you need RFP software that takes care of the more tedious and time-consuming parts of the process.

RFPIO’s advanced response technology includes features that help you create better, faster, more winning responses:

  • Business intelligence – RFPIO’s advanced analytics and reporting capabilities let you use data to drive your business decisions.
  • Content Library – RFPs aren’t known for their originality. You’ve probably answered most questions before. RFPIO’s AI-enabled recommendation engine finds the best preapproved content, leaving you the option to accept, edit, or reject its suggestions.
  • Import and export – Whether an RFP comes as a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or through your CRM, you can import it directly onto RFPIO’s platform.
  • Standard and customized templates – RFPIO lets you create proposals using your favorite templates or one of ours.
  • Customization – As they say, every picture tells a story. Add tables, images, and rich text to visually narrate your response.
  • Integrations – RFPIO integrates with the most popular productivity and sales enablement tools.

Related: Create proactive proposals at scale with proposal automation software

Create rich narratives that will help you win more business, spend more time in front of customers, and live your life. With RFPIO, you can make that happen. See how with a free demo.

RFP vs RFQ vs RFI: How response management reflects sales success

RFP vs RFQ vs RFI: How response management reflects sales success

Templates & guides

In an enterprise sale or government bid, you’re likely to run into one or more of the following: request for proposal (RFP), request for quote (RFQ), and request for information (RFI). They all sound similar, but each serves a different purpose. So, what IS the difference between an RFP vs RFQ vs RFI?

It’s an important question, because how your organization responds to these requests has direct implications on your sales process: Improve how you respond, improve how you sell.

What is an RFP?

RFP stands for request for proposal.

For the proposal team, this is the be-all, end-all of responses that stirs up everything you can possibly imagine about your organization. Pricing, functionality, technology, security, company basics, competitive differentiators, case studies, references, implementation, SLAs…phew! As the owner of the RFP response process, the proposal manager must ensure that ALL of these questions are tackled.

For the deal that’s already several touchpoints in the making, this response can either help seal it or kill it for the sales team. The importance of the RFP in the overall sales process varies according to industry. But across the board, it’s one of the touchpoints—along with product demo, pricing, and references—that every stakeholder will take into consideration when deciding on vendor selection.

Bottom line? No matter how awesome a response turns out, it alone cannot win the deal. Alas, a subpar response can indeed kill a deal all by itself.

What is an RFQ?

RFQ stands for request for quote.

If you receive an RFQ, then one of two things have likely happened. One, your RFP passed muster and you’re a finalist. Or two, there never was an RFP and you’re being approached because yours is a known solution for one reason or another. Either way, details are important in an RFQ. The issuer wants to know exactly what they’re getting at what price.

Lean heavily on subject matter experts (SMEs) to ensure accuracy. In some cases, you may need to complete a table of specific line items and include a cost for each. Your industry dictates your details. The point is that you need to be ready to deliver those details in an RFQ. There’s usually no room for creativity like you might have in an RFP. And remember, anything you commit to in the RFQ will have to be backed up down the line during implementation and support. You’re setting up expectations for the customer experience moving forward, after the hand-off from sales.

What is an RFI?

RFI stands for request for information.

There are two schools of thought regarding RFIs. The first school says an RFI is a fishing expedition for organizations who have questions but don’t know who to ask. In this case, RFI responses usually end up forming the basis of an RFP.

The second school says that RFIs are closer to RFQs and are used only with RFP finalists. In this case, the open-ended questions may try to clarify something in your RFP or may give you an opportunity to explain use-cases of how your solution solves specific challenges.

The RFI is usually more casual than the RFQ and will give you room to be creative. In some cases, it can even be your last opportunity to set yourself apart from the competition. End on a high note!

What is the difference between an RFP vs RFI vs RFQ?

Obviously, there are many differences, based on the definitions above. But the biggest difference between these three requests is in the content of your response.

  • RFQs will be structured; content will likely be technical, financial, and legal.
  • RFIs are more casual; content will be more along the lines of solution briefs, case studies, and custom answers to open-ended questions.
  • RFPs will be structured and formal, but they’ll also provide opportunities to show off your creativity and competitive differentiation. Content will be in the form of answers to many, many questions. Hopefully you have an RFP software solution in place to automate and manage content. It makes your life much easier.

Ways RFPs, RFQs, and RFIs help your sales process

Back in the days of paper forms and manual processes, if an RFP was involved, then you could count on a long wait before knowing if you won the deal. That’s not necessarily the case anymore. Digital transformation has introduced three new trends with regards to the RFP as it relates directly to the sales process.

  1. Deadlines are sooner: Issuers expect vendors to have technology and expertise in place to turnaround RFPs faster than ever. Besides, in some instances, the ability to respond fast may be part of an issuer’s filtering process.
  2. RFPs are more complex: Lots of reasons for this. More complex problems, competitive industries that have more vendor options, and the ability for issuers to do a lot of research on solution providers prior to launching an RFP (thanks a lot, Internet) are the biggest, in my mind.
  3. Globally, more organizations and agencies are using them: Actually, there’s a flip side to that idea, too. More solution providers are able to respond to global RFPs. Few of us are limited by borders anymore when it comes to conducting business. If you offer a product or service that the world needs and you can deliver it, then go after the business!

Regardless of your RFP vs RFQ vs RFI predicament, if you work on the following two things, your sales and presales process will be the better for it.

#1 Know your competitive differentiators

There’s a high probability that you will be asked to state your competitive differentiators when responding to an RFP. Here are some examples of how that might look:

  • What is the competitive advantage of your solution?
  • Describe your competitive position relative to your competitors.
  • When comparing yourself to the market, what are the unique selling points?
  • Briefly state how you are differentiated from any competitors.
  • Why should we work with you instead of one of your competitors?

A generic RFP response to any of these will only benefit your competitors who are able to dazzle the issuer with a great response. Instead of using jargon-y adjectives that everyone else uses, focus on demonstrating the value your solution provides.

Knowing company differentiators is half the battle for many organizations—take the time internally to explore what these are and how to communicate them. Once you have these locked down, make sure the best versions are readily available for your team to grab and tailor appropriately.

“A value proposition offers clients something they want and gives them a good reason to choose you over your competitors. In the executive summary and in your full proposal, communicate a strong value proposition that matches your client’s needs and demonstrates your unique offer.”

– APMP Body of Knowledge

#2 Build and use an Content Library

How do you make sure the best versions of your competitive differentiators are easy for your team to grab and tailor? Make sure they’re in your Content Library, of course. It won’t be long before response management software will no longer be a choice; it’ll be an imperative.

