Unsure whether you should create an RFP?
While the RFP process is a great way to find quality vendors at the right price, the traditional process can be time-consuming. And, with manual methods, there’s no guarantee you’ll find the right vendor.
So, should you even bother with competitive bidding?
If you want to find the best vendors (and to reduce operating costs), then yes.
The RFP process doesn’t have to be tedious, limited in scope, or ineffective. Instead, it can be a quick process that gets great results.
Wondering how? Read on to learn common reasons you might think you shouldn’t create an RFP – and why creating an RFP is still a good idea in those situations.
Problem 1: RFPs Take Too Long
One reason you might think you shouldn’t create an RFP is that it takes too long.
Traditional methods for creating a competitive bid request can take hours. You have to come up with a complete set of questions that will get you all the information you need. Then, you need to spend hours or days sourcing vendors to send your request to. Once you’ve found vendors, then you have to spend weeks communicating with them before getting any proposals.
And, after you get proposals, you have to spend even more time sorting through them and comparing what each vendor offers. After the weeks or months it takes to complete the competitive bid process, it hardly seems worth it to do it at all.
However, the competitive bid process doesn’t have to drag on for months – sucking up weeks of your time. The easiest way to make the process fast is with automated bid management software. With its template builder, you can write a request in minutes. And, you can find quality vendors in no time with the vendor database.
Plus, RFP automation software can automate vendor communication. So, you don’t have to spend time chasing down unresponsive vendors. Instead, the software can do it for you. And, RFP automation software can automate the comparison process by automatically generating a side by side table. That way, you can see at a glance which vendor is right for your property.
If you think you shouldn’t create an RFP because it takes too long, RFP automation software can make it quick and easy.
Problem 2: RFPs Have a Narrow Scope
Another reason you might think you shouldn’t create an RFP is they have narrow scopes.
When you create a competitive bid request, you likely put what you need from a vendor and send it out. So, you only get responses from vendors that fit those needs exactly. With this method, there’s little room for vendors to share their expertise. Or, get proposals from a variety of vendors to help you determine what services would be best for your property.
To fix this, you should have broader questions in your competitive bid request. Instead of just yes or no questions, you should ask questions that let vendors share their expertise. But, thinking of these broad questions on your own can be time-consuming and tedious.
An easier way to broaden the scope of the competitive bid process is with RFP automation software. With this software, you can create a request from premade questions – saving you time. And, with the template, you can ask a variety of question styles for must-haves or want-to-haves – which broadens the qualified vendor pool. So, you’ll get a range of responses that allow vendors to share expertise.
If you think RFPs are too precise to account for vendor expertise, RFP automation software can help you broaden the scope of your request – helping you find the right vendor.
Problem 3: RFPs Find Low-Quality Vendors
Along with taking too long and having too narrow of a scope, you might think you shouldn’t create an RFP because you’ll only end up choosing the lowest cost option anyway.
One goal of the competitive bid process is to get the best price on a vendor. But, if your request only asks for the price, you’re going to end up with a vendor who does shoddy work. Or, who doesn’t do the work you need. You could even end up with a vendor who negatively interacts with your tenants – hurting tenant satisfaction.
So, you need to create a request that asks vendors for more than their price. You should ask questions about what work they do, what problems they think they can solve, and more. And, you should thoroughly vet vendors before sending your request for them. But, all of this can take hours or days to do.
Instead, you could use RFP automation software with a trusted vendor database. Consisting of a nationwide network of pre-vetted vendors, the vendor database makes it easy to check out a vendor’s service history, reviews, and more. All within minutes. So, you can find high-quality vendors in no time.
If you think you shouldn’t create an RFP because you’ll find low-quality vendors, you should use RFP automation software with a vendor database to find high-quality vendors at the right price.
Wrapping It Up
Creating an RFP can help you find the best vendors at the best price. However, traditional methods can make a competitive bid process time-consuming. And, it can be hard to learn a vendors’ expertise with overly precise requests. Plus, when you only look for the lowest price, your RFP could find you low-quality vendors.
But, with RFP automation software, the competitive bid process can be quick and easy. And, with a request builder, it’s easy to ask the right questions to learn more about a vendor’s expertise. Plus, with a trusted vendor database, you’ll always find high-quality vendors who do great work.
Looking for bid management software that makes it easy to find great vendors at the best price? Consider using Prism, the modern building operations software platform for CRE. With Prism’s Bid Management module, you can create RFPs from templates, select vendors from a trusted database, automate vendor communication, generate side by side comparisons, and more.
Want to learn more about finding the right vendors for the right price? Check out our eBook on finding the right vendors for your budget.
