Evaluating RFP Software Through a Team Bid Exercise

Say you and someone else are working on a bid. You've drafted a section and they've left a few comments. You make the changes, send it back and then need to check something from the earlier version.

That's something I'd try when looking at RFP software. Get two people involved and see how it handles the back and forth.

You can make up the request and response for the exercise. Imagine you're putting together an office maintenance proposal with three short sections: the service, the people doing the work and relevant experience.

Before anyone starts writing, talk through whether you'd take the bid on. Can your team deliver what's being asked? Is someone available to do the work if you win? What do you still need to find out? Keep those answers with the bid so everyone can see why you're pursuing it.

Then give one person a section to write and the other a section to review. Add a submission deadline and an earlier date for the review, including the time zone.

Ask the second person to find their assignment. If deadline reminders are part of what you need, check that they actually receive one.

Once there's a draft, leave a comment that calls for a specific change. Make the revision, hand it back and try finding the earlier wording. Both people should be able to tell which version they're working on and what still needs attention.

I'd try reusing a paragraph as well. Write a few sentences for a different fictional customer, then adapt them for this bid. Give them to the reviewer and see whether they can spot anything you've missed. You'll still need people checking that the information fits the proposal.

When you're done, export the document and open it in the application your team normally uses. Have a look at the headings, tables and page breaks. Check any page or word limits you set for the exercise. If you submit through a tender portal, check its requirements separately.

Then talk about how it went. What was easy to find? Where did someone need help? What needs setting up before your team can use it?

Use the way you already work as your point of comparison. The useful result is knowing whether the software helps with the things your team needs to do.

SilverLot RFP supports deadline tracking, section assignments, comments, draft versions and Word/PDF exports. If you're considering it, this gives you a few concrete things to try.

Get in touch and let us know how your team currently writes and reviews bids.

SilverLot is from BenchLab Solutions.

Further reading: APMP's Winning Business Ecosystem.