So, you want to win more business and better manage your construction bid proposals? You’re not the first and certainly won’t be the last. Successfully managing your organization’s process for managing request for proposal (RFP) responses is a critical driver for business in construction and many other industries.
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Before we jump too far into the process of managing proposals, let’s look at the basics of an RFP.
Simply put, an RFP, or request for proposal, outlines the requirements for a project. An RFP can range from a two or three page document with minimal requirements to thousands of pages and extensive contractual requirements. Private sector proposals tend to be less onerous, while working for the government will often yield massive RFPs.
In smaller organizations, RFP responses or proposals are typically managed ad-hoc as they may appear infrequently. As organizations grow, they often employ a proposal manager to fully handle responding to RFPs.
Think of a proposal manager as a very focused project manager. They own the proposal process from start to finish, ensuring the response is accurate and delivered on time to the client. Proposal managers have a hectic job, often juggling multiple proposals that are all due to different clients. Large organizations may employ an entire team of proposal managers and writers to handle the volume of RFPs they receive.
After the kickoff meeting is complete and the responsibility matrix has been shared with the team, the RFP lead should begin coordinating the cost portion of the proposal with the estimating team. They should schedule a cost and fee strategy meeting with the estimators assigned to the project. Final approval of cost and fees should be given 24 to 48 hours before the proposal is to be submitted to the client. These details should be provided to the proposal manager as soon as they are ready.
The RFP phase is an essential part of the procurement process that has many steps that occur from RFP receipt to final proposal submission. They include fully understanding the RFP, deciding if you will pursue the specific project, kickoff and strategization meetings, pricing discussions, content generation, data gathering, formal proposal review and finally–submission to the client. If this all goes well, your team may be shortlisted with other general contractors and asked to participate in a formal interview before being awarded the project.
The first step of the RFP process is to thoroughly read the construction document and understand the needs of your future client. Some members on your team may try to skim during this step, potentially missing contractual requirements or providing details to the client in their proposal that was not asked for. This could means the final proposal submitted is not compliant to the specifications in the RFP, which may cause disqualification during the evaluation process–especially if it’s a public sector project.
Start by distributing the RFP document to all your team members who should be part of the decision making process to pursue the project. Make sure everyone reads the entire RFP. A thorough understanding of the project requirements is critical in making informed and strategic decisions about the pursuit.
It’s important to quickly decide if your organization wants to pursue the project. Clients want to understand early on who is going to respond and your internal teams need as much time as possible to properly generate a response to the RFP. Larger teams typically hold what is called a ‘go/no-go’ meeting on a weekly basis where the decision makers of the organization walk through all of the RFPs they have received, deciding if they will pursue them or not. Sometimes it’s important to accelerate this conversation if a client gives a short window for response and there isn’t a go/no-go meeting scheduled soon.
The ‘go/no-go’ meeting is sometimes jokingly referred to as the ‘go go go’ meeting. Don’t fall into the trap of pursuing every proposal that comes your way. It dilutes your team’s resources and if the volume is too high, this will cause the quality of your proposals to slip. Be strategic and selective and only pursue proposals that your company is qualified to undertake. The leadership team should share the decision about pursuing the project with both the client and your proposal team as soon as possible. If you choose not to pursue the project, consider providing the reason to the client.
During this construction meeting, determine who will be your RFP lead (typically the Project Executive responsible for delivering the project should you win it) and also decide which proposal manager will be responsible for the pursuit.
Tip: Teams often receive multiple RFPs from a client each year. Strategically, it may be unwise to decline multiple projects in a row from a client, as they may stop including you in the list of potential contractors to work on their projects. Assuming it’s a ‘go,’ your proposal team will want to know immediately. Turnaround time for a proposal can be as slim as one or two weeks, so every business day is critical in providing the best response possible. Once notified, the proposal manager will then schedule the kickoff meeting for the pursuit.
