Ryase1113 profile picture
Ryase1113 profile picture

Ryase1113

Regional Director

Opinionated
Fire Starter
Praised Answer
+2

Responding to RFI's - Have you ever closed one?

I've received a few RFI's over the last 2 months and they feel like a colossal waste of time (normally I wouldn't give these any thoughts). Anyone respond to and win an RFI?


I have won a few decent sized RFP's over the last few years, so I do put the effort into those.




Have you ever won an RFI?

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👑 Sales Strategy
🤷‍♂ Poll
📖 Prospecting Stories
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18 comments

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CharmingSalesGal
Politicker
4
Account Executive
Whenever I get an RFI/RFP, I insist on setting up a collaboration meeting with someone at the company. It ensures that you're not doing all of the heavy lifting on your own or their interest.

If they won't set one up, they probably just want the dollar amount... Caveat, I used to work in government and they could rarely talk about RFP details with potential vendors which sucked.
Ryase1113
Opinionated
1
Regional Director
Yea, I pulled a full stop on responding to anything PubSector years ago.
CharmingSalesGal
Politicker
0
Account Executive
Good call! They're typically budget constraint and needy anyways. 
funcoupons
WR Officer
2
👑
I send them back a RFC. Request for commission, bitch. 
Ryase1113
Opinionated
1
Regional Director
Just reply with an invoice! Love it! 🤣🤣
CuriousFox
WR Officer
1
🦊
This is the way.

Totally trying this move.
braintank
Politicker
1
Enterprise Account Executive
Depends on industry and segment. Unfortunately RFIs are required for many I sell to.
Ryase1113
Opinionated
0
Regional Director
I get that completely.  RFP's I see often in the industries and segments I sell into.  RFI's don't come around often for us, but then suddenly a few in a few months is starting to make me hope it doesn't become a trend!
Telehealth_2the_Moon
Notable Contributor
1
Director of Business Development
We are picky about the RFIs we go for. There are a lot of criteria we look at before agreeing to participate. Also, having a document where you dump all previous completed RFIs in one place is really helpful so you can just F9 and search it to create a Frankenstein RFI in less time than typing it out yourself. 

First, we need to make sure it's an actual RFI and not that bullshit where there is a pre-determined winner but the company needs to get X number of bids before moving forward. 

Second, there needs to be something in the RFI that stands out as an advantage for us over the others. 
Ryase1113
Opinionated
0
Regional Director
Great feedback!  I always assume all RFI's/RFP's are pre-baked for another vendor!  That's why I rarely respond to them.
Telehealth_2the_Moon
Notable Contributor
0
Director of Business Development
I think they often are, I would say even doing our best to figure that out ahead of time it still comes up really frequently. I'll usually be very direct with them about it. We get them on the phone, explain how we will pull out all the stops to get this done for them, make it clear how much work it is, and then directly asking if it's an open competition. Hopefully they realize they don't want to make you do all that work for nothing and will just tell you straight up. 

Expects a lot from them, but I'll even offer to submit a plain bid to count towards the total they need if they are up front about why they are doing it. 
GDO
Politicker
1
BDM
Well public sector rfp’s suck. You need to be in the organisation before theybstart writing the RFP. If you succeed you’re in for the longrun. 
Ryase1113
Opinionated
0
Regional Director
My last pub sector RFP included 35 competitors.  The Q&A call started with 15 minutes of Roll Call.  It was absurd!
Blackwargreymon
Politicker
1
MDR
I send them back a RFC. Request for commission
Clashingsoulsspell
Politicker
1
ISR
Whenever I get an RFI/RFP, I insist on setting up a collaboration meeting with someone at the company. It ensures that you're not doing all of the heavy lifting on your own or their interest.
Feds_Watchin
Politicker
0
AE
RFI's are your window of opportunity to lay out your capabilities while meeting with the decision makers and economic buyers hopefully in parallel. Then if you do your job the RFP will be in your favor. Too many bitchs in this sector attempting to bid board hunt and lowball solicitations. Drives me nuts.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
0
Sales Rep
Its always lucky if you win those imo
MR.StretchISR
Politicker
0
ISR
Whenever I get an RFI/RFP, I insist on setting up a collaboration meeting with someone at the company. It ensures that you're not doing all of the heavy lifting on your own or their interest.

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