Most RFP-specific technologies include an Content Library component. This is where all the content is stored and organized for use in RFPs or other responses, depending on the flexibility of the solution. Much of the content in these libraries exists as Q&A pairs. For the sales process, using AI functionality from an Content Library improves:

  • Repeatability: Build your response process around the foundation of your response management software. It will help establish steps for how you develop a response, access content, and collaborate with writers, editors, and experts time and again.
  • Efficiency: Make everything easier and faster—from finding content and assembling documents, to working with collaborators. Teams that do so are often able to increase efficiency by 40%.
  • Quality: With much of the time-intensive activities of responding offloaded to AI-enabled software and rock-solid processes, you can spend more time on personalizing responses and generating revenue.

Improve how you respond, improve how you sell

We found that organizations using RFP software submitted 43% more responses in 2020 than those without. We also found that organizations averaged a 45% win rate in 2020. From a sales perspective, that’s a huge opportunity for improvement: submit more responses, win more deals.

To learn more about how response management can benefit your sales processes, schedule a demo today!

How to master your SaaS sales process and close more deals

How to master your SaaS sales process and close more deals

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As a member of your SaaS organization’s sales team, you will likely be asked to contribute to software RFP responses—and, you will probably be asked a lot.

Because you prioritize the relentless pursuit of the sale, your time is a rare commodity. By improving your software RFP process, you’ll save time and contribute the best possible RFP responses for your organization. The best possible content is obviously important, being that sales proposals are critical selling documents that impact revenue.

Your job is both a science and an art…selling is a science, and closing is an art. Learn how to master this balance in your SaaS sales process, overcome common obstacles, and close more deals for your organization.

“Today, the sale is won by the salesperson who communicates a story that gets a buyer to imagine new possibilities.” – John Livesay

SaaS sales: Relationships, price wars, and time

We reached out to SaaS salespeople and asked them to describe their top industry challenges. Casey Hill, Sales Executive at Bonjoro, shared his top three hurdles and we shared some ideas for overcoming these sales hurdles to help you succeed.

1. Not hearing back after an initial meeting.

Your follow-up is absolutely critical. You must demonstrate value, and personalize and tailor messaging for your individual prospect. To establish this relationship, you need to demonstrate precisely why they need your solution to solve their problems.

2. Getting involved in a price war.

You are put on the defensive here, but you don’t need to be. Casey says “know the value of your product, and stick to your guns.” Your prospect may be putting you under a lot of pressure, but in the end, the cheapest solution is not always the winner. Show them how your software will directly benefit their bottom line.

3. Knowing where to allocate time when it comes to your pipeline.

Time is money, and nowhere is this truer than sales. Know your statistics, manage your pipeline, and stay organized and proactive. Casey advises using your organization’s top salespeople as a blueprint for success. Learn how they break down their processes. The most successful sales teams know how to balance time management and limit distractions.

Overcoming each of these challenges is a learning experience. Apply these takeaways to your next sales proposal to hone in on the value-add and show ROI potential. With better time management, you’ll have the headspace to make these improvements in your SaaS sales process.

SaaS sales: Listen, be inquisitive, and sell benefits

There’s an old adage you likely already know by heart if you’re in SaaS sales. If the customer says “I’m buying—stop talking,” you’re in big trouble.

We need to let the customer do the talking. This is how we learn what they are looking for in a SaaS solution. The best salespeople are inquisitive. You listen and respond. You want to find out what problem you can solve. Sell them the benefit, not the feature.

How will a given feature of your software increase the customer’s revenue, lower their costs, and save them time? Talk to your potential client about end-users. Target their needs in the conversation.

In the 2019 RFPIO Responder Survey, we asked busy salespeople what their favorite RFPIO feature was. A resounding 93% said the Content Library. It’s a great feature, definitely—but how do you sell that? You could point out what the Content Library does in mechanics and specifics. However, the real win lies in selling it as “an efficiency.”

RFP response automation is a winning solution. When you save a salesperson’s time, they can focus more on selling, thus also affecting the bottom line. Now you’ve sold them on saving time and increasing revenue.

Apply these principles to your next RFP response. If you allow your prospect to do the talking and find out their greatest need, you’ll walk in their shoes and know which benefits will best appeal to them.

Take the next step in mastering your SaaS sales process. Find out how RFPIO can help.

10 financial services RFP insider tips for an effective process

10 financial services RFP insider tips for an effective process

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57% of proposal managers share the same goal…improving the proposal management process to save time.

In the financial services industry, proposal management is still paper-based for many organizations. With digital transformation happening all around us, the opportunity to advance your RFP response process has never been higher.

Chip Kispert is an experienced consultant who has dedicated over 20 years to analyzing and improving the financial institution marketplace. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of Beacon Strategies, a premier consulting firm serving broker-dealers, asset managers, and supporting vendors since 2006.

Before you respond to your next round of financial services RFPs, read these insider tips to understand the nuances of your industry and discover new ways to save time through an effective process.

chip kispert

RFP financial services insider tips to practice

1. Take care of your RFP Content Library

One of the biggest challenges for our broker-dealers is taking care of their data. Keep your data organized, so you get to a point where you can compare that data and make it stronger. As a proposal manager, your RFP Content Library is a prime opportunity. This content is some of your most valuable data.

2. Structure RFPs from a quantitative standpoint

Have an answer set that is quantitative, rather than qualitative. Of course, qualitative is important for supplying additional concepts and context, but structuring your RFPs from a quantitative standpoint gives you something to measure. And you measure it with ease if you have an organized platform like RFP software to do the work for you.

3. Turn to the subject matter experts for guidance

Being the lead of your organization’s financial services RFP responses might be a new process for you. RFPs are complex in your industry, with questions about information security and GDPR becoming increasingly common in the vendor selection process. Always engage subject matter experts (SMEs) to get the most accurate response.

4. Have discussions about sales opportunities

Over the years you’ve seen a lot of RFPs that have been won because of the relationship. The relationship is important. But sometimes down the road, key pieces of the puzzle pop up and cause issues. It’s important to get all those elephants in the room during the sales process. Work together on organizational improvement by having open discussions.

5. Embrace RFP digital transformation

The first iPhone was released twelve years ago—look at the digital transformation you experienced with this tool since then. Digital transformation supplies the ability to repeat a process. When you embrace digital transformation with RFPs, you gain a sustainable RFP response process and become more effective and efficient.