The kickoff meeting should ideally occur within 24 to 48 hours of receiving the go decision and include the RFP lead plus anyone in the organization who will be part of strategizing how to win the pursuit. Everyone participating should have read the RFP prior to the meeting.
If you are unsure on how to guide your team to kick off the RFP process, download our handy RFP response kickoff meeting checklist.
The meeting should begin with the RFP lead giving an overview of the project. This overview should include details about what’s included in the RFP and any additional information the lead has from working with the client on previous projects. Sometimes RFP leads may have necessary information about a project that is not included in the RFP, so it’s important for the team to evaluate all of this detail to best determine strategy.
During the kickoff meeting it’s important to determine the best win themes to increase your chances of winning the pursuit. Win themes are the concepts that can clearly differentiate you from your competitors. It’s important to know who you’re competing against (if this information is available) so you can evaluate how other teams may choose to respond to the RFP. Some clients will share the list of contractors that the RFP was provided to, so ask the question if given the opportunity. Wrap your win themes into the narrative throughout your proposal for the best results.
It’s important to choose the project team during this meeting if your kickoff team has the authority to do so. Proposals for construction projects typically include resumes, which take a lot of time to prepare. If another group is responsible for selecting your proposed project team, ensure the proposal manager has them decide as soon as possible.
Once you have your win themes down and a project team in place, it’s time to assign responsibilities for the proposal. The proposal manager will run through each key deliverable in the RFP and the group will decide who will be responsible. Clear expectations should be set on turnaround times for each piece of the proposal.
Before the meeting ends, it’s important to see if anyone present has questions for the client. Most RFPs will have a specified date to submit questions by and the client may choose not to answer any received after the cutoff. Questions should include clarifications about the submission process, ambiguity in the formatting of the proposal, details of the project specifications, or anything else that is not clear in the RFP. Be sure to identify any inconsistencies or typos and include them in your questions. Occasionally the client makes a mistake or a typo from copying old content into a new RFP, so it’s important to get clarity.
The proposal manager should gather and submit all of the questions, unless the RFP lead has an established relationship with the customer. If that relationship exists, the RFP lead should submit the questions the proposal manager has compiled. It’s important to be strategic when asking questions.
Typically, everyone responding to the RFP will see all of the questions submitted by the other contractors. Oftentimes, other contractors can also see who asked each question. Asking certain questions of the client may show other contractors your strategy for winning the project. Other times, asking certain questions can force the other contractors into responding to a portion of the RFP in a more defined way, leveling the playing field across all respondents for the project approach and pricing. After the kickoff meeting is over, the proposal manager will send out a responsibility matrix that outlines the key parts of the proposal, who is responsible and includes the respective due dates.
Responsibilities for writing the proposal will fall under the proposal manager and the RFP lead, with specific scope items assigned to other parts of the team based on their experience and knowledge. The proposal manager often has other resources that report to them such as proposal writers and marketing coordinators. They will help with finding useful content from previous proposals or handle tracking down other company data requested in the RFP. There are also typically design resources available on the marketing team that will generate the polished final deliverables.
Proposal content often will include:
The proposal manager and marketing team won’t necessarily write every section listed above. At a minimum, they will generate drafts of the cover letter, executive summary, resumes and resume bios, project descriptions, and the organizational chart. They will also locate proposal content from prior submissions that may be useful for helping others write their sections. Having a ‘go-by’ as an example helps experienced and junior team members alike in writing their sections.
Many proposal submissions run down to the last minute before the due date, creating a stressful moment with opportunities to make mistakes. If your proposal process is managed well, there should be plenty of time to review the complete written draft before submission. This review should include at minimum the proposal manager, project executive and principal-in-charge. This review should occur at least 48 hours before the submission time and date to allow for enough time to make any necessary changes
Proposals are either submitted electronically via email, through a web portal specific to RFP responses, or via printed hard copy. It is important to note that many clients take due dates and times very seriously. Even being one minute late on a submission may be grounds for disqualification.
