What is an RFP? 

Putting together a comprehensive RFP process is essential for making good choices about selecting the right partners and vendors for your business goals. Your RFP (Request for Proposal) document should be thorough but concise and describe your company, what you are looking for, your requirements, the results you expect, and your rules for choosing a vendor or partner. In this article, we discuss the components for creating a good RFP and the benefits of hiring a third party to help you with the process. 

What Makes a Good RFP?

There are several points to consider for creating an effective RFP. 

Here are some tips: 

Identify Your Goals and How You Will Evaluate Responses to Your RFP

Create a system for how you will assess the answers to your RFP. Take into account elements such as price, what is negotiable and what is not, what your ideal candidate would be like, how candidates would affect your company, and how you would evaluate their performance.

Consider the Role of Stakeholders

You should have important stakeholders involved in your RFP decision-making process, including ones who will be working with the partner or vendor that you choose. The stakeholders will have questions for assessing candidates. Create a final draft of questions that concisely combine the questions from all of the stakeholders. 

Create Your RFP

Although you may want to save time by using a general template for your request for proposal, it’s important to create an RFP that has questions, requirements, and criteria that are industry-specific and in alignment with what you are looking for.

In the first section of your RFP, provide information about the reason for the RFP and information about your company, including your industry, history, and the types of customers that you serve.

In the second section of your RFP, provide details about your goals, expectations, and your questions for evaluating vendors. Depending on your needs, here are some of the areas you may ask about:

● Hiring and Training
● Project Management
● Quality Assurance
● Security
● Reporting
● Technology
● Compliance
● Pricing

Considering the amount of time you have available for reviewing candidates, set a limit for the length of answers. Some questions may require longer answers than others, so keep this in mind as well. Depending on the type of data that you are looking for from candidates, you can request information such as spreadsheets with numerical data, graphs, or documents detailing procedures.

Hiring a Third Party to Help with Your RFP 

Hiring a third party to assist you with writing your RFP and to manage the RFP process can help you to identify and focus on the areas that are most important to your RFP. Here are some of the ways that hiring a third party can help:

● A third party, such as a consultant, can help you to narrow down your list of candidates to a manageable number by identifying the top choices.

● After your list of RFP contenders is narrowed down, you can consult with a third party to help you with the rest of the RFP process.

● Having the expertise and guidance from a third party can help you to make the best decision possible for your RFP. This is significant because the partner or vendor that you chose will affect your company, its metrics, and its profitability.

CH Consulting Group provides unparalleled expertise in the Contact Center and Customer Experience (CX) verticals. We have a nationwide team of industry veterans that can assist you to achieve exponential growth, manage change, and generate profit. For a comprehensive CX assessment and strategic plan customized for your unique business needs, connect with us here today.