How Crownpeak realized a 6x return on investment with RFP software


Computer Software
Industry Computer Software Company Size 51-200 employees Location Denver, CO

When brands need great web and digital experiences delivered through the cloud, they choose Crownpeak’s Digital Experience Management platform. The world’s only true-SaaS digital experience platform empowers organizations to quickly create, deploy and optimize powerful customer experiences with industry-beating time-to-market.

As regulatory, privacy and accessibility standards become increasingly complex, organizations lean on Crownpeak’s Digital Quality and Digital Governance tools to help get and stay compliant. Faced with complicated implementation and compliance issues, many organizations choose to start their purchasing motions through RFPs.

With up to two-thirds of enterprise deals starting with an RFP, Paul Taylor, VP Solutions Engineering at Crownpeak, knew he needed to move beyond manual RFP response creation—and quickly.

Paul set off to find an automation solution to the RFP process. He wanted something that stored all their response content in one place, automated the process, and simplified collaboration across a global team. It was quickly obvious that RFPIO was the only solution that could do what they needed.

They knew almost immediately they made the right choice. Within just a few months, Crownpeak saw incredible results—including a 1000% increase in efficiency and a 6x return on their investment.

When everyone has access to company knowledge, responding to RFPs is a breeze

Before RFPIO, response content was scattered across old RFPs, dispersed across hard drives, or trapped in the heads of senior team members. Sales reps looked for answers in old RFPs and email threads. When this didn’t work, they wrote answers from scratch. With knowledge so intensely siloed, each new RFP response was like taking a journey into the unknown.

Now, all response content is stored in the RFPIO Content Library—and powered by AI. All sales reps have to do is click “Auto Respond” and RFPIO instantly fills out 80% of an RFP. And that percentage is only going up. Whenever they come across a question not stored in RFPIO, they’ll work with SMEs to write a high-quality answer, and store it in the content library. So next time they see that question, they’ll be ready.

“Today we’re filling out 80% of an RFP with Auto Respond. But next time we get an RFP, that percentage might be 81%. The more answers we put in the library, and the more RFPs we respond to, the more accurate Auto Respond becomes,” Paul explained.

“Auto Respond is absolutely brilliant. We just click on it and RFPIO answers 80% of an RFP in a few seconds.”

-Paul Taylor, Vice President of Solutions Engineering at Crownpeak

RFPIO is more than RFP software. It’s a knowledge base.

When sales development representatives at Crownpeak get a question from prospects, RFPIO is the first place they go for answers. Now, SDRs can answer their prospects questions as soon as they ask them—shortening the sales cycle and keeping prospects happy.

For the senior sales representatives, giving the SDRs a place to find answers means no longer answering the same question again and again. “When a sales development representative asks me a question, I’ll point them to the Content Library. If they can’t find the answer there, I’ll write a really good answer and send it to them—and then add that answer to the Content Library, so they won’t have to ask me next time,” Paul explained.

RFPIO is also where the compliance team keeps the most up-to-date security and compliance information. The compliance team moderates any content before it is stored in the library—and ensures content surrounding compliance and security is regularly audited. The result? The entire Crownpeak team trusts what is stored in the library. And responding to Security Questionnaires has never been easier.

Crownpeak increased efficiency by 1000% and saw a 6x return on investment within months of implementing RFPIO

Before RFPIO, it would take the Crownpeak team several days to respond to a single RFP. They would often work nights and weekends just to submit an RFP before the deadline.

Now, they can answer 80% of an RFP in just one click, and they’re measuring total response time in hours, rather than days.

With so much extra time, the sales team can focus on activities that add value to the business. They’re improving the quality of their demos. They’re building relationships. They’re talking to prospects one-on-one, and really understanding their needs.

They’re also tailoring RFPs to each customers’ needs, greatly improving the quality of their responses. The better the responses, the more RFPs they win, and the more revenue they can generate.

Paul has just a few words to anyone still manually responding to RFPs: “You have no idea what you’re missing. Once you start automating your process, the only way to go is up.”


Are you ready to respond to RFPs faster, and improve the quality of your responses? Get started by scheduling a demo today.


Wendy Gittleson

Wendy has more than 10 years experience as a B2B and B2C copywriter. She developed a passion for writing about tech from living in the San Francisco Bay Area and working for a technology school. From there, she transitioned to writing about everything from SaaS to hardware and cloud migration. She is excited to be part of the wonderful team at Responsive and looks forward to playing her part in building the future. Connect with Wendy on LinkedIn.

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