Don't Just Read the RFP; Study It, then Follow It - Part One
By Dan Safford

Reading the customer's RFP is important. Well, you might say, of course you should read the RFP; who doesn't know that? Yet, I'm always surprised at how often the RFP is merely skimmed, or seriously mis-read.

So I'm here to tell you that Rule Number One of proposal writing is that the customer's solicitation for proposals is The Bible. Whatever the client says he wants done, you do it. If the client has specified a way to do it, then follow his directions. To the letter.

If you don't, you may miss a requirement or two. And that gives the evaluator an excuse to eliminate you from the competition. You need to treat everything in the RFP as important--even the sections that seem like boilerplated gobbledy-gook.

But there's another reason to read the solicitation closely: The client's hidden concerns are often nestled in that mass of words, and you can glean important bits of information from them. If you read between the lines , you may discover a nugget or two that you didn't know about before.

Here's a brief rundown of the sections that can appear in the solicitation, and what you should be looking for as you read them.

Background/Description of the Project. This section may also be called "Introduction" but the purpose is the same: the client is giving you what he thinks is important information about the project you are about to propose on. Don't just skim over this section, sometimes a close reading yields clues to concerns the client has about the project that you weren't aware of. Read this section carefully, then go back and read between the lines.

Proposal Preparation Instructions. This section is called by many different names-"Proposal Content", "Instructions to Offerors", "Preparation Requirements"-and is sometimes tucked away as a sub-section in a more general requirements section. But whatever it's called, it is the single most important section of the solicitation.

This is where you will find any directions the client has for how you should format (outline) the proposal, if there is a page limitation, what kind of paper you should use (many agencies require recycled paper), if you should use one side or two sides, what the type face should be, what should appear on each page, how many copies must be submitted, etc.

What makes this section so important is that if you fail to follow any of the instructions specifically called out, you are giving the client a legitimate reason to eliminate you from the competition.

Evaluation Criteria. This is the second most important section in the proposal. The evaluation criteria comprise the yardstick by which the proposals are scored and compared. If you do not meet the minimum requirements called out in the evaluation criteria, it does not matter how well the proposal is written, how many client benefits you have called out, or how compelling and persuasive you sections are. It can be-and often will be-eliminated because it is not compliant with the solicitation requirements.

If the client has specified a value for each criterion, that gives you a clue as to its importance to the client. If no values exist, what has the client listed first? We usually list the most important things first; the client is no different.

Next issue, we'll take a look at other sections and what to keep an eye out for.