EP087: The 4x4 Framework for RFP Success, Part 3—Content
Now that you know how to build an effective RFP strategy and establish efficient processes, it’s time to tackle the meat and potatoes of the proposal response—CONTENT.
So, what questions should you be asking as you write the proposal itself?
On this episode of The RFP Success Show, I cover the four key guidelines for creating proposal content, reminding you to address the question at hand and position the content around your solution.
I explain how to write to the evaluation criteria, focusing your time and resources on the areas of the RFP that get the highest scores.
Listen in for insight on making your proposal absorbable and get my top strategies for building trust through RFP content.
Key Takeaways
The 4 elements of the RFP Success Company’s 4x4 framework
1. Strategy
2. Process
3. Content
4. People
The top 4 guidelines for creating winning RFP content
1. Address the question at hand
2. Position your content around your solution
3. Pay attention to the evaluation criteria
4. Make your content absorbable
What role strategy plays in writing content to a potential client’s real pain points
The value in focusing your resources on the areas of the RFP that get the highest scores
Why it’s crucial to use terminology from the evaluation criteria
How readability makes your content absorbable
How to build trust through RFP content with stories and proof
The challenge of making a highly technical RFP absorbable
Resources
RFP Success Show EP87 Transcription
You're listening to the RFP Success Show with eight time author, speaker, and CEO of the RFP Success Company, Lisa Rehurek. Tune in each episode to learn what today's capture and RFP teams are doing to increase their win percentages by up to 20, 30 and even 50%. And meet the industry trailblazers better getting it right. Let's get started.
(00:24):
Hello everybody. This is Lisa Rehurek, founder and CEO of the RFP Success Company. And I am your host here at the RFP Success show. So we are onto episode number three of this series around the RFP Success Company's four by four framework. And this four by four framework was set up based on our experience, working with companies in varying industries of all sizes. And we said, "Look, it is so heartbreaking to us when we help a company bid on something and they lose". And in the early days of the company, we're a new company we're taking anything and everything that came across our plate, but we soon started realizing that, "Hey, there is a method to the madness for companies that are succeeding and doing well." And we started to be able to identify that. And from that we developed this framework and this framework was not developed just to be like, oh hey, here's a process.
(01:20):
It was developed again, based on our experience and seeing what works and doesn't work. And we know that companies that have these elements of this framework running smoothly, they're the ones that are in the high percentages of their win rates, not in the low percentages. So this is not something to be taken lightly. These are all pieces of the puzzle that have to be there in order for you to have a consistent, successful practice in responding to RFPs. So episode number one was all about strategy and all about that foundation that you have to have. And to quote my dad who quoted somebody else that we don't know who it was, "If you don't get the foundation right, it's going to follow you all the way to the roof." So that foundational element hugely important. Last episode, we moved into process and talking about the four processes that are hugely important and signs that you have some bad processes or you're missing a process.
(02:16):
So that was last week. If you didn't catch that, make sure you go back and listen. Today we're talking about contents. All right, so now you've got the strategy set, you know that you're bidding on something that you should be bidding on, the processes all worked out. Now, how do you make sure you get your message across? So again, because this is four by four framework, we're on number three and we've got four elements underneath content, four questions, if you will. So the first one is, are you addressing the question at hand? That sounds like a dumb question. And if you've been following me at all, you know that this is one of my hot topics is answer the dang question. Oh my gosh, we get it all the time when we're doing RFP audits and we're looking at past proposals for our clients, we see it all time where they just don't answer the question and it's maddening because I understand wholeheartedly how that can happen, but it's also maddening because you're missing a perfect opportunity.
(03:11):
So make sure that you're addressing the question at hand. Don't get too fancy, answer the question that they have asked you. It's very important. So that's kind of the number one basic thing to be paying attention to. Are you answering the question the way that they asked it? Number two, are you positioning your content around your solution? So remember in the first episode of the series, I said to you, I'm going to come back to strategy over and over and over. Well, I'm doing it again. So I'm coming back to strategy because you can't position your content around your solution if you don't really understand the solution. And I'm telling you now, you can't fully understand it just by reading the RFP. You've got to have a better understanding of what's going on with them. So you've got to have a relationship, you should have been doing research on them, maybe having conversations with them so that you can understand what their real pain point is because that's how your solution is going to play in.