Electronic submissions should ideally be made 24 hours prior to the due date and time if possible. This is important because problems can come up during submission and you will need time to determine the cause. One example is that email servers can lag, so even if you pushed send before the cutoff submission time it may not arrive at the destination until after the deadline has passed.
If your submission is through a dedicated website portal, know that web portal submissions can be complicated to navigate. They require each section to be submitted in the exact format requested, so sometimes when pushing the submit button you may receive an error. Not allowing enough time to troubleshoot these problems may lead to missing the deadline. Most online portals turn off entirely once the due date and time have passed, so there is no margin for error.
If the RFP requires a hard copy submission, this should be built into the proposal review schedule. Some customers require numerous copies (e.g., 10+) to be submitted and this will require additional time for production, especially if your company doesn’t do this on a regular basis. The firm due date and time still applies to hard copy submission. If you are using a courier, this should be shipped with a scheduled and guaranteed delivery time that is included in the cost.
Sometimes the client may have questions about your proposal and will ask for more detail either via a formal request or casually via email. This may be your opportunity to determine what really matters to your client and propose something to better meet their needs (including a price adjustment). If possible, add some polish to your responses by providing an actual document with design flair instead of responding in text via email. This is a chance to show that you remain serious with your potential client.
Hopefully your proposal was so compelling that the client moves straight to awarding the project to you. Unfortunately, this is usually not the case. Clients will typically narrow down the potential winners of the project to three or five candidates and conduct formal interviews in their offices to better get to know the team and understand what you are proposing. Preparing for these interviews is a critical step in winning the construction bid. An unpolished presentation may leave the client feeling like you are not really interested in working with them.
The interview strategy meeting is an important step in preparing for your pending interview. This meeting should include senior level team members, the RFP lead, and the proposal manager. During the meeting, you should determine the interview strategy, generate a win plan and create a rough outline for how the presentation should be structured. You should also agree upon a time for the first interview preparation meeting. All of these steps will ensure the agenda is clearly defined before the meeting.
Once the interview is over, it’s important to gather as a team to conduct a debrief while it’s fresh in their minds. This helps evaluate what went well and what did not. The winner of the proposal will likely not be decided yet, but it’s good to get a better sense of how it went. It can be useful for those who participated in the interview to provide feedback candidly to help each other develop their skills and better prepare for the next interview. Document what went well and what did not so the opportunities for improvement are not forgotten.
Once the client decides who has won the project, it’s critical to meet with them as soon as possible to begin the planning phase and construction process. If you were awarded the project, quickly assess next steps and ensure your team is meeting agreed upon deadlines outlined in the construction contract and schedule. If you did not win the project, politely request a debrief from the client to better understand why they made their decision in favor of another general contractor. This feedback should drive future interviews with that particular client, as well as other interviews with new clients should the feedback be relevant.
Before you start writing, make sure that you’ve pulled any appropriate existing content from proposals that already have been written. Many RFPs will request the same details or information, so if it is correct and compelling then it should be OK to use. A good rule of thumb is to use content from winning proposals, but sometimes content used in a proposal that did not win is still OK as a starting point. Use your best judgment on what is good to reuse and what is not.
The cover letter is the first thing your client is going to read when reviewing your proposal, so it’s important to get it right. Many RFPs will not specifically request a cover letter, but it’s a good choice to include one unless there’s a page count in the RFP requirements that you may be exceeding.
The executive summary is another section of your proposal that may not have been requested in the RFP, but should be included if allowable within the RFP requirements to showcase your firm is a qualified contractor. The executive summary should clearly summarize points that align with your win themes and differentiators from the competition. If you can provide something that a competitive proposal could not bring to the table, this may be a good opportunity to introduce that concept.
Win themes and differentiators can include a project team that has previously worked on that project site or for that client, having existing contracts with the project owner, a project team with experience that closely aligns with the project scope and your team’s utilization of construction productivity software or other technology in the field.