6. Support digital transformation with RFP software

In our experience, very few Finserv organizations are using RFP software today. RFP software lets you use technology to adapt to the plug-and-play environment we live in. You quickly select a pre-packaged RFI (request for information) response that you can build upon. At the end of the day, RFP software supports your digital transformation.

7. Develop a data-driven RFP response process

Having a consistent RFP response process is key for your entire proposal management team. You also want your data to have quantitative packaging, with supporting qualitative explanations. A modern-day RFP process blends the quantitative with the qualitative to appeal to multiple personas inside and outside your financial services organization.

8. Gamify the RFP experience

When conveying your quantitative data in a financial services RFP, gamify the experience for your prospect. Give them results and trends shown in graphs and quadrants. Not only do proposal graphics break up your content, but they also present information visually to make a bigger impact.

9. Summarize content for decision-makers

Executives and decision-makers don’t have time to review 82 documents. Make it easy for them to choose you during the vendor selection process. Quantify and summarize at every turn. Be concise with your RFP responses and include data that is highly relevant to your prospect.

10. Take a look at what you’re trying to accomplish

Just because you’ve always done something a certain way, doesn’t mean it’s the right way to do it tomorrow. What are you trying to accomplish? What resources do you need to deploy? If there is an option to minimize resources you have to expend, take it—especially if it gives you a quantitative perspective, one that measures in addition to supporting context.

Now you have the RFP financial services insider tips to make your response process more effective. RFPIO is here to support your digital transformation and save you time…schedule a demo to get started.

15 RFP responders explain how to craft a winning RFP response

15 RFP responders explain how to craft a winning RFP response

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RFP responders and issuers spend a lot of time in a world of documents that determine important business outcomes. Rarely do these professionals speak candidly with one another about the RFP response process—which is why we brought both parties together here on The RFPIO Blog.

Recently 10 RFP issuers revealed their definition of a standout RFP response. This time we asked RFP responders to chime in with what it takes to craft a winning response. Enjoy this insightful content advice from 15 RFP responders in the trenches.

Content advice from RFP responders in the trenches

Brian Fleming, General Counsel and Proposal Management Specialist at CaseWorthy

It starts with an excellent executive summary. Know exactly what the client is struggling with (current state) and what they seek to accomplish with the procurement (future state). The executive summary should have a simple structure that addresses how the vendor’s solution will not only accomplish the future state but exceed even the loftiest of future state aspirations.

The rest of the proposal should use the executive summary as a jumping off point for explaining how the vendor’s solution will be the best choice, all the while erring on the side of brevity and responsiveness with the supplemental strategies needed to win the deal.

Hope Sutton, Marketing Communication Coordinator at Alera Group

Excellent RFPs are driven by personalization. From the cover page to the content inside, the entire RFP needs to be prospect/client centric. Going the extra mile to show the company that you are tailoring your approach to their needs is a must in today’s competitive market.

David Rynne, Presales Global Content Specialist at Basware

A well-executed executive summary is like a good subject headline. Your executive summary must be personalized for your buyer personas with solutions to their unique challenges, or else it doesn’t give the prospect a reason to read further.

The executive summary is there to position your company as a problem solver that offers multiple benefits and value. The rest of the RFP is structured the same—and reiterates the bullet points of the executive summary, but in more detail.

Erica Taylor, Co-Founding Partner at TINSEL Experiential Design

  • Provide a working project timeline to the clients, which demonstrates the feasibility of your team’s involvement and insight into your team’s process, systems, and action steps.
  • Re-articulate KPIs and success metrics—if applicable, include other measurable data points that might be valuable and prove the ROI of the project.
  • Whether it’s requested or not, share other projects and case studies with proof points that share the same aesthetic style or scope. This helps clients feel secure in the fact that you have the experience and expertise needed to get the job done.
  • Include a section to reflect open questions, which demonstrates that you are thinking deeply and analytically about the project proposed in the RFP.

Tyler Sweatt, Managing Partner at Future Tense

Context and clarity will set your RFP responses apart. Too many organizations respond to RFPs with canned marketing language and limited substance, making evaluation and differentiation extremely difficult.

Contextualize your response to the actual challenges the organization you’re responding to is facing. Show them you understand how your solution must fit into their environment. Make it clear that your solution or approach is credible and relevant through cases studies or supporting data.

Frank Oelschlager, Partner/Managing Director at Ten Mile Square Technologies

To make an RFP response truly stand out, it must not only meet the bar for completeness, content quality, and qualifications—it must also provide detail into both “the what” and “the how.”

The best way to offer this detail is by directly connecting the proposed solution to the various parts of the problem statement and requirements laid out in the RFP. Create a narrative that allows the buyer to visualize their success as a result of your partnership.

Greg Githens, Author at Catalyst & Cadre

The strategic thinking micro skill of empathy is critical to a good response. Make your potential client the hero of the story. Show that you have an adequate understanding of the client and their business environment. Imagine the RFP issuer reading your proposal with a compliance matrix next to them, where they first evaluate whether you understand their needs then how well your offer fits.

Walter Wise, CEO at The BPI Strategy Group

Respond to every requirement, providing the exact information requested, using the format that was requested. Write in layman’s terms, typically 10th to 11th grade level, as that is easy to understand by the evaluators. I don’t use fancy covers, but I do use Johnson Boxes and specific proposal graphics when practical.

Ingrid Christensen, President at INGCO International

  • Give yourself enough time. It usually takes double the amount of time to prepare a quality response than you estimated.
  • Research who is on the decision-making panel and figure out their pain points. Customize your proposal to hit all the details requested in the RFP and tailor your communication to address all pain points.
  • Take time to read, reread, and reread again. Make sure you have several team members review the entire document.
  • Deliver at least a day early. You don’t want all of your hard work to go down the drain because your RFP didn’t arrive on time.

Rafe Gomez, Co-owner at VC Inc. Marketing

Don’t feature verbose, unnecessary, or extraneous components that make absolutely no sense from a selling perspective. You don’t need to tell the whole story—just tell enough to hook your prospect. By describing the exclusive benefits your organization can deliver as quickly, concisely, and convincingly as possible…you’ll have greater potential to win the deal.

You Might Like: 10 RFP Issuers Reveal What They’re Looking for in an RFP Response

Diane Callihan, President at Callihan Content Creation

I always feel a bit sorry for the person who has to wade through a number of RFP responses, because they are typically so dry and boring. To stand out, I make my RFP responses fun to read—not being afraid to include some personality, attitude, and humor. My agency was awarded a large project, and the client said it had a lot to do with the fact that my proposal made them laugh.

