It is essential for every company to have RFP templates. Templates reduce preparation time, set out standard expectations internally and externally, and enhance communication with internal stakeholders. An efficient RFP process demonstrates procurement’s subject matter expertise and helps build stronger relationships with business units. Once you create the template, don’t change its fixed sections for at least a year (or much longer) until you really need to revise it.
I’ve shared downloadable samples of a few key documents:
1) RFP templates
2) Project plan & vendor list
3) Evaluation scorecard
1) RFP templates
These are draft documents that include company introduction, process and timelines, pre-defined standards, pre-defined requirements and project specific requirements. You should create separate templates for each category if needed. Lets dig into each of these and determine best way to approach them.
Your company introduction should be informative and compelling, and should be a fixed section that doesn’t change. This section should provide an overview of the company so vendors can understand the market segment, product or service, organization, scale, etc. Think of this as short description you give someone you meet at a conference and who has never heard of your company. It should also be compelling so vendors are excited about the opportunity and feel motivated to win your business. Think of this as the elevator pitch you give someone at a dinner party to sound interesting and spark a conversation about your work. I recommend avoiding corporate jargon and buzz words that don’t convey anything meaningful. Think of this as statements like ‘we operate at the intersection of ….’.
The next section should clearly state information about the RFP process: purpose of the RFP, steps or milestones, timelines and contact information. You will edit details in this section for each RFP.
Your company standards should be a list of pre-defined expectations and vendors can confirm if they can meet them for free, if they can meet them for an additional cost or offer alternatives. This should be a fixed section that is initially created in collaboration with relevant teams and doesn’t change after that. This section should be comprehensive but not excessive, and should include many standard non-legal terms from the contract template. Focus on key terms and avoid making it a long wishlist.
The requirements section will be specific to each RFP. You should create sub-sections with some standard questions that will guide procurement or the business unit in thinking about their requirements. You can also create a list of questions to choose or modify as needed.
Overall, a good RFP template will eliminate or minimize effort on standard or pre-defined details, and instead focus effort on requirements specific to the project.
2) Project plan & vendor list
The project plan template lists the standard steps in an RFP process along with owners and average time per step. It is a great initial draft that can be quickly modified for each project.
The vendor list template lists the standard steps for vendor engagement. It is a blank document used for tracking progress.
Regularly sharing project updates with business units using these templates helps develop familiarity with and an understanding of the procurement process.
3) Evaluation scorecard
The evaluation scorecard template lists common evaluation criteria for vendor selection. It is a great initial draft that can be quickly modified for each project.
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