TPAs and employers and insurance companies send out requests for proposal – to each other, to managed care firms, specialty providers, voc companies, IT providers, law firms. All have been on the receiving end of a voluminous, detailed, structured and rigorous RFP – so big that it clogs their virtual and/or physical mailbox.
The erstwhile vendor is initially happy. Hey, we made the cut, we’re on the list, we ‘get’ to respond. We have an opportunity.
Then the work starts. Even if the vendor is big, and has staff to help write the responses, and even if it has a ready-made library of canned responses, it is still a lot of work. We aren’t talking a couple hours here and there by a junior staff writer – every question has to be reviewed and assigned, then the answer checked for accuracy, grammar, and consistency with other answers. Then someone has to find all the reports and IT flow documents and disaster recovery plans and professional certifications and insurance coverage documents and CVs and make sure they have the right appendix numbers and are in the right format. Then it has to be collated, checked one more time, signed by an executive, and shipped out. All on the prospect’s schedule.
And that’s if it’s a big vendor; if it is a small company, the folks who are doing this work are also the folks who are supposed to be doing the ‘real’ work – handling the tasks that actually deliver value to customers and owners alike.
The point is there is a lot of work involved, and most of the vendors who are doing the work are not going to get anything out of it – at least in terms of revenue. No, they’re going to have to savor the joys of a job well done, even if not done well enough to actually win the business.
I know, the ‘customer’ has also put a lot of work into the process – no argument there. Just understanding what it is you want, what restrictions exist, what the timeline should be and who should be involved in the process from initial specs to final decision means meetings on top of meetings.
But just for a minute think about it from the vendors’ perspective. We’ll take your perspective on tomorrow.
The erstwhile vendors want to deliver for your company, they think they can do a better job of anyone else, yet they’re forced to only answer what they’re asked, not allowed to demonstrate their abilities and insights and expertise and knowledge. Yes, they may be able to – in response to the “is there anything else we should know, or other ideas you have”. But the responses to these questions don’t fit the scoring methodology. Even if they are creative and innovative and fresh, and look promising, it’s tough for them to see the light of day in the typical RFP process.
Now comes the waiting…and the waiting…and the waiting…
Sure, there’s a deadline. But more often than not, the deadline comes and goes, unmarked by the award, or announcement of a potential award. Instead, there’s news that the prospect needs more time to review the proposals, or more information has come in, or…
At the risk of being accused of unfairness, ask yourself – how often has an RFP process ended when it was supposed to, with a decision made, vendor selected, and losers notified, according to the original timetable?
I’ll go out on a very solid limb and say the answer is ‘not very often’.
Let me suggest this. The more a prospective customer delays the decision, the less credibility it will have, and the less willing potential vendors will be when the next RFP comes out. Some decisions are seemingly never made, until the queries from once-hopeful vendors trickle away.
If and when the award is announced, those potential customers who are willing to have the tough conversation with losers – despite what their lawyers say – are doing the right thing. This is a small world, and treating losing vendors professionally is just the right thing to do. It will also make them better when next they respond to the ‘customer’s’ RFP.
It is also a recognition of the work invested by all vendors, not just the winner. It provides the losing vendor with valuable input and knowledge, and delivers at least some return on all that effort.
What does this mean for you?
Do unto others.
Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda