How to Respond to an RFP (and When to Decline)
MyProposer Team 7 min read
The short answer: a large share of RFPs are written with a preferred supplier already in mind, and the rest are won on compliance rather than creativity. Deciding whether to answer is the highest-leverage thing you do — a thoughtful no costs nothing, and a rushed yes costs a week.
First: should you bid at all?
Signals it is already decided:
- The requirements describe a specific product’s feature list almost word for word.
- The deadline is short and the scope is large.
- You have had no prior contact with the issuer.
- Questions must be submitted in writing and answers are shared with all bidders — useful, but it tells you relationships are not the deciding factor.
Signals it is genuinely open: a briefing call, a named contact who will talk to you, a scoring rubric published up front, and a scope written in outcomes rather than features.
If you bid, answer the question that was asked
RFPs are usually scored against a rubric by someone who did not write the brief. That has consequences:
- Mirror their numbering. If section 4.2 asks about accessibility, your section 4.2 answers accessibility. Scorers should not have to hunt.
- Answer first, elaborate second. Lead each response with the direct answer, then the detail.
- Do not skip questions you answer weakly. A blank scores zero; an honest partial answer scores something.
- Follow the submission format exactly. Wrong file type or over the page limit gets you disqualified before anyone reads a word.
Where you actually win
On the sections with the most points and the least prescription — usually approach, risk and team. Compliance sections are table stakes; everyone scores well. Put your effort where the scoring spread is widest.
Pricing an RFP response
Do not discount to win a competitive tender you did not shape. If price is the only lever you have, you are bidding on a job someone else designed. Price it properly and let it go if it goes.
How to decline well
Reply, briefly, saying you are not bidding and why in one line — capacity, fit, or timing. Offer one genuinely useful thing: a name, a caution about the timeline, a question they should ask other bidders. Issuers remember the supplier who was straight with them, and RFPs come round again.
Related reading
Doing this without the blank page
MyProposer drafts the structure above from rough notes, then carries the accepted version through to a quote and an invoice on the same record. Free plan, $0, no card required. See the plans or start free.
