If your company offers innovative IT products or services, there’s a lucrative ecosystem of technology Requests for Proposal (RFPs) available to help you expand at cyberspeed. In the federal procurement space alone, $58.4 billion of the government’s 2022 IT budget is targeted to civilian programs.
Beyond the public sector, private companies and non-profit groups across all industries are also seeking external digital support. These organizations turn to the proposal process in droves to find the right partners. At The Bid Lab, we regularly work with clients offering technology-enabled products. Based on our extensive experience, we’ve mapped out what you need to know to win more contracts with technology bids.
Extra Bits: Technology Requests for Proposal typically include more technical elements than those issued in other industries, often inserting mandatory specifications. For example, as part of your proposal you may be asked to respond to questions such as:
Your company may offer these exact capabilities. However, crafting a compliant and competitive IT bid requires the right balance of technical explanation and convincing delivery to make your proposal stand out.
To tap into the thousands of potentially game-changing RFPs for technology services available to grow your business, you need to know where to look. And just as importantly, you must develop a consistent process that keeps the tech bid opportunities flowing.
Following are tips to help you do just that.
Extra Bits: As the experts at The Bid Lab know, you can even use technology to make your own information technology bid process more efficient! Following are some user-friendly ideas to easily build into your tech RFP response framework.
Choose electronic submission: This option is cost-effective and helps avoid the common headaches associated with mail-in submissions.
Providing comprehensive technical descriptions of your firm’s capacities is mission critical when bidding on technology projects. But, don’t overlook the importance of more accessible responses as well. Odds are, some of the reviewers assessing your IT bid will not be fully versed in your area of expertise. That’s why they’re seeking outside support to begin with!
For example, many RFPs for technology services request an executive summary section. This is a great place to add your business’s layperson elevator pitch. Identify clear and approachable language that conveys your point without relying on industry jargon. Use these more digestible descriptions to focus on strengths like customer service, a proven track record of success and a history of long-term client partnerships. That way, your proposal will impress with its technical knowledge while simultaneously demonstrating your ability to make the process simpler, and more pleasant, for your prospective client.
Extra Bits: To make sure you’re well-positioned when a great information technology RPP opportunity arises, create proposal templates to maximize efficiencies during your response process. In addition to the versioned company descriptions above, you can also develop the following content elements specific to your business ahead of time:
Technology RFPs in particular have a very specific structure, flow, tone and vernacular. For that reason, it’s essential to respond with the precise information bid reviewers request, and in the exact format they want. The procurement team reviewing your proposal will have little patience for confusing layouts, missed requirements and generic responses.
The good news is that once your team (often with the assistance of external specialists, like those at The Bid Lab) better understands the details of the RFP process, you can start to use them to your advantage.
As one example, many RFPs reference a Q&A period. You can use this time to ask strategic questions that can increase your chances of winning the bid. The Q&A component of a tech RFP may be done via email, in person, over the phone or via online meeting during a pre-bid conference. Q&As offer an invaluable opportunity to gain insights about the proposing entity. And, they allow you to create a more personal relationship with your potential client early in the process.
Extra Bits: Knowing how to parse all the minute details in the RFP document itself is no mean feat. Based on our experience creating thousands upon thousands of RFP responses for our clients, we at The Bid Lab can attest to it! Yet doing just that will help you evaluate whether a particular technology RFP is really the right match for your business. Understanding how to uncover all the relevant data in an RFP document can help you:
At The Bid Lab, we’ve found that once a client wins their first IT RFP, the process becomes smoother and additional wins often follow. Your return on investment will depend on the time and effort you’re willing to commit to bidding on a technology project. A great first step is finding the right external partner who can boost the tech bid processing capacity of your own team. With thousands of hours of combined experience, The Bid Lab’s expert Bid Managers can assist with technology RFP responses that allow your business to expand in virtually no time! So, contact us to set up a free consultation. You can also call us at 1-844-4BIDLAB or email us at respond@thebidlab.com to discuss how to plug in to winning technology bid opportunities!
Positivity. Anyone can do the job. Only we do the job with the right attitude, even when deadlines are tight.
Flexibility. Every firm has its own way of doing things. Our RFP writers will work around your people, processes, and schedules.
Reliability. Our team has never missed a deadline, and we don’t plan on starting anytime soon.
Quality. Our 4-eye review process ensures that even the smallest of errors are caught before work is submitted.
Transparency. Have any questions during the process? Call us and we will share the status of your bid at any time.
We are absolutely committed to our clients, and strive to serve as an extension of their teams. We are more than consultants, we are partners. But, don’t just take our word for it. See what our clients have to say below!
”The Bid Lab has proved instrumental in giving us the support we need to go after every solicitation we want. Our software platform RFPs often have a long and detailed list of functionality requirements. We have always wanted to go beyond just confirming we can meet requirements. We needed a partner that can take our technology, and position it with industry best practices around bidding, sales and marketing our product.”
-Pension Technology Group, Boston, MA
”We onboarded The Bid Lab with the understanding we were partnering with an equally talented group of people focused on the bidding process. And, wow! They delivered. I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical they’d be able to understand the technical components of our solution, but their team took the time to truly grasp our solution to present it like their own. They are truly an extension of our team in every sense. ”
-Bruin, New York, NY
“We are so excited to have won a contract for a federal agency — something we just could not have imagined contemplating when we first started bidding! Whenever a new bid opportunity lands on my desk, I am excited for the chance to bid as opposed to that pit in my stomach I used to get! So excited I found these guys and will definitely be bidding with them for years to come!”
– Prekindle, Dallas, TX
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