The Future of RFPs in a Post-COVID World – with David Seibert, Cheryl Smith, Johnna Rogers&Mike Parkinson - EP076 - a podcast by Lisa Rehurek

from 2020-10-09T07:00

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While the COVID era has been a challenge for the RFP industry, we can take advantage of this opportunity to reinvent the way we work, improving our processes and leveraging the tools available to collaborate—whether or not we’re together in the same room. So, what will the RFP process look like in a post-Coronavirus world?

Today, we’re joined by David Seibert, President of The Seibert Group and author of Proposal Best Practices: A Practical Guide to Improving Your Win Rate When Responding to RFPs; Cheryl Smith, Director of Marketing and Proposals at Privia, the industry’s premiere proposal management software platform; Johnna Rogers, Chief Operating Officer for Wake County, North Carolina; and Mike Parkinson, Principal at 24 Hour Company, a graphic design firm that focuses on supporting business development professionals who bid on government and commercial contract work. All four of our panelists also happen to be a part of the upcoming Privia Virtual User Conference on October 15, 2020.

On this episode of The RFP Success Show, David, Cheryl, Johnna and Mike sit down with us to discuss how the RFP industry has evolved in the COVID era, explaining how government purchasing habits have changed and how RFP teams are ‘doing more with less.’ They offer insight around the future of RFPs, describing how organizations are embracing the technology we need to collaborate remotely (and what that means for the RFP process). Listen in for our panelists’ top tips for improving your win rate and find out what evaluators REALLY want to see in an RFP response.

Key Takeaways

How the RFP industry has changed in the Coronavirus era

Johnna’s insight on how government purchasing habits have changed with COVID

How organizations are embracing the technology tools teams need to collaborate remotely

How RFP teams are doing more with less in the last few months

Our panelists’ insight around the future of RFPs

  • Embrace virtual workspace
  • Uptick in orals
  • Reevaluate processes
  • Leverage video (pre- and post-RFP stages)

What evaluators really want to see in an RFP response

  1. Follow basic rules
  2. Images and text
  3. Forward thinking
  4. Answer questions
  5. Add love/empathy
  6. Skimability

Our panelists’ top tips for improving your chances of winning an RFP

  • Use ATB matrix (As is, To be, Barriers) to solve problem
  • Take advantage of opportunity to ask questions
  • Focus on buyer, how you can help them
  • Give SMEs direction re: how to answer questions

Connect with David

The Seibert Group

David on LinkedIn

Email David.Seibert@ProposalBestPractices.com

Connect with Cheryl

Privia

Cheryl on LinkedIn

Email csmith@privia.com

Call (703) 539-0248

Connect with Johnna

Wake County Government

Email johnna.rogers@wakegov.com

Making Time to Breathe

Connect with Mike

24 Hour Company

Billion Dollar Graphics

Mike on Twitter

Mike on LinkedIn

Mike on Facebook

Mike on Instagram

Connect with Lisa

Lisa’s Website

Lisa on Twitter

Lisa on Facebook

Lisa on LinkedIn

The RFP Success Company on YouTube

The RFP Success Community on LinkedIn

Subscribe on iTunes

Email podcast@rfpsuccess.com

Resources

Privia Virtual User Conference

Proposal Best Practices: A Practical Guide to Improving Your Win Rate When Responding to RFPs by David Seibert

CARES Act

Gartner’s Content Collaboration Study

Microsoft Teams

Mike’s Build-a-Graphic Cheat Sheet

Mike’s Interactive Graphic Cheat Sheet

Mike’s Build-a-Graphic PowerPoint Add-In

Mike’s Billion-Dollar Graphics eBook

Mike’s Trainer’s Guide to PowerPoint

The RFP Success Institute

The RFP Success Book by Lisa Rehurek

Schedule an RFP Assistance Inquiry Call

Further episodes of The RFP Success Show

Further podcasts by Lisa Rehurek

Website of Lisa Rehurek