What is an RFP?

An RFP (Request for Proposal) is a bid solicitation issued by an organization to procure goods and/or services. Interested suppliers respond to an RFP in a completive bidding process. All responses must be received by a specified closing date and time which is strictly enforced, usually to the minute. The responses are then evaluated and a contract awarded to the successful bidder.

The RFP process can be quite complex with both mandatory and preferred evaluation criteria being specified. When bidding on an RFP it's important that your response addresses all of the mandatory evaluation criteria. If your response fails to address even one item, it will be disqualified. It's also important that you fully understand the concept of best value where, in addition to price, weighted criteria such as quality, expertise, past performance and vision may also used to evaluate your RFP response.

Given the cost that goes into bidding on an RFP, and the potential to lose out on a very lucrative contract due to a complex evaluation process, it's often prudent to engage the services of an experienced proposal writer or consultant. This is especially true for those new to the competitive bidding process. Please consider using one of the proposal writing firms that sponsor this site.