According to Tom Searcy, founder of the sales consultancy Hunt Big Sales and author of RFPs Suck! (Channel V Books, 2009), most RFPs could be written much better. His advice: “Be very specific in your questions on the vendor’s experience in relevant fields, their available resources and what makes them different from other vendors.” Here’s 10 questions to avoid using, as compiled by Searcy:
1. Detail your company’s history. Do not exceed 100 words.
2. Show how your expenditures relate to your stated objectives with regard to the recent change in Policy 534A governing travel. Policy 534A is pending and not available at this time.
3. List all board members for the past 10 years, alive or deceased. Give current home addresses and phone numbers.
4. Estimate the ages of your expected audience members. Give accurate numbers.
5. (From a mandated online application) Be certain your manuscript is neat and does not contain typos, white-outs, or crossed-out words.
6. Using New York City as your conceptual base, list the characteristics of the population. Be specific.
7. If you were a member of the review team, how would you rate your proposal? Poor, fair, good, above average, or excellent?
8. In reference to the above-named indicators, are your competitors greatly influenced by sex? Could they be? Be specific.
9. We realize that the possible fluctuations in this scenario are infinite: name them.
10. Accuracy is a vital element of this proposal. To aid in our review, list all errors made with accompanying page numbers.