Joe Marchelewski, Sr. Account Manager at Juris Productions PR

Being meticulous with the response is absolutely necessary. Do your homework on the company. What exactly are they asking? Who has represented them in the past? What kinds of clues can you find from their prior representation? RFP responses need context. Context only comes from understanding…which only comes from research.

Ken Gaul, Director at Source One

Understand that there is a certain amount of “checking the box” that needs to be done. Answer the face value question concisely, then springboard into your solution to the question(s) behind the question. Beyond what your prospective customer is asking you for, what should they be thinking about?

To rise to the top of the scorecard, you need to be competitively priced but you also need the prospect to feel that you understand their challenges innately, and that you can guide them to the ideal solution. The premise is that your solution is the ideal one, and they just don’t know it yet.

This is, of course, assuming that you’ve already done your due diligence and qualified the opportunity. Is the person running the RFP going to properly represent your solution to the true decision makers? If not, maybe pass on it. Your time is better spent on prospects with whom you can develop a relationship.

Tamara Van Meter, Firm Principal and Head of Interior Design at SMBW

  • Follow their lead. Use the client’s RFP format, including the order and terminology, to make it easy for them to read and evaluate.
  • Incorporate performance results from past projects to demonstrate the value you bring to the table.
  • Avoid oversaturating each page with text. A good practice with proposal formatting is to use photographs or graphics with no more than three supporting points for a clear and succinct message.

Lisa Rehurek, Founder and CEO at The RFP Success™ Company

Give prompts to your technical writers for each question. Make it easy for them to give you what you need, and help them in the process. Prompt them with how to answer the question with more detailed questions, or provide them with a table that outlines exactly what information you want them to provide. This keeps them focused, it gives you more consistency across multiple technical writers, and it makes the process simpler on them.

Looking for ways to improve team collaboration for stronger RFP responses? Start using RFPIO to craft winning content with your team.

11 candid healthcare sales lessons explained by a nurse

11 candid healthcare sales lessons explained by a nurse

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You’ve been in healthcare sales for years, but do you really know how to sell to the people who work in healthcare? Whether you are responding to a healthcare RFP or following up with a prospect early in the sales conversation, it takes finesse and commitment.

Michelle Katz is a well-known healthcare advocate, author, and nurse—and she is the Chief Health Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Communications at F1 HealthIT. Also known as Nurse Katz, Michelle has appeared on the “Real Money” segments of ABC World News Tonight in addition to the “Doc on a Dime” segment on The Doctors Show.

nurse katz
For the past 15 years, Michelle has seen the other side of the sales cycle, approached by countless salespeople from tech companies who wanted to sell their solution. Listen closely…what follows are 11 candid healthcare sales lessons told from a nurse’s perspective.

Healthcare sales lessons from a nurse’s perspective

1. Know what’s important

Know what’s important to your prospect in terms of healthcare. At your prospect’s hospital, is their primary focus cancer patients or women’s health? Stick to their focus, rather than the whole scope.

2. Know your product

It may sound weird to say “know your product,” but I find a lot of salespeople come in and they really don’t know their product. If you know what’s important for the healthcare entity you’re pitching to—and you know your product—you can home in and not waste your time or their time.

3. Know the personalities

Get used to the personalities so you learn what your prospect is comfortable with. Some clinicians are dead set against technology. I’ve seen doctors retire early because they don’t want to deal with new technology.

As I nurse, I can tell you if it’s more than one click, you have a lot of explaining to do. Truthfully, this complex, multi-click software of yours better be able to wash our scrubs at the end of the day.

4. Know the end-users

When deciding on a solution, bring key leaders from different departments together. A CIO might think a product is fantastic, then the doctors and nurses sit there and say: “This technology is not important to us.” Salespeople need to listen to the clinical folks, not disregard them.

5. Know budget cycles

You can be the best salesperson in the world, but you won’t even get in the door if you don’t know the hospital’s budget cycle. You might come in too late, when they have already budgeted for their year—or six years out, or even 15 years out. Unless they get a grant, or some big money falls in their lap, you’re done.

You Might Like… Healthcare RFPs: Build Trust Through Authentic Storytelling

6. Know the priorities

For almost any healthcare entity, everyone is ramping up their security. More hospitals are going to be hacked in the next five years than ever before, because ransomware is getting better and better. Now security is in the top three for hospital priorities, up there with HIPAA compliance and interoperability.

7. Know the Chief Medical Officers

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) positions are becoming increasingly popular. CMOs are the doctors and nurse leaders you need to include in decision-making conversations. If you don’t have the CMO’s consent, you will not move forward in the sales process. CMOs know exactly what kind of technology solutions they need to do their job.

8. Know the background

Do a little bit of reading before you pitch something to show that you have an interest in the healthcare entity. I can’t tell you how many times a salesperson has pitched me something that we were already doing at our hospital. All they had to do was read our website to find that information.

Check content publication dates too—otherwise you might watch an old YouTube video and pitch a solution to a problem your prospect solved eight years ago.

9. Know their value

Anyone who’s in the buying position in healthcare is often willing to listen to learn more about the solution you are selling. But, you have to be considerate of your prospect’s time, especially in the medical field.

Five minutes is very, very valuable for a clinician or a doctor who has patients to care for. You’ll get more respect if you take that into consideration and value their time.

10. Know your value prop

What’s good for one person is not always good for another. No matter how fantastic you think your product is, think of what makes your product different and valuable for them.

What technology will appeal to the nurse who is the head of the maternity ward? What solution will work best for the ER doctor working 24/7? Show the value from a medical standpoint, which also means showing some knowledge.

11. Know the commitment

I know you have deadlines, I can sniff out your sales goals a mile away, and I know when you want to sell anything you can or run. I just want you to educate me.

It’s not going to happen overnight—I may not have the budget this year, but your solution may be really interesting to me next year. If you stay on top of the latest regulations on Capitol Hill, educate me about new technology, and keep in touch with me, your product will be pushed to the top of the list.

Now you’ve seen the other side of the healthcare sales conversation. With RFP software, your best content is always accessible and customizable. Start showing your organization’s value with more personalized healthcare RFP responses.

Healthcare RFPs: Build trust through authentic storytelling

Healthcare RFPs: Build trust through authentic storytelling

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“96% of top-performing marketers agree their organizations have built credibility and trust with their audience.” So, why should healthcare RFPs be any different?

A written document like a request for proposal may not appear to have the same pizzazz. However, an RFP response holds just as many creative possibilities as other types of content you produce. Additionally, healthcare RFPs are a revenue-generating opportunity with the potential to make a positive impact.

