The Proposal Trap

You’ve been courting this prospect for what seems like forever. He’s working with someone else and says that he’s satisfied. Still, he takes your calls and you’re confident that you’re now the second vendor of choice. All you have to do is wait in the wings until the numero-uno vendor goofs up on an order or can’t deliver what he said he could. Then you can gleefully charge in, save the day, write a ton of business and live happily ever after.

Then one day it happens. The prospect calls you up and asks you to submit a proposal for a project and is sending you the specs. Hallelujah!

This scenario isn’t limited just to a prospect that you’ve been working on. A request for a proposal or quote could simply appear on your desk from out of the clear blue, and you might not have a clue who the prospects are or what their needs are.

Is it for real, or is the prospect just tapping you to provide a blueprint they can use to shop around? Or are they just staying legitimate by having additional proposals submitted, even though they already know who they’re going to award the project to? And what should you do?

“It’s easy for a prospect to call you up and ask for a proposal, but proposals require a lot of time and effort,” says Ann Baldwin, partner of Baldwin/Alverio Media Marketing in Hartford, CT. “You really have to pick and choose which ones are worth your time, which ones you have a shot at, and which ones you’re going to pass on.”

Baldwin, whose firm specializes in public relations, marketing and crisis communications, believes that the major priorities are to research the prospect and understand the parameters of the request.

“That means formulating such questions as What’s the budget? What’s within the budget? What does the prospect want to accomplish?” says Baldwin. “The goal is to determine what their intent is in requesting the proposal. Is it a legitimate request, or are they just looking for a blueprint to negotiate with or award to a competitor?”

Speaking of competition, Baldwin thinks it a must to establish the playing field, as in who the other players are. She doesn’t think it hurts to just simply ask. “Schedule a needs-analysis meeting where you can ask your benchmark questions and make sure to find out who you’re up against,” says Baldwin. “Then gauge the competition, and based on the responses to your questions, make a strategic decision as to whether you actually should submit a proposal.”

“If someone looks you straight in the eye and says they really want you involved in the process, then you need to be involved,” says Baldwin. “It’s a good indicator that they appreciate your expertise and lets you know that you have a pretty good shot on getting in on the project.

“In a lot of situations you just have to go with your gut,” says Baldwin. “If it doesn’t seem right, just walk away.”

The bottom line is, in most cases, even if you suspect they’re just asking you to get something to share with another contender, you still have to do it. It’s part of the business.

When John Cheney, senior account executive for StillSecure, a provider of computer network security and infrastructure products and services, receives a request for proposal (RFP), he immediately jumps into the qualification and due-diligence mode.

“Pursuing business that is unqualified is a total waste of time,” says Cheney. “Responding to an RFP requires numerous man-hours and is resource intensive. Initially, I ask one of our engineers or consultants to read over the RFP to help pinpoint the direction of the prospect’s vision.”

Cheney then contacts the prospect and “demands” a meeting with the buying-decision maker and the I.T. decision maker.

“The meeting is a prerequisite for me responding to the bid, because I need to determine who actually wrote the RFP,” says Cheney. “In some cases, it’s an internal RFP. Usually, in 9 out of 10 cases, the competition has aided in writing the RFP, and it’s geared toward their product or service. Basically, it’s a slam dunk for them.

“If the prospect refuses your meeting, it’s most likely because a competitor wrote the RFP, and that clarifies your position in the decision-making process,” says Cheney. “If they won’t take the meeting, you won’t meet the bid, and you’re going to lose.”

If the prospect does agree to a meeting, Cheney develops a set of clarifying questions used as much to gain information about the RFP as to learn about his competition and how to position himself, regardless of whether he decides to actually submit a bid or not.

“Use the questions to discover why they’re leaning towards a particular vendor and provide a benchmark to move into your value-added services,” says Cheney. “The meeting defines the fact that you have the expertise to provide what they need, determine hot buttons, throw a few darts and open for business down the road.

“At the end of the meeting, you may decide that you don’t want to take the time to be a second or third vendor and just walk away from submitting the proposal,” says Cheney. “Still, you’ve established the fact that there may be components of the proposal that you can do better than anyone else.”

In many instances, Cheney will write a proposal even though he recognizes that the competition may have had a hand in writing the RFP or the prospect is looking to “farm it out.” But the saving grace is that by being part of the proposal process, he positions his company to capture business they may not have had a shot at.

“In one instance, we had a meeting, walked away from a bid and about three months later, received an RFP for managed services, submitted a post-award bid and got the business,” says Cheney. “The company that won the proposal got the product in, but couldn’t manage it…and they thought of us.”