Blog

• RFPs are a great source of information about customers` objectives, providing insight on the decision process and clearly outlining customers needs and requirements
  
• Applying resources to capture and analyze RFP data can reap big benefits, providing valuable insights for marketing and product management and improving future RFP win rates for your sales teams

Unlike consumers who typically have a less structured approach to purchases, enterprises and public sector organizations explicitly and publicly document their "wants" and requirements through Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and other forms of requests to tender. [1]

RFPs are structured methods for public and non-public organizations to receive competitive bids for needed products and services and thus every month, thousands of RFPs are posted on the internet and /or send directly to selected vendors. The RFP process is meant to bring structure and transparency to the procurement decision, while reducing risk through open requirements and discussion.

Sales personnel and bid management teams spend a considerable amount of effort in answering customer questions and preparing an offer. However what happens after the sales team completes the RFP? Too often, not much, as sales and bid teams turn their focus to the next RFP.

RFPs are a great source of information about a customer’s objectives, their evaluation and decision process, and the customer’s needs and requirements – providing you with Voice of the Customer (VoC ) insight [2] .

Summary

In mature markets, differentiation on a product level is not easy to achieve. However, there is a lot of differentiation potential in the context of how you engage with your customers, in the ability to build relationships and evaluate customer needs, and finally in how you combine and deliver products and services to develop a solution which addresses customer needs and delivers the expected business outcomes.

We are seeing a massive change in how organizations identify, procure, and implement solutions. Cloud computing has made it a lot easier to adopt new technology, and the business leaders are now taking over the IT buying decisions. Gartner claims that the business controlled 35% of IT spending in 2014, and it will grow to 90% by 2020. They might be wrong about the 90%, but research AIIM found that IT solution providers expect the growth in IT spending to come from business leaders buying IT.