RFPs
to getting the RFP
Keep your sacred cows sacred.
You’re the one who knows what your organization will need from your RMC in the next 3-5 years: Clearer reporting and analytics, smarter consultative advice, more robust technology, better relationship chemistry, anything. Make your list; then be upfront and insistent on your must-haves, must-dos, and must-bes.
Ask fewer but shrewder questions.
A longer RFP isn’t necessarily better than a shorter one. Don’t punish yourself with re-reading the same boilerplate answers from every prospective RMC. Edit your questions to those that will reveal how your next partner will solve your most daunting challenges, ease chronic pain, and deliver sustainable cost efficiencies — and how they will do so specifically.
Be picky about inviting people to your party.
You have many options among prospective RMCs, but only a few will prove a good fit. Pre-select your invitees to limit the confusion and overlap (you’ll save time and hassle in your review). And make on-site visits to each of your finalists to see culture and chemistry first-hand (you’ll spare yourself the frustration of a partner that looks great on paper but doesn’t mesh with your team).
Sharing more means getting more.
Masking the details of your needs and numbers will force bidders to make assumptions — and you’ll be left to compare apples with orangutans. Your data, activity, scope, policies, objectives, and expectations: Define and detail all of it. Then have your invitees demonstrate, specifically, how they’ll support you within those guardrails.
