How to Win RFPs In a Tough Economy (Advice From Proposal Experts)
The market is tough right now. In the face of an economic downturn, it’s clear that companies are scrutinizing their spending but that doesn’t mean they are shutting the door to deals.
According to the 2023 RFP Trends Report, revenue sourced from RFPs has stayed between 30-40% over the last few years, showing that valuable bidding opportunities can still drive tremendous growth.
Consequently, more vendors are realizing that RFPs are a key resource to rely on during challenging times. So, how do you make your RFP response stand out in a highly competitive market?
We asked the proposal community to share their practical advice (and words of encouragement). Read on to learn the tactics that experts recommend to win RFPs in tough economic times.
8 tactics to earn a winning RFP:
- Personalize your proposals to the client
- Use your proposal cover letter as a powerful tool
- Be flexible to the prospect’s evolving needs
- Structure your win themes around pain points
- Understand the new problems a client is facing
- Include compelling customer stories to win
- Prepare for the unknown with future-proof proposals
- Highlight the simplicity of your product/services
8 Tactics for Winning RFPs in Today’s Economy 🎯
Even in favourable market conditions, RFPs require a strategic approach. That’s why it should come as no surprise that across our eight tactics, two overarching themes emerged.
First, personalization is key. Boilerplate responses won’t cut it anymore. Clients are looking for vendors who invest time and effort into showing they have a deep understanding of their business needs.
You also need to keep your messaging competitive. Why? Because your competitors are likely adapting their messaging during a tough market—and you should too. What makes your solution different from those vying for the same contract?
According to your peers, here are eight ways to successfully execute on both these themes—in several ways—across your response strategy.
1. Personalize Your Proposal With Specific Client Visuals
When a client sees their branding incorporated into the proposal, it sends an impactful message. It communicates that you don’t just see them as a transaction, but a valued partner. Adding this visual touch can create a good first impression, build connection from the onset, and ultimately, set the stage for a win-win relationship.
“We try our best to include proposal cover photos that are personalized to each client. Especially in this time, we’ve heard feedback that it makes clients feel special since we haven’t just sent them a standardized response.”
2. Use Your Proposal Cover Letter as a Simple, Yet Powerful Tool
A compelling RFP cover letter has the power to help you win. Just think of it as the confident handshake that sets the tone for the entire proposal. Since many proposal managers overlook or rush through this step in the response process, taking the time to write a personalized cover letter will set you apart from the competition.
The key is to demonstrate your enthusiasm for the project and show your deep understanding of the client’s needs.
“In your next proposal, include a powerful letter of introduction (whether it’s requested or not). The letter should be meaningful, authentic, and relevant to that particular RFP. And, you should aim to make it resonate with each member of the evaluation team. Try including points which appeal to finance, procurement, and end-users too.”
3. Be Flexible to the Prospect’s Needs In Your RFP Response
The traditional way of providing services in stable times is no longer sufficient for meeting the evolving needs of clients today. That’s why demonstrating flexibility in your RFP responses is crucial.
Answer these questions for the prospect: How has your organization swiftly adapted to recent changes in the economy? How will you be a reliable partner that supports them at this time?
Acknowledging the shifting landscape in your RFP response not only shows your commitment to transparency and assures them you’re well-prepared to meet their expectations—now and in the future.
“This is a great time to show prospects the adaptability of your organization. Your RFP responses should explain what has changed (staffing, procedures, communications, customer service, etc.), how these changes will be implemented long term, and timelines for returning to regular business acumen.”
4. Structure Your Win Themes Around Pain Points
It might seem obvious to you, but a potential client may not immediately connect the dots between their current pain points and your solution—you’ve got to spell it out for them.
So, do your homework and find out what their biggest challenges are right now (a.k.a hot button issues). Then, use that information to develop proposal win themes. These should be introduced in the executive summary and reinforced throughout the RFP response.
“We have started to put more of a personal touch on our responses by referring to each customer by name and calling out their current issues or headaches. Then, we identify how our product alleviates those pain points.”
5. Understand the New Problems a Prospective Client is Facing
Winning proposals solve the current problems of the prospective client. In other words, a solution that would’ve worked for winning RFPs in the past might not be as desirable today. So, instead of submitting outdated proposal templates, spend extra time researching their unique needs.
What’s an effective way to do this? Either hop on a call with a key decision maker to dig for more juicy details (if possible). Or, pull your sales team into the response process and ask them about the specific problems a potential client is facing—and what they’d propose as an alternate solution.
If all stakeholders agree on this approach, tailor the solution in your final proposal. This shows the client you will be an adaptable partner in their journey, regardless of how their needs evolve over time.
“You can’t sell a product that doesn’t meet client needs. Make sure you understand the new problems that your clients are facing, so you can propose alternate use cases for your product or service. Spend more time talking to your clients to identify the unique pain points that have emerged in recent years.”
