A request for proposal (RFP) is an invitation, typically made by a management company or the managers of a facility, interested in the procurement of a product or service.
The potential suppliers are invited to submit business proposals that reflect the costs of these products and services as well as other pertinent information so that managers can make a vendor selection.
To demonstrate how the process works, let’s suppose a major university wants to send an RFP to 10 cleaning contractors in their community.
The following are some of the key steps in the RFP process:
Intent. These 10 contractors would be notified of the RFP and asked to supply the university with information about their companies demonstrating their interest in working with the university and capabilities of carrying out the work.
Presentation. The 10 service providers would then be invited to give a half-hour presentation to university administrators. The RFP requires that they speak specifically on the following four topics: the cleaning contractor’s green and sustainability programs; the communication process between the contractor and their customers; technologies and products used to perform the cleaning duties; the transition process used to set up new accounts.
Round one. After the presentations, the RFP team evaluates the contractors and narrows the field to three or four bidders. A simple scoring system is used and bidders are scored one to five based on their presentations and how well they address the four criteria just outlined.
Adjustments. The university administrators then review their RFP to see if it specifies all the cleaning needs of the university. They also highlight requirements that have been an ongoing problem with the current cleaning contractor. The goal here is to not repeat past problems.
Round two. The three or four bidders are then invited to submit their proposals. Along with addressing all cleaning requirements and issues the university wants addressed, and insuring the charges are in the range the university believes are fair, there is one more thing the administrators are looking for. The university believes that a responsible bidder would go beyond the request for proposal, advising the university administrators on ways they could enhance cleaning efficiencies that could potentially prove to be a cost savings for the school.
While there are a few other steps in the RFP process, this step-by-step procedure along with a revamped and current RFP has proven to work very effectively for this university. It has allowed the administrators to make what they believe are more thought-based decisions, eliminating trial and error, and ending any “wink and nod” approximations.
Ron Segura is president of Segura Associates. His company works with large organizations to streamline their cleaning and building operations so that they function more effectively and efficiently and realize a cost savings. He can be reached by visiting: Contact Us.