Most RFPs in the construction industry ask for resumes of the team being proposed for the project. This is a critical part of the proposal. Ensure your proposed team meets the requirements for type of experience and years on the job. Proposing a project team that doesn’t fit the requirements is a fast way to get disqualified. Additionally, be sure to understand your clients' expectations surrounding the team you provide.
Some contractors will propose their best team members with the expectation that they will be switched out for other staffing by the time the project is actually awarded. Some clients will penalize you financially for doing this, so read the RFP closely.
Include professional photos of each team member proposed and a brief biography of their experience tailored to align with the project requirements. Select previous projects they’ve worked on tthat are similar in scope for the project in the RFP. If you have employees with existing positive relationships or experience working with the client, consider using them on the team to improve your chances of winning.
Resumes should always be strategically customized for each proposal they are included in, as it increases your chances of winning the construction project. If the RFP does not list specific positions to include in the proposal, at a minimum you should provide the project executive, construction project manager, preconstruction manager, superintendent and project engineer. Also consider principal-in-charge (if the project is large enough), safety professionals, general superintendents, VDC managers, and preconstruction executives.
Most clients will want to see descriptions of your prior work as a firm. This is your opportunity to shine, so put some serious effort into these. Make sure your projects meet RFP requirements including the completion date, project size, and location. Include a detailed narrative about the project and a summary of what went well for the client. If there were any positive learning experiences that would apply to the project in the RFP, include those as well.
High quality photos are also important to feature in the construction project description. It’s worth having professional photos taken of your projects during and after completion. If you have lots of quality photos from your projects, you might choose some to include in different sections of the proposal. If you do this, be sure to include captions detailing what project it is and that it is your company’s project. You can also feature aspects of your work beyond the requested number of projects if you weave photos and captions into other parts of the proposal where applicable.
Some construction RFPs will restrict the number of projects you can include, but even if they don’t it’s good to be mindful of the volume you roll into the proposal. Excessively long proposals can frustrate your client and they may stop reviewing it as a result.
The technical narrative should be written by the project executive being proposed on the project. Since they are the one that will actually execute the work, it’s critical to get their input on how the job should be done. Provide as much detail as you are able in this section, as it’s where you will weave many of your differentiators into the proposal–especially if you have creative ways to accelerate the schedule, save costs, or demonstrate unique technical expertise.
Be sure to have the proposal manager review this section closely and ask questions where applicable. While this section should be technical and detailed in nature, it should be understandable to someone without a construction background since the person reviewing the proposal may not be from the industry.
If your construction company is large enough to employ a director to oversee the safety team, they should be responsible for writing the safety narrative. Make sure to indicate any safety professionals you will have onsite, security measures for the construction project, laydown areas, and any tools that your team uses that will differentiate you from competitors. Things like software tools and other modern technology have become increasingly important on the project site, so consider highlighting what your team plans to use when building out a project plan.
If the project is large enough to have a dedicated scheduler or project controls person onsite, they should generate the project timeline and write the schedule narrative. If the project is not large enough for that, then it will be the responsibility of the proposed project executive. Many construction RFPs may not ask for a schedule narrative, but it’s important to include it to help all your reviewers understand what you are proposing.
Another differentiator worth including is a map or diagram of your project laydown area. Showing the client where your materials will go, where shipments will arrive, and how traffic will move throughout the site is important to better demonstrate to the client that you fully understand the scope of the project.
The proposal manager should generate a draft of the organizational chart and provide it to the graphic design team for inclusion in the proposal. Depending on the scale of the project, the project executive may wish to weigh in on the structure before your designers begin working on the proposal. Consider clearly highlighting any joint ventures and all of the key subcontractors you plan to use on the project.
Financial details can be sensitive construction documents. If permitted by the RFP, these should be included separately in a sealed envelope or emailed directly from your accounting team to the client. Make sure to provide all the details the client requests, as non-compliance can lead to disqualification or client concern over your financial stability.
With this information, you should be ready to ace the construction RFP process and win more work for your team.
If you’re looking for a better way to manage your RFPs, it could be time to explore construction bid management software.
