What needs to be improved in the current government RFP management process? The same things that need to be improved in all RFP processes…increased efficiency and reduced friction across teams.
A whopping 78% of enterprises are responding to RFPs manually, and this challenge affects responders in the government field. RFPs can be long documents with multiple sections. They typically involve the coordination of cross-departmental teams on each side of the proposal, making responding to RFPs an agonizing process.
Government agencies often see less participation in RFPs from small businesses, because these businesses don’t have adequate internal resources or time to maneuver through complex RFPs. When weighing the option of putting together the required resources to respond to RFPs or not to participate, more often than not they choose to stay away from these opportunities.
Government agencies are stuck in the same inefficient cycle as other companies, using Excel and Word docs to generate RFPs, like it’s still the early 2000’s. Managing hundreds of requirements this way is needlessly labor intensive and error prone.
Today, RFP automation tools seek to improve these process for issuers and responders. For issuers, eliminating standalone documents and creating standardization saves countless hours and streamlines the evaluation of responses. For responders, these tools encourage collaboration and remove the headaches often associated with RFP responses.
Additionally, a good response technology can buck the negative trend of win rates, which are typically less than 5%, for RFP opportunities. Overall, increased efficiency makes it possible for small businesses to participate and expands involvement beyond the typical large players.
Read the full piece on Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL)
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