6. Include Compelling Customer Success Stories
Weaving success stories into your proposals will show the real-world value of your solution—especially when the real-world looks a little bleak. How? These testimonials serve as tangible evidence that your company consistently delivers results, even in dynamic and challenging environments.
Again, reach out to your sales team (or customer success team) to see which stories would be perfect to highlight.
What you’re looking for: Customers in the same industry who achieved desirable outcomes.
“Nothing brings your solution to life more than the words from your current customers. Collect testimonials and success stories that bring your client collaboration to life during this time, and share those as part of your next RFP submission.”
7. Prepare for the Unknown With a Future-Proof Solution
If the past few years taught us anything, it’s that companies should be prepared when disaster strikes. So, it’s not surprising that clients will take a forward-thinking approach when reviewing proposals. They likely want to know how potential vendors can help them weather this storm—and storms to come.
A winning RFP addresses the unknown head-on by providing a future-proof solution. This might involve outlining flexible contract terms, contingency plans, or the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
“There is a lot of uncertainty in today’s business environment. The more you can incorporate how you will help the company see around the corner and proactively prepare them for the unknown, the better.”
8. Highlight the Simplicity of Your Product or Services
In uncertain times, a company will often look for simple solutions. Ease of adoption, process efficiency, cost-effectiveness—these are just a few benefits that might be top of mind for them.
So, showcase the simplicity of your offering by explaining how it can easily integrate into current workflows (not disrupt operations), save time (by doing more with less), and reduce expenses.
“Emphasizing how your solution can help prospects get through difficulties is key. It also helps to highlight how you can be accommodating in any situation, such as providing support quickly and easily.”
Adapt Your Response Strategy By Looking Inward ✨
Shifting the messaging in your RFP responses isn’t the only thing you can do to increase your win rate. If your RFP team isn’t submitting more proposals—it may be time to change the status quo and focus on renewing contracts instead of winning new business.
“Why not coach salespeople to think about renewal proposals? Are there any contracts coming up for renewal later in the year? Is there potential to send the clients a great proposal now, explaining the benefits of renewing the contract to avoid competitive tender?”
FAQs: How to Win More RFPs (Today and Tomorrow)
The best strategy to win an RFP is to be the turtle, not the hare. With such tight deadlines, it can be tempting to respond as quickly as possible. But the first vendor to submit a bid isn’t a guaranteed winner. To give your company the best shot at winning RFPs, take time to follow these RFP process steps:
🧠 Evaluate the bidding opportunity: Consider whether the opportunity is the right fit for your business before investing valuable time, resources, and collective energy. (Use this go/no-go decision template.)
🔎 Research the RFP for key insights: Carefully review the RFP to find nuggets of useful information that will help you identify which pain points to address in the executive summary and beyond.
📋 Plan out your response strategy: Map out your RFP response strategy by making a content plan based on your top advantages, including knowledge from your subject matter experts (SMEs).
✍️ Draft a compelling (and personalized) proposal: Craft a winning RFP response by personalizing answers, addressing potential concerns, and packaging everything into an eye-catching proposal.
📩 Respond and submit a winning RFP: After proofreading, submit your response exactly as the delivery instructions say. Then, save your answers in a content library to repurpose for the next RFP.
According to the average RFP win rate, the chance of winning an RFP is 44%. To increase those odds, you can follow the habits of top-performing teams—who win more than half the time.
🫡 Assign dedicated ownership of RFPs: Someone who will manage a collaborative RFP team, coordinate the production of a winning proposal, and prevent scope creep.
📋 Revisit your go/no-go criteria: Make sure all stakeholders are on the same page about what qualifies as an excellent bidding opportunity. Then, bake it into your intake process.
🧠 Recruit diverse expertise: It takes a village to write a winning RFP. The more people that participate in the RFP response, the more access you have to company-wide intelligence.
⚖️ Balance proposal quality with quality: Before you start submitting more RFPs, learn how to craft high-quality responses that demonstrate value and align with the client’s needs.
📈 Track a broad range of RFP metrics: Figure out what’s working and what’s not in your response process by conducting a thorough win/loss analysis. Then, adjust accordingly.
While there is no guaranteed formula for winning an RFP, a well-prepared, tailored, and compliant proposal will improve your chances of success. Top-performing teams know this well.
To stand out in the RFP process, you need to show what sets you apart from the competition—not just in your offering, but how you present the proposal overall.
For instance, there are subtle signs many clients look for to determine if you are genuinely interested in doing business with them, like whether you:
✓ Followed their RFP guidelines vs. overlooked important instructions
✓ Personalized the proposal vs. submitted boilerplate content
✓ Introduced innovative ideas vs. pitched a standard solution
✓ Backed up your claims vs. provided no testimonials at all
✓ Included an executive summary vs. skipped this proposal element
✓ Put their company first vs. talked all about you, you, you
✓ Used compelling visuals vs. big blocks of hard-to-read text
✓ Made your proposal was easy to understand vs. riddled in technical jargon
✓ Addressed future challenges vs. focused solely on the present
✓ Addressed future challenges vs. focused solely on the present