Healthcare continues to evolve rapidly while newer, more advanced organizations rise up to take hold of the industry. With that acceleration and competition, there is more pressure for your marketing team to perform.

RFP responses provide an opportunity to stand out in your evolving, competitive industry. With a focus on authentic storytelling in your healthcare RFPs, you’ll build more trust and increase your win potential.

“When you’re in the healthcare industry, you’ll be competing against other firms that have a lot of the same experience and knowledge that you have. You can all do the job and meet the requirements of the RFP. But how are you going to really stand out? One word: Trust.” – Lisa Rehurek,  Founder of The RFP Success™ Company

Healthcare marketing complexity with content creation

Healthcare marketers experience similar challenges to peers in other industries. The major difference is an added layer of complexity, thanks to strict compliance and heavy regulations. This has a direct impact on the content you create, including RFP responses.

Marketing Manager of TheraSpecs, Greg Bullock said his top content challenges are:

1. Communicating medical information in an authoritative way…with a user-friendly approach.

Medical content can be cumbersome, confusing and ultimately frustrating for the end user, which requires brands to communicate information in an approachable way. If you simplify too much, you lose the authority and expertise that is critical to establishing a strong reputation.

2. Keeping information medically up-to-date and accurate.

Generally, it is always a challenge to regularly update content and ensure that the information is still accurate. However, healthcare organizations have particularly unique issues given the wealth of new medical studies and anecdotal expertise that emerges regularly.

When responding to RFPs, you likely see similar content challenges arise. You need to make sure content is current and correct. You must strike the right balance between competence and conversation. You need to have branding that is clear and consistent.

Hit all of these marks and you are on your way to demonstrating why you are the partner they can trust. 95% say that if they trust a company, they’re more likely to be loyal patrons.

Building trust and credibility in healthcare RFPs

“When you’re in a highly technical industry like healthcare, there’s more to what you can bring to the table than just the specifications and requirements of the RFP. Healthcare companies and entities are under a lot of stress to keep up with regulations, compliance issues, stakeholder involvement, political ramifications, the list goes on.”

Lisa Rehurek, founder of The RFP Success™ Company and host of The RFP Success Show, has experienced the complexities of healthcare RFPs firsthand. She has long been a champion of responding to RFPs. Lisa continually encourages any organization bidding on RFPs to excel at building trust over and above their competitors.

“Yes, they’re looking for specific knowledge and expertise, but they also want a lifeline. Weaving in stories, writing in a more conversational tone, being authentic in your response to really get to the emotion of it, will help them visualize that you will be that lifeline. And with that, they can exhale. Trust is built.”

RFPs in healthcare: Bring your authentic voice forward

As a marketer, you’re creative by nature. If you look at your other marketing campaigns, you unearthed stories to communicate more authentically with your audience. You can achieve the same with your RFP content.

Ready to bring your brand’s authentic voice forward? Give these RFP components your full attention to build trust with your prospect and make their buying decision easier.

  • Cover Letter – Reveal key benefits they will experience while working with you and show your excitement for this future partnership. Use the client and company name often to personalize.
  • Executive Summary – Hook them with an opening statement about your solutions and explore the backstory of your company: mission, history, and purpose. (Once again, use the client and company name often.)
  • Our Approach – Explain your methodology and how your solution benefits your customers. Include relevant customer stories or testimonials for validation, focusing on the process and results.
  • Competitive Differentiators – Call out why they should work with you instead of one of your competitors, using comparison data and visual aids. It’s not a time to bad-mouth your competitor—just show you are the best choice.
  • Support / Customer Service – Highlight customer support offerings (help center, ongoing training, or educational webinars, etc). Insert customer story or testimonial that talks about their experience working with your team.
  • Brand Consistency – Not a section per se…brand consistency must be strong throughout. From messaging to design language, “on brand” content helps you earn trust.

Working in healthcare marketing is not a pass to create content without a pulse. Yes, you need to meet specifications and requirements. And sometimes, messaging might seem a little flat compared to more provocative industries.

At the end of the day, the goal is to show the human side of your brand and build a high level of trust with your prospect. Challenge yourself to make your healthcare RFPs better—more relatable, more relevant. Every RFP response is your chance to have a genuine conversation and to tell a story.

A response management platform ensures you have your best storytelling moments readily available. Schedule a demo of RFPIO to make a bigger impact on your next healthcare RFP.

The 6-step IT RFP response subject matter expert guide

The 6-step IT RFP response subject matter expert guide

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The IT sector is highly competitive and innovation is the currency that separates successful technology companies from the rest. Maintaining innovation was even revealed as one of the top 5 challenges the tech industry needs to be prepared for.

Tech industry organizations must maintain a balance, continually innovating to gain a competitive edge with their products or services while using the latest technologies for optimizing their internal operations.

As a Subject Matter Expert (SME) at a technology company, your expertise is often called upon to help maintain that balance. It is especially valuable when new business is on the table and your knowledge elevates the quality of an IT RFP response.

In the following IT RFP response guide, you’ll learn the most efficient methods for contributing to your organization’s success. The next time your expertise is summoned for an RFP, you’ll be ready.

The IT RFP response guide for SMEs

1. Show more value to your revenue team

What’s the main difference between top-performing SMEs and average SMEs? They show more value by directly contributing their expertise to the organization’s revenue-generating objectives.

Responding to RFPs is one of the key opportunities for winning new business. Revenue teams include people from sales, marketing, support, and customer success. An SME at a technology company is also part of this revenue team. Their contributions are needed to refine details that can influence a deal.

You’re busy. Revenue is only part of your overall responsibilities. If you are willing to make time to contribute to revenue-generating objectives like RFPs, you’ll show more value to both your revenue team and your organization.

2. Make the process more efficient with technology

On the heels of participation in the process comes a willingness to make the process better than before. Technology is often the missing ingredient for continued innovation. Ironically, technology organizations and IT teams are stuck in the old, manual way of response management. They live in spreadsheets and Google folders instead of a technologically advanced platform.

A response management platform like RFPIO saves companies time and resources when they are responding to ANY type of business query. That business query could be an RFx (including RFPs, RFIs, etc.) or any form of security questionnaires (Security Questionnaires Lite, VSAQ, CAIQ, VSA, etc.). That business query could also be the repetitive technical questions you receive from your sales team.

No matter the type of response, using technology like a response management platform offers a single login application for you to quickly locate, filter, and populate the answers to these questions. It also integrates with popular solutions (like Slack, Salesforce, Sharepoint, and Microsoft Teams) to improve collaboration.

