SEMINAR: How To
Create A Request For Proposal (RFP)
Announcement Outline Schedule List of Customers Terms Register
Course Outline for
a 2-Day Course
Why a Request for Proposal is
Created
- Buyers always have a choice
to buy competitively or not
- To minimize costs or to
maximize profits
- Existing contract is expiring
- It is time for an upgrade
- Service is expanding
- Recently the requirement has
become important
- New conditions are imposed
- Technological changes
- Other considerations
The RFP as Part of a Complete
Process
- Commonly used terms for
procurement documents
- Request for Bid, Tender
- Request for Quotation
- Request for Information
- Invitation to Negotiate
- Invitation for Oral
Presentation
- Expression of Interest,
Letter of Intent
- Request for Pre-Qualifying
Information
- Request for Proposal
- Unsolicited Proposals
Aiming for a Fair and Open
Process
- All buyers require a
purchasing process
- How governments implement
guidelines
How Terms and Conditions are
Viewed
- Aiming for predictable
behavior
- End user attitudes about
Terms and Conditions (T&C)
- Purchasing professional's
attitude about T&C
- Government attitude about
T&C
- Vendor's view of the buyer's
T&C
- Current situation
- A productive attitude about
Terms and Conditions
- Structuring Terms and
Conditions in RFP's to optimize the value of proposals
External Identification of RFP's
- Choosing a descriptive title
for the RFP
- Organization issuing the RFP
- RFP identification number
- Date the RFP is issued
Terms and Conditions
- Terminology used in the
document
- Basic privileges of the buyer
- Cost of proposal preparation
- Right to amend or re-issue the
RFP
- How to obtain a copy
- The requirement for a deposit
or bid bond to receive a copy
- Multiple proposals
- Where this document fits in
the process
- Synopsis of the Request for
Proposal
- Budget guidelines
- Proposal validity period
- Contracting process
- Limiting the time allowed to
negotiate a contract
- Reserving the right to extend
a contract
- Notification of intent to
submit proposal
- Deadline for questions
- Proposal submission location
and deadline
- Contact persons
- Vendor conference
- How proposal are to be
submitted
- Language of proposal
- Size of proposals
- Structure of proposals
- Laws of jurisdiction
- Requirement for security
clearance
- Applicable taxes
- Restrictions on advertising
- Former employees of buyer
organization
- Vendor presentations
- Confidentiality
- Vendors in litigation with
buyer
- Previously convicted vendors
- Vendors blacklisted due to
past performance
- Buyer-vendor relationship
- Indemnity
- Intellectual property
- Mergers and spin-offs
- Selection is final
- Conflict of interest
- Notification of vendors
- Notification of back-up
vendors
- Ownership of vendor
- Requirement for vendor
pre-qualification
- Sub-contracting
- Requirement for an Executive
Summary
- Requirement for the signature
of a responsible person
- Requirement to be notified of
a possible labor stoppage
- Insurance requirements
- Protection of workers
- Errors in a vendor's proposal
- Schedule of events
Human Resource Requirements in
the RFP Creation Process
- The RFP writing team and how
the process gets started
- The proposal evaluation team
Choosing a Strategy for the RFP
- RFP's do have strategies
- Product or
Straight-Replacement Strategy
- Process-Replacement Strategy
- Objectives or
Resulted-Oriented Strategy
- Problem-to-Solve Strategy
- View of the strategy at
different levels of an organization
- View of the strategy at
different times
- When the RFP presents more
than one strategy
The All-Important Selection
Criteria
- How much information to
provide to vendors about selection criteria
- Aiming for selection criteria
that produce acceptable results
- What to include in the
selection criteria
- Assigning an Importance Index
to each characteristic
- Grading process
- Grading system for for
characteristics or attributes
- Completing the evaluation
chart
- Determining the weight
factors for each class
- The selection criteria and
the buyer's strategy
Sharing Information with Vendors
- Help vendors help you
- Product dependencies
- Procedural issues
- The human element
- Political considerations
- Range of expenditure
Compulsory Requirements
- What are compulsory
requirements
- Sources of compulsory
requirements
- Types of compulsory
requirements
- Nature of compulsory
requirements
- The value of compulsory
requirements in the selection process
Desirable Requirements
- The role of the desirable
requirements in the selection process
- Understanding why desirable
requirements are desirable
- Using desirable requirements
to promote excellence in proposals
- Vendor costs and buyer's
desirable requirements
Cost Considerations
- Money is always important
- Lowest cost proposals
- The two-envelope system
- Reasonably prices proposals
- Some popular approaches to
balance Quality versus Savings
- Unclear, vague, or missing
financial criteria
- Short-term versus long-term
costs
- Uncertainty within buyer
organization
Buyer-Vendor Communication
- Establishing contact with a
reasonable number of vendors
- Buyer-vendor relationship
during the creation of the RFP
- While proposals are being
prepared
- While proposals are being
evaluated
- Upon selection of the
winning proposal
- During contract negotiations
- While the job is being
performed
A Methodology to Put it all
Together in an RFP
- Structure of Vendor Proposals
- Structuring information
- Organization of Chapters 1,2,
and 3
- Organization of Chapter 4:
The Scope of Work
- Organization of Chapter 5:
Vendor Qualification
- Organization of Chapter 6:
Vendor Methodology
- Organization of Chapter 7:
Cost Proposal Guidelines
- Organization of Chapter 8:
Selection Criteria
What is a Statement of Work (SOW)
- How the SOW got started
- How it is being used and
abused
- The different stages of the
SOW
- The relationship of the SOW
to other documents
What goes into the Statement of
Work
- Factors that determine
contents of the SOW
- The Scope of Work, Terms of
Reference
- Standards, quality, quantity
- Schedules
- Processes
- Cost issues, Remedy clauses
- Terms for acceptance
- Vendor methodology, project
control mechanism
- Risks associated with the
contents of a SOW
Risks and Consequences of Failure
- There is no undertaking
without risk
- Living with risk
- Honest and open recognition
of risk
- Methods of minimizing risk
Scope of Work, or Terms of
Reference
- Starting point
- Finished product (or service)
- Deliverables at intermediate
stages
- Requirements
- Specifications
The Work Schedule
- Start and finish times
- Major milestones
- Partial completion
requirements
- Time estimates for units of
work
- Working with a Pert Chart and
the Critical Path
Process-Related Issues
- Do they matter?
- Processes and the selection
criteria
Standards and Quality
- Purchase of goods
- Purchase of services
- Purchase of construction
services
Further Cost and Price Issues
- Providing hints for
acceptable cost
- Styles of costing
- Benefits-Driven Procurement
- Bundled and unbundled
pricing
- Minimum, operational,
expanded costs
- The cost of risk management
Terms for Acceptance
- How it develops into a
problem
- Identifiable elements
- Follow-up activities
Vendor Methodology
- The time to think about
project management
- Implement the project
management system fully
- Project team membership
- Control and operation of
project team
- Responsibilities of team
- Conflict resolution
mechanism
- Documentation of
project-related activities
- Past performance
requirements
- Reference checking
Using Risks to Evaluate Proposals
- The SOW as a proposal
evaluation tool
- Distinguishing between
acceptable and unacceptable offers
|
