When the content manager at a global recognition company was asked about the most important part of a smooth-running RFP response process, they replied, “ensuring the most up-to-date and accurate content is never more than a few clicks away.”
Thanks to their well-organized content library, their response process is now a well-organized machine—but it wasn’t always this way.
Before implementing RFPIO, the proposal team spent the vast majority of their time searching for answers to questions they had already answered dozens of times before. This left minimal time to focus on the part that actually mattered: crafting compelling content tailored to each client’s specific needs.
They knew there had to be a better way. After a comprehensive market scan of RFP software, the team decided on RFPIO to help them catapult their response process to the next level. Since moving forward with RFPIO, they’ve noticed three key improvements to their response process:
Higher quality RFP responses with a content library that improves over time
Before using RFPIO, one of the RFP writers remembers that “there was this one answer in our library that had a typo. Each time I used that answer in my responses, I would manually correct the typo in the RFP, rather than in the main system.”
Because their previous content library was so difficult to update, it would quickly become obsolete—and writers couldn’t rely on it to find the information they needed.
When the RFP response team first saw RFPIO in action—and saw that updating an answer was simply a matter of clicking ‘edit’, typing, and clicking ‘save’—they knew RFPIO would make a huge difference in their process.
Now, the team has a specialized content manager, who manages the content library with an eagle eye. They carefully moderate each question-and-answer pair before approving it to the library, only approving answers that will create value for the entire team.
As a result, the recognition company’s content management system improves with each RFP they respond to—and they’ve found that when the entire team has access to the best content available, everyone is better off.
“When my team saw that RFPIO automatically suggests answers while you’re responding to an RFP, we were so excited. We weren’t doing anything like that—and we all knew, right away, that RFPIO would make a huge difference.”
Consistent, high-quality answers, in every RFP
Because their previous content management system was so difficult to update, content stored in the library was often out-of-date and inaccurate—and RFP writers couldn’t rely on it to respond to their RFPs.
Instead, they would put the four most recent RFPs they’d completed on one screen and the current RFP they’re responding to on another. If they couldn’t find the answers they needed in their previous RFPs, they might ask their neighbor. If that didn’t work, they might email an SME.
With this inefficient process, finding an answer to a single question could take days.
Now, the RFP team knows that the content stored in the library is the most accurate and up-to-date content there is.
Furthermore, the team can upload an RFP into RFPIO and respond to it without leaving the software. As they’re responding to each question, the library automatically suggests the most relevant answer.
Easy access to a reliable single source of truth, combined with the AI-enabled search engine and recommendation tool, has empowered the RFP response team to quickly respond to commonly seen questions—giving them more time to focus on what really matters.
RFP software helped tailor RFP responses to each client’s specific needs
The content manager on the team has a philosophy about RFPs: 80-85% of a given RFP is boilerplate content. The remaining 15-20% is where you really have the freedom to make something new or write something adapted to a client’s specific needs.
But before implementing RFPIO, the RFP response team felt like they were spending most of their time hunting down answers to repeat content—leaving minimal time to focus on compelling win messages.
Because they were spending so much time looking for information, the proposal team often wouldn’t be able to submit each RFP until right before the deadline.
This all changed after they started using RFPIO. In the last year, they submitted RFPs an average of 1-2 days early. Added together, that equaled an extra 114 days for the year—time the team could spend crafting messages tailored to each client or working on other projects.
Over the last year, they also increased the number of projects they worked on by 10 percent—and doubled their premier client win rate (win rate for clients over a certain dollar amount).
RFPIO has empowered the proposal team to knock out the repeat questions and empower their team to do what they do best—craft compelling messages that help their organization win more deals.
“RFPIO has given us more time to craft compelling win messages and work on other projects. In the year after implementing RFPIO, we’ve doubled our premier win rate, while also increasing the number of projects we worked on by 10%.”
Streamlining the response process meant winning more deals
One of the writers on the team remembers that it used to feel “like every project we were working on would just be down to the wire.” With RFPIO, the RFP response team is able to approach each RFP with purpose—resulting in more compelling proposals and less stress.
And in the RFP world—defined by tight deadlines and high stakes—a less stressful process can really make all the difference.
Schedule a demo to see how RFP software like RFPIO can remove the stress from your process and help you win more deals.
