How to Write Effective RFP Answers

By Tom Sant
Founder, The Sant Corporation

Customers and consultants issue formal RFPs to obtain a consistent body of information upon which to compare offers. Often the questions they ask are specific to a particular installation or opportunity. Sometimes they're just general questions regarding your capabilities or experience.

The temptation is to "tell" them the answer. That means providing them with factual information in the minimum amount of time. Unfortunately, that won't serve you well in terms of helping you win the business.

Of course, your answers must be clear, factual, and complete. But they should also be as persuasive as possible. Here are some guidelines to help make sure you are "persuading" instead of "telling" in your RFP answers.

1. Eliminate jargon, or find ways to define it before you use it. Remember: Product names are jargon outside the company.

2. Usually, product and service descriptions written in-house are factual, not persuasive. Often they are not client-centered. Critique them carefully before using them.

3. Use the following format whenever possible. (Obviously, this format is not appropriate for answers that are extremely short or that require a simple, factual answer.)

• Acknowledge: Restate in general terms the client's need that is implicit in the question, empathize with the concern the client probably has which lies behind this question, or position the description in terms of a broader principle, such as efficiency, customer satisfaction, etc. You can do this in a sentence or two at the most.
• Persuade: Incorporate a benefit statement into the description as quickly as possible-something that the decision maker cares about. Do this even in RFP sections where the original question only asked "describe how you do something."
• Substantiate: Provide the factual answer next: describe the product or service, outline the steps of the process, provide the details necessary. Do not include every feature-focus on including only those features that matter to the given customer.

Here are two samples, showing different approaches to answering the same question.

Question:
What information appears on the Explanation of Benefits? Can EOB information be customized by the client? Please provide a sample EOB.

Answer #1:
See the enclosed EOB.

Generally all EOB messages are predefined for all clients to meet readability, accuracy, and legal requirements. Limited customization is available, including the addition of logos and personalized remarks in the remarks area.

Answer #2:
It's important for plan members to understand how their benefits were determined. The Explanation of Benefits is an important tool in our overall effort to provide good communications and to avoid confusion or misunderstanding when plan members file a claim.

American Health has designed and written our EOB forms for maximum readability and accuracy. In addition, our forms' layout and content has been developed in part to address certain legal requirements. However, within that framework, we can provide a limited amount of customization, such as adding your logo or providing personalized information in the remarks area of the form.

The enclosed EOB is a sample of what we will provide to your members.

Doesn't the second version sound better?

Tom Sant is internationally recognized as an expert on proposal writing. His book, Persuasive Business Proposals, has been a consistent best seller among business books since 1992 and is coming out with a second edition in January 2004. To see more tips about winning proposals, visit the Sant Corporation’s website, www.santcorp.com.

October 2003