It happens to most professional services firms, just as you are busy completing the last-minute client work and trying to enjoy the party season, some of your clients and prospects issue an RFP. They send it before they go on holiday, with a deadline of early or mid-January for responses. Which creates problems for those in charge of managing a bid response. Just how do you prepare a successful bid response when your team is on holiday?
The simple answer is it requires a lot more planning and collation of material ahead of the RFP being issued, and then some good project management - particularly of those vital internal subject matter experts who may be difficult or nigh-on impossible to reach before the submission date. However, planning and updating your core bid library now and putting a clear project delivery plan in place, will help you to prepare a successful bid response when your team is on holiday. Below are the main things you need to do to prepare.
The 8 essentials to prepare a successful bid response when your team is on holiday
Track potential RFP opportunities
I hope that you are doing this already, whether in your CRM system, on a spreadsheet or another tool like our key client tracker, whatever you are using tracking potential opportunities is essential. You can't plan for upcoming RFPs if you don't know they are coming.
Pay attention to those with anticipated dates before and after the holidays, sometimes clients like to surprise you and bring RFPs forward. Not all surprises are nice ones, even at this time of year! In any case, if they are just after the break, you'll need to get ahead of the game as people slowly filter back into work.
Prioritize the RFPs
If you have limited resources, you need to consider which RFPs you have the greatest chance of success with, which ones you will be bidding for and if there are any you need to decline the offer of responding to. If you need help making these decisions this bid/no bid tool, will help. If you are going to decline an RFP, it is important to get your messaging right when going back to the issuer. This article provides three clear ways of how to say no to an RFP, without annoying your client.
For those you are responding to, have a clear priority of importance, so that those responsible for responding and leading the responses to these RFPs can prioritize their time accordingly.
List and plan your key internal contributors
If you think it is likely you will need some input for your bid responses after the RFP is issued from key internal people, have a list of who they are and when they are available. Understandably, many people use their time off to travel, and from bitter experience - trying to get information from people in the middle of the ocean on cruises or trekking in remote areas isn't easy.
Whilst people don't want to work while on leave, they will do so if it is important and necessary for them. Agreeing on the days they can be contacted and can work is vital. It makes it easier and less stressful all-round.
Create and share your bid response delivery plan
These don't need to be complicated GANNT charts and reams of diagrams etc. Short and simple bullet points can suffice. It is really for the team, not you. If you need it or it helps you to have a more detailed task breakdown to guide your response, then do so.
However, the team needs to know when they will be needed and what for, as well as the days/times when they need to either contribute or review and provide edits. The tighter and more robust this is the greater your chance of being able to prepare a successful bid response when your team is on holiday.
Update all bios/resumes immediately
As soon as you know who your key people are, make sure you begin the process of updating all the bios you think you will need. A common mistake here is that the senior people are updated and then the wider team, the doers in the project / transaction / matter are forgotten or ignored. Then it becomes hard to track these people down when they are also enjoying a well-earned break.
The key advice here is to create more bios than you think you will need. Having too much information ready to go is way better than having too little. You can also share these updates if relevant with your marketing team or those responsible for the website and get these updated at the same time.
Bonus tip: Ask your team to also add any key experiences to their LinkedIn bios. Increasingly RFP evaluation teams are cross-referencing experiences submitted with LinkedIn profiles.
Locate and update all potential case studies
If you know what type of work you are bidding for, you should be able to identify all potential case studies and start preparing them. Make sure they are updated and you have all the information that you are usually asked for, ready to go.
Don't forget to include ongoing client work that while not completed yet may be highly relevant. Some RFPs allow for these to be included, and even if they are not allowed in the case studies section, the information could be useful elsewhere in your response.
Reach out to any external resources you might need ahead of time
Us consultants think we're entitled to a holiday as well! Outrageous I know. However, many of us are as flexible as you are with client demands and so can also book in time to assist with your bid responses.
If you think you may need help, with writing, designing or with any other aspects of your response from an external consultant or agency, let them know early, that way you can budget more efficiently and agree when resources can be made available to you.
In my experience, having a cut-off date of when you will confirm if a consultant is needed and sticking to it, maintains a great working relationship.
Share where all the information is stored with all people
I once picked up a bid response when I was the 'on call' cover in the holiday season. It took me ages to find all the relevant information, which while well filed once I found it, was not where the usual bid response information was kept. It made for a highly frustrating and longer than necessary time working in a coffee shop alone, while my family enjoyed their holiday without me.
Include links to files etc in your bid response plans and if someone does have to pick up the bid response it is a lot easier.
The main essential to prepare a successful bid response when your team is on holiday
In many ways, it is quite simple, any information or parts of the response you can write or at least have available will make the whole process smoother. I've seen people even put together an outline response before the RFP is issued before. If you know the client well and have insights as to what they are looking for, then this can be done.
The simple message is to plan and prepare as much as you can so that if people do need to break their holidays at all, it is for a very focused and necessary reason.
