Request for Proposal

Request for Proposal

A request for proposal (RFP) is a document that offers details about a project. It also solicits bids from contractors who will assist in the completion of the project. RFP guides bidders on how to prepare proposals. The majority of RFP’s are submitted to the government who choose the lowest bid to make their competition with the private sector fair. When writing a Winning Executive Summary, one should consider being relevant to the audience, back up your claims, know your differentiators, follow the proper instructions, and use simple language. It should also be noted that the way a company responds to an RFP summary will influence your organization potential to win.

Discussed are the ways to write an effective RFP Executive summary. Firstly, remember the issuer, the person reading the executive summary will be the one to decide whether you are the solution to their problem. Secondly, state the criteria upfront. Your buyer wants the requests to be accommodated, so avoid deviations from the list of requests. Thirdly, high-level ideas should be kept. Due to inadequate space, skip a lot of steps and details and get to the point. Fourthly, portray your solution as the best fit. Undoubtedly describe why your product or service is of the best fit. Lastly, review the content thoroughly. Do not go in alone involve the sales manager, the marketing team that will provide you with a fit summary. Below is an example of an Executive Summary that is divided into four sections. The first paragraph should consist of what your company does. The second paragraph entails how your solution will benefit the market. The third paragraph should say who you are, and the fourth paragraph should define how your solution will help them.

A procurement statement of work should be clear, brief and thorough. A procurement statement of work ought to be able to describe the activities that the seller is obligated to complete. These events comprise of; reports, communication and meetings. There are different types of procurement statements of Work Functional, which conveys the end purpose of the final results and performance, which explains what the end product should be able to achieve. Design procurement statement of work is commonly used in purchasing, performance and functional procurement of work. Functional and performance procurement of work is mostly used in regions that information technology, information systems, development and research. After the contract type is selected, the procurement statement of work is made. Once this has been done, a procurement document is put together by the buyer, and it describes the needs of the seller. Request for proposal is an example of a procurement document.

To obtain high-quality responses, standardization of every RFP to include the following five key components. First, the RFP would create instructions. The bidder should be able to obtain basic instructions from the document. Second, the need should be presented clearly in the RFP. It should offer a brief project overview stating the business case for the project. Third, the project requirements should be noted in the RFP. The document should indicate the technical specifications and requirements of the project. Fourth, the terms and conditions of the project should be listed in the RFP and a consent box provided. These terms and conditions should cover payment requirements, regulatory requirements, and delivery requirements. Finally, the RFP should declare prospects that should include the response submission requirements.  To meet the selection criteria for selecting a winner proposal, the standards for evaluation are divided into three constituents; criteria, degree and priority.

In the evaluation criteria, the following aspects are considered; physical requirements, terms and conditions, pricing, delivery and installation, skills and abilities, warranties, intangibilities and references. Using a standardized scoring system, the RFP’s are evaluated, and points are allocated to each criteria element according to the degree to which the proposed solution addresses the requirements. It is demonstrated as below; 1 point does not meet, 2 points partially meets, 3 points meets with moderate gaps, 4 points meets with minor gaps, and 5 points fully meet the requirements. Furthermore, priority evaluation is also made. This is referred to as the priority ranking. Priority ranking is essential as some elements carry more weight than others. They are, therefore enabling you to identify the areas where compromise can be made. This can be further illustrated as; low priority, minimal compromise is allowed, moderate priority, the moderate compromise allowed, and high priority, there is no compromise allowed.

Businesses should be well aware of the contracts available within the government-contacting sphere. There are two types of contracts that businesses will come across; Fixed price and cost reimbursable. Fixed price type involves the acquisition of merchandises with renowned specifications and requests and in a situation where a fair and reasonable fixed price can be generated from access to fair competition. The most common contract type is a fixed price. When the costs are more than what was agreed upon, the seller will be the bearer of additional costs. Fixed price type of contract, the buyer, has the least cost risk degree. Therefore the seller is as expected concerned about the requirements provided in the Procurement Statement of Work. This contract type is inappropriate in the scenario where the parties do not have past experiences or enough expertise to formulate a procurement statement of work that meets the accounting records. In some situations where companies do not have the technical knowledge about the tasks to be done, they may end up quoting a fixed price to the sellers which may lead to; Forcing the seller to accept the high prices, Clever sellers may increase their profits by merely cutting the scope of work and claiming the work the wants requires change as it is off the agreement, the seller is required to add the amount of finance to be able to recuperate their risks causing the buyer even to pay more than it was agreed earlier. The fixed price is further divided into; Fixed price incentive fee, fixed price economic adjustment and free price award fee. The cost reimburses contract is less common. The final price in this contract is decided late in the project either at some point during the realization of the processor when the work is completed. They are mostly recommended for companies that are starting because they are exposed to less risk in their part. This is because they can legally stop work once the contract has been paid. Cost reimbursement contracts are divided into the following types; cost-plus-fixed-fee contracts, cost contracts, cost-sharing contracts cost plus-award fee and cost-plus-incentive-fee. Any organization needs to know the various types of contracts available to ensure that they understand how the payment will take place and what form will the format take.