Discover Your Time-Savings Potential with Our ROI Calculator

3. Communicate to keep the RFP project on target

Often you are the one creating highly technical content within an RFP response. Be clear on the requirements so you understand exactly what the issuer needs to know. If you reuse an older response that doesn’t meet that requirement, then you might affect your organization’s chances of capturing new business.

Being that the tech space is so competitive, another company is typically right behind yours all the way through the sales process. Before diving into your response or section, clarify the details and language with your proposal management lead—or connect with the issuer directly.

4. Position your organization as a security expert

Security-related questions are becoming an everyday occurrence in the high-tech space. Because you’re the technical subject matter expert, security questionnaires inevitably end up “on your desk.” While these can be daunting documents, it’s also easy to understand that the issuer is only doing their due diligence before committing to a vendor partnership.

To put your potential partner at ease, you’ll want to show that your organization takes their security seriously by taking security questionnaires seriously. Since these vendor assessments often have hundreds of questions, your best bet is to lean on a response management platform to bulk-answer and import/export smoothly.

“RFPIO helped us build a scalable, repeatable process for handling a large number of RFPs, IT security questionnaires, due diligence forms, and vendor applications. This system allows us to easily invite multiple contributors, authors, SMEs, and reviewers at a Project, Section, and Questions level.” – Gavin O’Donoghue, Global RFP Manager at Cision

5. Participate in the review workflow

Before you are brought into the RFP response process, a typical RFP has been touched by a group of people, possibly including: a proposal writer, a proposal manager, a sales manager, and a marketing manager. It’s your responsibility to ensure relevancy and accuracy with technical responses whenever a non-SME drafts the content first.

The review process can be confusing and you may not know where your place is within that workflow. Rather than skipping the review cycles in favor of other priorities, be the SME that establishes some ground rules so everyone is clear on timing. If your organization is missing an RFP response process, use this one as your guide.

6. Keep the best content relevant

Over time, every business evolves. But a technology company evolves even faster. Successful response management is rooted in consistent content management. Having a centralized knowledge repository is a step in the right direction. Maintaining that repository is the next—often forgotten—step.

RFPIO offers an Content Library for storing and organizing all of your responses. A quarterly content audit should be performed to keep company information updated. To audit your content consistently, simply set up custom reminders at a cadence of your choosing.

Even if you have a proposal manager who handles content audits, that person will not know the latest technical info like you do. By stepping in to regularly help with content audits, you’ll make the process faster the next time a business query arrives. Content will be current, so you can customize and plug in responses without starting with a blank page.

Now that you have the IT RFP response guide in your hands, let’s show you how a response management platform like RFPIO helps you succeed in your role. Schedule a demo right here.

6 RFP response free email samples worth reusing

6 RFP response free email samples worth reusing

Templates & guides

Between communication apps, social media, and text messaging, email seems almost quaint. Still, a well-written email adds a level of professionalism to business communications, especially when you want to impress a prospect.

The reality is that writing emails is a core part of the proposal process, whether responding after receiving an RFP or sending an email for a proposal submission.

After hours crafting the perfect proposal, the email might seem like the sprinkles on top of the icing on the cake, in that it might look nice, but doesn’t add much substance. That doesn’t mean your email should be an afterthought. Like the right suit or hairstyle, the email is the first impression that sets the tone before the prospect even opens your proposal.

At RFPIO, the last thing we want to do is put more work on your plate. So here are six of the most successful emails our proposal writers use. Feel free to copy and paste and use them as you see fit:

Request for proposal email sample: Send after receiving RFP

Hi [First Name] –

I am honored that [Vendor] has been selected to respond for [Prospect]’s business through an RFP. We look forward to showing [Prospect] and the whole evaluation team why [Vendor] would be a strategic solution to address the current and future challenges that [Prospect] is facing in their RFP process.

Based on the current status in the request, I will show how [Vendor] will help to: create a more consistent process across international regions, save individuals time to focus on other initiatives, and provide insights into all RFP analytics across your organization.

I will follow up within the next week with any questions we have about the RFP.

Thanks again for the opportunity!

[Sender]

ProTip: Provide three specific pain points you will solve to show you are the right partner.

Looking for more RFP response templates? Download our guide.

Request for proposal email sample: Send to clarify RFP project

Hi [First Name] –

It is apparent that [name(s)] spent a lot of time putting this request together. Thanks for sending us such an organized RFP outline…they aren’t always delivered this way!

At this time we are still reviewing, and the requirements are aligning well with [Vendor]’s offerings. We have outlined a few comments and questions. We would like to schedule a one-hour review session with your team to cover everything.

Is your team available at [11:30 a.m. PST] on [Friday] for this review session? Please confirm and I’ll send over a calendar invite.

Thanks and talk soon!

[Sender]

ProTip: A positive tone is always key with clarification requests.

Request for proposal email sample: Use for proposal submission

Hi [First Name] –

I trust you are well and busy as you receive and review multiple RFP responses. Attached, you will find the following files and folders to accompany the RFP response from [Vendor]:

  • [Relevant File / Folder]
  • [Relevant File / Folder]
  • [Relevant File / Folder]
  • [Relevant File / Folder]

Our team would be honored to earn [Prospect]’s trust and business as a result of this RFP submission. The connection we have with [anecdotal personal point, story, business fact, mutual customers, relevant content identified in the sales process] makes the potential of our doing business together that much more exciting.

We look forward to the next steps to come as we continue this process together. I will be standing by for any follow-up questions from your review.

Thank you!

[Sender]

ProTip: Bring in a personal touch to avoid a bland RFP submission.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Request for proposal email sample: Send to follow-up on proposal submission

Follow-Up #1 – When you haven’t heard from the prospect, and the deadline has not passed.

Hi [First Name] –

I trust this finds you well and in the throes of the RFP review. As we approach your review timeline of [August 1], I wanted to check in proactively on [Vendor]’s submission.

Are there any follow-up questions or clarification points needed from [Vendor]? I would be happy to hop on a quick call or share a sample of our work to clarify any other functional requirements you might have.

Speak to you soon,

[Sender]

Follow-Up #2 – When you still haven’t heard from the prospect, and the deadline has passed.

Hi [First Name] –

I’m reaching out to see if I can get an update on [Vendor]’s recent RFP submission. We passed our deadline of [August 1], and I haven’t heard from anyone at [Prospect] yet.

Perhaps the project is hung up due to competing priorities, the project is taking a different direction, or another vendor has been decided? Whatever the case may be, any updates would be greatly appreciated.