(04:12):
So number two here in the content is make sure you're positioning your content around your solution. It is not about you, it feels like it is because that's the way that they're asking the questions, right? They're asking the questions in a way that makes you feel like you need to answer all about you, but it isn't about you. You've got to focus on why it's important to them. What is in it for them and that again is another reason why you've got to have that strategy because you've got to know why they need something, why they have this RFP out, and when you know that, oh, it's beautiful because you can speak to it so much better. So again, position your content around your solution. Number three, are you paying attention to the evaluation criteria when you write. Now, not all RFPs are going to have good evaluation criteria, but it's important that you know if they do or don't. If they've got good evaluation criteria, you better be writing to it.
(05:11):
What do I mean by good evaluation criteria? I mean that they have kind of laid out where the biggest points are going to go. And that's where a couple of things, one, you want to answer all their questions and you want to write to all the requirements, but if you're paying attention to the evaluation criteria, you know that you need to put your best resources or your most amount of time into those areas to get the highest scores. The other reason that it's important to focus on the evaluation criteria is use their terminology because for the reviewer to be able to map back to something, it really helps that if you're talking about customers and you're talking about members or clients, it's just this little tiny nuance of disconnect that you can derail that quickly and you can lose them that quickly. So you really, really, really want to make sure that you're using their terminology and I pull it mostly from the evaluation criteria. Of course you should pull it from the statement of work as well, but really focus on the evaluation criteria as well.
(06:11):
There's so much more behind the failed RFP than just lost revenue. Employee engagement decreases with each loss and a Gallup survey suggests that it cost up to 10 grand in salary per employee with 15% lower profits. If you're ready to increase your win rate consistently and put our winning and repeatable strategies in place, schedule your consultation now at bit.ly/chatrfp. That's bitly, B-I-T . L-Y/chatrfp.
(06:37):
And then last but not least, is you want to make your content absorbable. And what I mean by that is you want to make sure that they don't just read it and they don't just understand it, but they absorb it, meaning that they really hear what you're saying. And that is the ultimate goal. We want them to hear what we're saying. So there's a whole bunch of things that we could go into here. And I had an episode, probably four episodes, three or four episodes ago with Samantha Enslin. I mean, she's really great at this topic. So if you haven't listened to that episode, make sure you go back and listen to it. But these are things like break out processes so that it's easy for them to read. And I always tell people for you, it's really easier, it doesn't feel like a process. But for them, if you write out step one, literally write out step one, and then show the steps.
(07:31):
Step two, show the step. It just helps guide them. It's like you're taking them by the hand and walking them through your proposal. And that's what you want them to feel as they're reading. You are trying to build trust in this, and so what can you do to tell stories and provide proof that what you're saying is true? That what you're promising to them, you will fulfill? Because that's one of the biggest fears with reviewers and evaluators is hiring somebody that is not going to come through. So what are you going to do to build the trust that you are going to deliver on what you say? And it's not enough to just say it. So you've got to build those stories and build the proof so that they understand. You've probably heard this before, words tell emotions sell. So the more emotion you can get into it, again, driving towards that trust, hugely important.
(08:30):
Write to a lower grade level. Sixth grade, eighth grade is generally where you need to sit. Again, if you go back to that episode where I talked to Samantha Enslin, we talked about that, and she does a really great job of breaking down what that looks like. And I think somewhere in there also is information around the word. In Microsoft Word, there is a way to add that function and you can just Google it, it's really simple. And then there's a functionality there that's going to tell you what your grade level is. So use that functionality. Break up paragraphs so it doesn't feel so hard and heavy to read. So these are all things that are going to help make it more absorbable. I'm going to tell you right now that the more technical your proposal, is the harder it is to make it absorbable.
(09:15):
So you're going to have to work even harder. Your technical writers are not trained or probably skilled at writing for persuasion, they're going to write the technical specs and you're going to have to have somebody in your organization make sure that that is then turned into something that somebody that isn't as technical can read, understand and then of course, absorb. So under content, again, I want to recap these four, address the question at hand, position your content around your solution, pay attention to the evaluation criteria in your writing and make it absorbable. So these are the four areas under contents. Next episode, we're going to be talking about people and your team. So we've already tackled strategy process content, now we're going to go into the last episode for this series around people. Thanks for being here. Again, I have been your host Lisa Rehurek, founder and CEO of the RFP Success Company.
(10:12):
This has been their episode of RFP Success show with Lisa Rehurek, eight time author, speaker, and CEO of the RFP Success Company. Thank you for joining us. If you have feedback on today's episode, email us at podcast@rfpsuccess.com. No matter your business size, industry, if you have an in-house RFP team or need outside support, RFP Success Company helps increase RFP win ratios by 10, 20, and even 50%. Learn more at therfpsuccesscompany.com.