punishedlad

Business Development Team Lead

RFP Help?

Good morning and Happy Monday, Savages.

I have a dilemma. The largest account in my territory released an RFP almost two months ago. We worked damn hard on our bid but haven't heard anything back from them until this past weekend.

Here's what they said:

They haven't even taken a meeting with us, and they're asking for a "best-and-final-offer?" How fricked are we? They've obviously decided on another vendor, right?

Words of advice or encouragement appreciated. 😭

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25 comments

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Kosta_Konfucius

Politicker

Sales Rep

"We need a low offer to help negotiate with a competitor"

Get a better discount discount and see if you can at least get a meeting with the DM, might as well confirm if they made up their mind with a competitor or if they dont know how to run a rfp process

punishedlad

Tycoon

Business Development Team Lead

The most frustrating thing about this is that we haven't even been able to pitch them or show them our solution. Definitely going to try to get some time with the DM, but my hopes aren't high...

SaaSsy

Politicker

Absolutely! I would call direct and suss out the BS. If they won’t provide you with what they need and where you stand in the pack they’re evaluating, don’t cheapen yourself. Anyone who is serious about your solution would collaborate a little IMO. So sorry, but you’re probs not winning this.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

Oh shit. Wait. There’s been no demo or discussion of your solution? Why even bother? Maybe just toss my response to your post out the window now I guess.

poweredbycaffeine

WR Lieutenant

☕️

Ah, an RFP…Really Fucking Prude

Do you know who else they would have went out to, and have you ever spoke to them before the RFP release back in Feb? If not, you’re probably a competing quote that must be gathered in the path to buying their preferred supplier.

Don’t fuck yourself, but be competitive and see if a procurement manager sees something worth looking at.

punishedlad

Tycoon

Business Development Team Lead

There's only about 4 other players in the space in my territory, but I have my suspicions on who their preferred vendor is. I'm 100% with you on that as well, my immediate reaction was "they've already made their decision, they're just trying to negotiate down their preferred vendor" or they're literally required to get other quotes due to being a publicly funded entity.

We did bring the price down from our original proposal, but certainly within reason where we're not getting f****d.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

Yeah if their publicly funded then they will have to get competitive quotes

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

Yes, and I've found they tend to do things backward too - lead with the price, then determine if the vendor is an actual fit.

SoccerandSales

Big Shot

Account Executive

You likely are fucked but wouldn't hurt to ask for a little guidance on where they would like to get with the pricing. If they can't answer, then you know 100% its a waste of time

buckeyenation

Acclaimed Answer

Completely irrelevant, non-practical advice: don’t associate personal self worth with the outcomes of bogus rfps.

Sunbunny31

Politicker

Sr Sales Executive 🐰

You're still in, but if you need something from them in order to determine if you can come in with a better offer, now is the time to ask. Are there things that are generally scoped or discussed? Get them on the phone to ask those questions so that you "can be sure we're addressing your requirements within the scope of our proposal".

If after this you believe you're just still in to drive a price point, I often derive a perverse pleasure from feeling like I made the competition take a bad deal, so there's that.

detectivegibbles

Politicker

Sales Director

Don't beat yourself up first and foremost.

Get as competitive as possible without showing your ass. And hopefully that gets someone on the phone. Good luck!

CuriousFox

WR Officer

🦊

@LordOfWarwhat would you do here?

Justatitle

Big Shot

Account Executive

"We can't scope this without a meeting to understand what we can do for pricing considerations." They are 99% using you to get a discount from the vendor they already chose.

erik

Sales Director

Exactly. And if you can’t get that meeting, walk away (and tell them why). You don’t pull prices out of thin air and your solution is tailored to their needs as much as possible. No real information means you can’t and won’t proceed.

HVACexpert

Politicker

sales engineer

If you don’t have a relationship then you might be screwed. If you do then reach out and see what the deal is. Even if it’s lost, get feedback so you can be better positioned for an RFP in the future.

Procurement always sucks to deal with.

punishedlad

Tycoon

Business Development Team Lead

I've met a couple of board members in the past that seemed pretty incompetent and one person who heads up the department overseeing this RFP. She informed me that she's totally hands off and other folks are handling it. Seemed dubious, but couldn't press her more without making it a terrible conversation.

369DocuSign

Big Shot

Sales Director

Take it as good sign -- you're still in the conversation. Most RFP's that I've seen (and won) required at least some context around the proposed pricing model & range prior to engaging in the demo/next step. Prospects don't always love buying on our terms, we don't love selling on theirs, call it square that you were invited to the table. Closed Won on price is still Closed Won, go get 'em!

Maximas

Tycoon

Senior Sales Executive

Yeah sorry ,seems like they decided to move forward by disregarding your offer.
Understand that you did your best,however apparently the competitor has something got em attracted more,so I advise to find it act on it not just to have it but also be really good it so that all next bids would be fully yours!

blondeenigma

Opinionated

Push back and request access to DMs. Threaten to walk away unless provided. Best and final is late stage negotiations, RFP is initial validation stage. So they either decided on another vendor and are trying to use you, or very inexperienced in RFP and think that’s what it will take to close = be careful as they are underestimating what’s needed and likely have no clue what the purchasing process is like, legal approvals compliance procurement etc. (assuming you need an actual sales cycle after the RFP/I). Either way - don’t fall for it. Push back and differentiate yourself by not doing what is expected. I got a longass vague RFP that was visibly inspired by the competition (and sent to 26 random vendors). Declined to bid. They begged - still no, pick your battles. They bought this exact competitor and we would have never had a chance despite selling the #1 solution in that segment and market…. so trust your gut and hold your ground - and don’t be afraid to challenge their asks.

Pachacuti

Politicker

They call me Daddy, Sales Daddy

BAFOs are not irregular. They want you, just cheaper. And they probably sent it out to more than 1 vendor.

You can sharpen the pencil a bit or tell them you already gave them you BAFO, with some verbiage about “best in class solution” etc.

You can also provide them with an alternative offer. Basically anything is viable here.

dmdegen

Fire Starter

cross functional

You just have to reply and wait, just the way it be

Sr Account Executive

I would say that a stronger relationship has to be built with the key decision makers. If you have a "champion" in the organization, that person will advise you on where you need to be.

The second thing is to follow up with how your solution is the best fit for the problems that they are looking to solve for. If in fact you are, then you shouldn't worry.

WheelofCheese

Opinionated

Sales Executive

Sounds to me like they have received better pricing and want to see what you can do to sharpen your pencil. Is this a current client? If so, I would ask for a meeting to make sure you are on the same page regarding what they are looking for. Maybe it's not just cost reduction. Sometimes it's more services, creative solutions, etc.

CRAG112

Valued Contributor

Account Executive

This is called procurement games.

Check out David Weiss on LinkedIn. He is with DealDoc. He made a ton of posts this past week about procurement games. I do believe one of them will answer exactly what you should do.

facts though. They intentionally went dark and reached out to put you on the defensive. who are your champions? Have you proved ROI with the exec team? Who’s going to back you to push this deal through from the company? That’s who you got to get on the phone.

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