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 If you’re using old letterhead or boiler plate information that has out of date email addresses or phone numbers, your potential client may not be willing to track you down.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

One of the many ways in which contractors find out about what projects are available is the time-tested “Request for Proposal” or RFP. Generally speaking, an RFP requires the respondent to provide both a technical (process recommendations, samples of work products, etc.) and a cost proposal (sometimes embedded in the technical proposal as a budget or sometimes separated out and submitted in a sealed envelope to be opened after selection is made based on technical qualifications).

There are a number of options for those who are considering the solicitation of proposals from contractors – RFQ can stand for “Request for Qualification” for which the respondent provides only background information and perhaps work samples. It can also stand for “Request for Quotation” for which the respondent provides only a dollar amount for the work (usually used for low-bid awards and NOT recommended for interpretive planning projects).

Any of these options (and a variety of others, such as simple purchase orders) can be mixed and matched to a certain extent depending on the needs of the client for a particular project and the policies that govern contracting for the client’s organization or agency. Generally speaking, non-profit organizations have more latitude in how they approach a solicitation than government agencies, but even government agencies have some flexibility depending on the specific region, district, or individual contracting office’s interpretation of the rules. It never hurts to ask your powers that be what alternatives you have in preparing a solicitation, so that you are more likely to get the types of responses you’re looking for.

The best RFPs are simple, clear, and concise. They should include: a brief description of the project and the organization responsible for it; pertinent background information (has a plan already been started by staff? are there mitigating factors such as schedule or budget? how much assistance can be provided by client staff or other resources?); work products (deliverables) expected; instructions for how to put the proposal together (work samples, resumés of key personnel, references, process steps, cost, etc.); contact information for someone who can answer questions; selection process; evaluation criteria; and delivery instructions (date and time due, street address for delivery, etc.).

Resist the temptation to do the project in the RFP. If you have existing information, let the respondents know that, but allow some flexibility in process among respondents – no two planners or companies work exactly the same way and they may be able to save you time and money if they’re allowed to suggest a process rather than having to hold to a rigid construct that you provide. Having said that, if there are specific meetings that you know must be held, or deadlines that can’t be missed, or work products that you absolutely have to have (such as measurable objectives in a logic model construct), be sure to include those in the RFP.

Because NAI staff will not respond to RFPs in a competitive process, a service we can offer is to review your RFP before it hits the street to see if there are any red flags. There is no charge for this – just send your RFP to me (lbrochu@interpnet.com) and give me a day or two to comment on anything that might put off contractors from bidding or that needs clarification. If you send your distribution-ready RFP to us at NAI, we can immediately send it (or the link to it) to all commercial members so that you get better distribution of your solicitation.

Next week, I’ll address how to respond to an RFP for better success in landing projects. If you have specific questions that you’d like answered related to that, please feel free to comment below.

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.