Interpretive Planning

So you want to land a great consulting job. You’ve seen an RFP (request for proposal) that looks like something you’re perfect for, and now you have to convince the potential client of the same thing. There are a few things you can do to improve your chances, although you should always use your best judgement in putting your best foot forward. Here are my top ten tips:

1. Follow directions. If the RFP includes specific instructions on how to prepare and deliver your proposal, follow them, to the letter. Don’t assume you know what the client wants more than the client does, just pay attention to what’s been requested and simply follow directions, especially if the client has asked for you to avoid overly complicated or expensive presentations of your material.

2. Write clearly, concisely, and accurately. Avoid redundancy – most clients do not make selections based on how thick your proposal is. Proofread carefully to avoid errors – no one wants to hire someone who doesn’t care enough to provide a meticulous product even in the proposal stage.

3. Be honest. Represent your work fairly and represent only your work (not the work of employees or subcontractors who may no longer be working with you).

4. Provide accurate contact information. If you’re using old letterhead or boiler plate information that has out of date email addresses or phone numbers, your potential client may not be willing to track you down.

5. Even if the client doesn’t ask for it specifically, identify who will serve on your project team by name and if your team includes subcontractors, include a letter from the subcontractor that indicates his or her interest in the project. This helps clients know that the proposed subcontractors know they’re being included in the team.

6. Provide references that can be contacted and include a few that can speak to your ability to resolve conflicts, not just those with whom you worked seamlessly. Allow your client to get a balanced view of your work style and results.

7. Identify and provide details of the specific tasks that you will do. If there are any limitations to what you can or will do, state that as well. Don’t ever surprise your client after the selection has been made or deliberately mislead your client about your abilities or willingness to perform specific tasks during the selection process.

8. Call attention to the details of your proposal if they are relevant. For example, if you are responding to an RFP from an environmental education center, use recycled products and earth-friendly inks in your proposal and mention that you have done so.

9. Mention any certifications you hold and awards that you or your products have won, including whether your products have helped previous clients receive funding or win awards (here’s a good reason to become certified or to enter NAI’s media awards contest each year).

10. Only reply to RFPs for which you are qualified. Don’t waste your time or the time of your potential client. Call and ask questions if you are unclear about the project requirements. It’s time well spent to find out if you should make the investment in producing a proposal.

As you begin to prepare your proposal, put yourself in the shoes of your potential client. Let your work style and commitment to excellence shine through in the quality of your proposal and your success rate should greatly increase.

In economic times like these, you might think it would be easy to have qualified bidders beating down your door when you post a request for proposal (RFP). And yet, sometimes you find yourself having to extend the deadline for another round of possible submissions. These “do-overs” cost both time and money, so how do you avoid them? Understanding some of the reasons why qualified bidders won’t bid may help you get what you need more efficiently.

First, let me make the distinction between bidders and qualified bidders. You may get bidders that you shouldn’t seriously consider, either because they really don’t provide the services or products you’re asking for (even though they may claim to), or because they are in some other way an unsuitable match for your needs (be wary of contractors who comes in way below other bids – there’s probably a reason why they’re working so cheaply).

So why aren’t the qualified bidders showing up? Most good contractors have networks or use tools that help them learn about available contracts – make sure you distribute your RFP widely unless you’ve already narrowed your choices to a preferred short list of qualified bidders. If people don’t know about your job, they can’t bid on it. National Association for Interpretation will help in this regard by sending any notification we receive about an impending RFP to all commercial members (a good reason to become a commercial member if you’re a contractor).

Be clear about the service or product you’re soliciting. Writing an excellent scope of service helps contractors know exactly what you’re after and whether they are qualified to provide that service or product. With any luck, the contractor will be responsible enough to bid only on what he or she knows what to do, and not try to use your contract as on the job training for a new skill set. If the scope of service is unclear about the expectations you have for your project or what you can provide as technical assistance, contractors will either ignore the RFP for fear that you’ll be a confused client throughout the process (not a cost-efficient work effort for them) or you may end up with something you didn’t want because you’ve left leeway for the contractor to interpret your project based on the skill set they actually have.

Don’t demand project work in the proposal. Proposals cost an extraordinary amount of time and effort already without asking contractors to fabricate the work product before they actually have the job. This practice borders on unethical as many clients assume they can use the ideas of a higher-priced and more qualified firm but award the project to a lower-priced and less qualified firm to further develop and implement those ideas. Even if you state your right to do so in the RFP, you may find that qualified bidders won’t touch that request. The better approach, if you want to test run some ideas and your compatibility with the proposed project team before awarding a large project, is to commit to paying two or three short-listed finalists to provide a one or two day charette/interview before final selection. Having paid for the work produced in the charette, you could then reasonably use those ideas regardless of who was selected, and you’ll have the luxury of having seen the project team in action. This approach is well worth it if you have a high dollar project on the line.

Be sure that your project requirements are reasonable. Although you may be able to negotiate a great deal in these troubling economic times, be prepared to pay for the work you need at fair prices. Don’t assume that the contractor can work a miracle at rock bottom rates or according to a schedule that is humanly impossible. Most contractors do not have the luxury of working only one project at a time, which means that your schedule has to fit amongst the schedules for other projects already underway or under consideration. If you specify unreasonable requirements and have no flexibility for budget, work product, or schedule, you may find that qualified bidders will simply take a pass.

There are certainly other reasons why contractors won’t bid (maybe they’ve heard that you’re a client who isn’t great to work with for another whole set of reasons), but if you can provide a great RFP and get it out to those who should be bidding on it, you should be able to find the perfect match to help you get the perfect results you’re looking for.