Speak to you soon,

[Sender]

ProTip: Keep your first follow-up message brief and polite. On the second follow-up, gently back away to see if that draws them in.

Request for proposal email sample: Send after winning proposal

Hi [First Name] –

I was thrilled to learn that [Vendor] moved forward in the selection process. I speak for the entire team when I say that we appreciate the opportunity to earn your business.

Per the outline of the RFP process, the next step is an onsite presentation for the last week of [August]. I am available [Mon-Wed] in the [afternoons]…do any of these times work for your team?

Very excited, thanks!

[Sender]

ProTip: Show your enthusiasm and keep the momentum going to move the project forward.

Request for proposal email sample: Send after losing proposal

Hi [First Name] –

Thank you for the update. I am surprised by this result as I remember specifically how well the demo went with your team, and the excellent fit between [Prospect] and [Vendor].

I absolutely respect your decision, and I only ask for some additional feedback so I can understand how [Vendor] can continue to improve. Let’s schedule a few minutes to chat, so I can better understand the specifics you were looking for. Any feedback I can glean in this scenario is very valuable.

Thank you very much,

[Sender]

ProTip: Lose gracefully, but demonstrate complete confidence in your solution until the end. You never know…they may be back!

The formula for creating winning RFP responses

Want to stand out in the RFP process? Our guide can teach you how to write a winning RFP response.

Respond fast. Save time. Win more.

Add RFP software to your sales tech stack for response automation with a human touch, content governance that establishes trust, and outcomes that will only improve over time. Learn more about RFPIO.

7 RFP response messaging rules for submitting impressive content

7 RFP response messaging rules for submitting impressive content

Templates & guides

An RFP deliverable must always be dressed to impress. The whole branded package should be presentable, as well as engaging. The true wow factor comes through in the way we communicate with our prospects…through RFP responses.

There are a multitude of content resources that exist for sales and marketing purposes, but rarely do they include guidelines for RFP responders. Whether you are a proposal manager or a marketing manager overseeing content during the RFP response process, you likely turn to these content resources to cherry-pick semi-relevant best practices.

Ready to go beyond “better” to develop the best RFP responses? If so, here are some simple messaging rules you can follow on your next RFP to ensure your branded voice is consistent and compelling.

Yes…Content impacts your RFP win rate

The point of an RFP response is to win new business. We all know this when we’re spending countless hours as a team enduring the submission process for tens or hundreds of RFPs every year.

Did you know? 51% of organizations respond to more than 50 RFPs annually.

Landing the deal will only happen when your submission is better than your competitors. Shortcuts won’t produce quality responses. Yet cutting corners happens habitually for organizations who tend to rush through the RFP response process due to lack of time and resources.

Your RFP content must resonate with the issuer—and, also make sense. For technical questions, you will call upon your product or solution team members to contribute their expertise. It’s up to you to find ways to maintain the integrity of their content, while making it more accessible for the person reading these RFP responses.

The 7 rules for impressive RFP response content

While general content best practices will certainly help take your RFP deliverable across the finish line, they won’t necessarily help you medal. Winning just any medal isn’t good enough when you’re racing against similar companies.

If you’re prepared to go for the gold, consider these RFP response messaging guidelines as a way of training for your next submission.

1. Avoid overused words and phrases

Some things can’t be helped when they relate specifically to your product or service. Since we are an RFP software company, you can imagine the word “RFP” comes up plenty of times in our own RFP responses (guilty, we just used it three times in this sentence).

Repetitive words and phrases have a way of annoying the reader—which you obviously want to avoid with a potential client. So, it’s your job to find creative ways of spinning your messaging to keep the content experience fluid. Thesaurus.com and Related Words are trusty tools that will help you brainstorm alternatives for some of your favorite overused words and phrases.

2. Beware of jargon

Sometimes RFP responses contain language that is technical by nature, and can only be communicated a certain way. Other times we’re weaving blah-blah adjectives into our content that reek of jargon. The goal with RFP responses is to speak the language of business without sounding like a business book.

Opt for plain language over jargon whenever possible. Saying “use” instead of “leverage” sounds more human. Where you have to use jargons, use (don’t “leverage”) the most current versions of those words. Replace “intelligent” with “AI” or “machine learning.” Rather than claiming that your company is “innovative,” demonstrate how you innovate in your RFP responses.

plain language
Source: Professional Communication OER

3. Speak the RFP issuer’s language

“Know your audience” is one of the most relevant practices we can borrow from content marketing. With RFP responses, that audience is the issuer. What are their challenges and aspirations? Your RFP should address the issuer’s needs in words that speak directly to them.

Use language that is consistent with the requestor’s language and avoid your internal terminology wherever there is a conflict or difference. Repurposing historic RFP responses is an acceptable strategy, as long as you’re tailoring them for each prospect. Above all, follow the issuer’s requirements closely so you don’t disqualify your organization.

4. Don’t bury the numbers

While the words you choose for your RFP responses are critical to your organization’s win potential, so are the numbers. Sadly, oftentimes the most impactful data responders share is buried in the middle of wordy paragraphs.

Where numbers and quantities are expected, make sure they stand out. Bulleted lists are a great way to feature this data so the issuer can easily scan and consume. Visual graphics are another method for highlighting numbers and breaking up some of the monotony of RFP content.

Use This RFP Executive Summary Template for Stronger RFP Responses

How to write executive summary

 

5. Be informative and concise.

The best RFPs strike a winning balance by providing in-depth RFP responses that get right to the point. This is your organization’s opportunity to shine, so use all of the available content real estate to share your message. Rather than simply saying “yes, no, or N/A,” give more to bolster your RFP response.

…but, not too much more. Being concise is just as important. You don’t want to bore the issuer, you want to keep them entertained. If you come across a lengthy RFP response during the review process, find ways to chop without remorse. Repetition is probably the content culprit, so start there.

6. Use localization.

What is localization exactly? It’s a term that gets thrown around quite a bit, so here is a definition from the Globalization and Localization Association (GALA):

“Localization is the process of adapting a product or content to a specific locale or market. The aim of localization is to give a product the look and feel of having been created specifically for a target market, no matter their language, culture, or location.”

Let’s say your company is headquartered in California. Is your prospect on the East Coast? When answering a question about customer support hours, respond in Eastern Time. Is your prospect in Germany? When answering a question about pricing, respond in Euros. These details are yet another way to incorporate personalization into your RFP responses.

7. Review and revise.

This last rule is one that absolutely must be followed, dear RFP responder. It’s easy to skip over this important step when you’re trying to submit the deliverable before the deadline. Allow yourself some time during the RFP process to have a proper review cycle.

RFP responses are just like any other content. A fresh set of eyes or a different perspective will only strengthen your deliverable. Since so much is riding on the quality of your RFP responses, you want to submit the best version possible that is both grammatically sound and impactful.

RFP software helps you deliver high-quality RFP responses

You know just how important delivering high-quality RFP responses is for the ultimate success of your organization. As much as you would like to spend lots of time tweaking and polishing content until it’s perfect, that isn’t usually the reality when you have other priorities to tend to. With technology like RFP software, you have the power to automate much of the RFP response process.

A good RFP content management system like RFPIO allows you to draw from quality content that is curated and readily available. The quality of your RFP responses remains high—even when you have limited time, even when you’re under pressure to submit your RFP deliverable.

RFP software helps you…

  • Manage – A centralized RFP content library corrals historic responses in one platform, versus spreadsheets, Google folders, emails, email folders…and the list goes on.
  • Review – Assigning reviewers in the optimal order ensures that each response is positioned for accuracy from SMEs, then signed off quickly for final approval.
  • Audit – To keep the best RFP responses accessible for your team, automatic reminders alert you when it’s time to clean up the content library at your preferred cadence.
  • Finalize – The final deliverable is polished and consistent, with a smooth export process back into the original format or a branded custom template.

After your SMEs contribute their expertise, the magic truly happens during the buff and polish of your deliverable. The next time you’re reviewing an RFP, follow these RFP response messaging guidelines to increase chances of success with your future clients.

Use this security questionnaire template to win back time

Use this security questionnaire template to win back time

Templates & guides

Ask someone who responds to security questionnaires how many questions they see, and they’ll casually reveal a number that’s somewhere in the realm of well over a thousand questions. Any vendor offering a SaaS solution will face the Standardized Information Gathering (Security Questionnaires) at some point. Depending on the version of the Security Questionnaires, it typically clocks in around a few hundred questions.

Today 97% of organizations use cloud services, according to McAfee’s Practical Guidance and the State of Cloud Security Report. With that widespread adoption comes more security questionnaires for SaaS vendors to respond to.

We speak from personal experience, because we are a SaaS vendor who has been in your shoes. We too must respond to security questionnaires constantly. In our world, a smaller security assessment will usually contain 250 questions, a mid-sized questionnaire will have 650, and the largest assessments have about 2500 questions.

security questionnaire template
The advantage for us—and for our clients—is that we leverage RFP software to overcome inefficiencies. Everyday we talk to organizations who struggle with a manual RFP response process when they can greatly improve productivity with an automated solution.

This month we released an exciting new feature that allows you to import Standardized Information Gathering (Security Questionnaires) with one click. Here is some information about RFPIO’s Security Questionnaires template import and how it will solve inefficiencies to help you win back time.

The first critical step in every RFP project is the import

A Security Questionnaires is a massive security and compliance questionnaire—figuring out where to begin can be an overwhelming task. When using RFP software, importing is the first and arguably most critical step, because it sets the tone for the entire project. If the import causes any friction, teams will spend time they don’t have to spare.

With intelligent RFP technology, an import is actually a time-savings opportunity for teams. That even applies to spreadsheets with thousands of questions. Based on your personal history with large scale vendor assessments, it’s likely difficult to imagine importing such a sizable spreadsheet into your RFP response automation solution quickly.

After enduring our own inefficiencies over the years, we found a way to load the information in one click with the Security Questionnaires template import. Long days in the office spent responding to our most recent Security Questionnaires pushed us over the edge, and inspired us to do something about it.

How the security questionnaire template solves inefficiencies

A Security Questionnaires is a very macro-heavy Excel, and traditionally it’s been a challenge to bring it into any automated RFP response solution. Excel macros are built into how the dependent questions come up and how the completion metric is calculated. Because you’re working with a standard template, you as the responder must answer the same questions repeatedly.

In other cases, standard questions might be seen as a good thing—but not with a Standardized Information Gathering Questionnaire. These security assessments are clearly exhausting for anyone tackling thousands of questions. No other RFP automation solution is currently in place that can solve this Security Questionnaires situation, and that leaves you searching for alternatives that are less than desirable.

One option is to hire interns as users to do a comparison and transpose the answers. Another option is to submit a previous version of a Security Questionnaires that you responded to, and see if the issuer will accept it. However, typically issuers add their own questions, and you might lose the deal because your responses aren’t up to snuff.

SIG template import
As you respond to a Security Questionnaires, RFPIO understands how the macro is programmed and works with your selection process. If you answer “yes,” it knows the dependencies and presents those 150 or so questions to you. If you answer “no,” it knows not to show irrelevant questions.

RFPIO goes through the Security Questionnaires on its own, to learn which questions need to come after which answers. RFPIO helps you take control of the most complex security assessments, because the technology is able to handle multiple levels of dependencies and then translate and automate that for you. The key is then being able to export your responses back into the original format, so you’re not having to do any work when you’re done in the application.

“Completing security questionnaires used to be an extremely time-consuming process for our team. RFPIO offers a one-click Security Questionnaires template import, in addition to auto-response and bulk answering features that promote speed and accuracy. What used to take days—or even weeks—now only takes us a couple of hours.” – Mandana Salehi, Director of Sales at Zapproved

Standardized information gathering questionnaires in one click

Now for the moment you’ve been waiting for…Standardized Information Gathering questionnaires can be imported into RFPIO with a single click. You upload the appropriate template (CAIQ, Security Questionnaires – Core, full, or lite). You can import directly from your local computer or cloud storage, such as: Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Box.

From here, you can move on with your day, since the project’s primary contact receives an email notification once the import process is completed. Meanwhile, RFPIO configures questions, sections, and subsections on your behalf. Once the import is finished, it’s time for you to jump back into the project to review questions and sections.

This is where auto-response works its magic to populate your Security Questionnaires  with the most relevant matches from your Content Library. The standardized nature of these questionnaires makes this response process very efficient through automation. You then customize as needed to ensure accuracy, or to add any necessary flourishes to wow that particular issuer.

Last, but certainly not least, you export everything back into the template of your choosing and send off to the issuer. Overall, less time will be spent on sizable vendor assessments so you can focus on other priorities.

There really is no need to dread the next massive Security Questionnaires that comes your way. With RFPIO’s Security Questionnaires template import, you and your team can use speed and accuracy to compete thousands of questions to land the deal.

Ready to take our Security Questionnaires template out for a spin? Schedule a demo to win back time.

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