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Responding to Requests for Information – Course Details


Duration
2 days

What is this course about?
This course is the reverse of our course on creating requests for information and covers the issues from the point of view of responding to RFIs, RFPs and ITTs. The key difference revolves around intellectual property rights (IPR) and disclosure as all companies responding to RFIs, RFPs and ITTs will encounter the same issue: how much to reveal even under an NDA because this may cause issues in the market.

Key topics covered

  1. How to analyse an RFI, RFP or ITT
  2. How to gain the appropriate contributions and manage time scales
  3. Creating objectives for your response, including initial business approval
  4. The role of IPR in winning the business, including adding creativity
  5. Questions for further information
  6. Submission
  7. Being short-listed
  8. Challenging the process
  9. Winning the business.

Who would benefit?

  • Senior management
  • Programme managers
  • Board members.

Objectives
The objectives of this course include:

  • Understanding RFIs, RFPs and ITTs
  • Establishing the basis for the future relationship with the client
  • Understanding the value of IPR, the use of NDAs and how much to reveal at this stage
  • Understanding the value of questions seeking further information
  • Understanding the costs involved in developing responses and how to minimise them
  • Writing the document and gaining business approval
  • Submission
  • Challenging decisions
  • Winning the business.

Outcomes 

  • Greater confidence in understanding the procurement process around the RFI, RFP and ITT documents
  • More awareness of how to neutralise competition and differentiate the response
  • Wider company buy in to the process and the outcomes
  • Much more tightly controlled responses and focus
  • Better preparation for the receipt of RFIs, RFPs and ITTs from potential clients or customers, including dealing with questions for more information
  • Greater confidence in handling being shortlisted and selected
  • A more cost-effective approach to creating responses
  • A better, stronger and more productive relationship between the parties.

Key topics covered

1. Analysis of the RFI, RFP or ITT:

  • Potential client’s objectives and how to establish them
  • Information gathered so far and tabulating it
  • Understanding internal stakeholder requirements and interests
  • Boiler plate elements
  • The use of non disclosure agreements (NDAs)
  • Costs of responding to an RFI, RFP or ITT and cost control
  • Understanding time lines
  • Setting expectations internally and with the potential customer or client

2. Ensuring that the document meets the wider company needs:

  • Who owns production of the response – and who should?
  • Commercial stakeholders and commercial interest groups across the company
  • Assigning sections to departments and individuals
  • Sales and marketing engagement
  • Initial business approval and how to gain it
  • Company secretary and legal counsel issues
  • Board interests

3. Relationship with customer or client:

  • Customer, client, partner, joint venture
  • How will it be managed
  • What needs to be in the document

4. Creativity:

  • Is this required or are the requirements fixed?
  • How to include this
  • What impact will it make
  • Sales and marketing input

5. Writing the response(s)

  • Use of templates – and which templates
  • Writing – style, approach, objectives
  • Editing and ensuring conformity and consistency
  • Filing and audit trail issues

6. Document testing

  • Appraisal of the document prior to submission
  • Reliability, validity and consistency
  • Does it answer the questions?

7. Time scales for responses

  • Real deadlines and internal artificial deadlines
  • Deadlines for internal assessments and responses
  • Pitfalls

8. Processes while developing responses

  • Questions eliciting further information (and will these be shared with the competition)
  • Responses to questions
  • Managing expectations and responses
  • Understanding pressures on potential clients and customers
  • Business approval approach prior to submission

9. Competition issues

  • What is the competitive response and how to anticipate it
  • Positioning and differentiation
  • Ensuring that competition is neutralised

10. Understanding the evaluation process

  • Formal methods?
  • Informal methods?
  • Consultation across the company
  • Being prepared and ensuring consistency across the company

11. Short listing

  • What to do if not short listed and how to do it
  • Making a challenge
  • Understanding rejection criteria and rejection letters
  • Invitation to shortlisted process and how to respond

12. Next stage

  • Need for more questions and how to deal with that
  • Understanding of the processes
  • Understanding the final selection criteria
  • Understanding rejection and dealing with it – including making a challenge
  • Acceptance letters and outline negotiation

In-company training

Are you interested in running this course for your team or organisation?

This programme can be delivered on a date of your choice and at a location of your choice, in other words exactly where and when you need it!

From the outset we will provide you with expert advice and you will be assigned your own personal training adviser who will stay with you throughout the process. Every team is different so we will provide you with a tailored training programme, designed around your team’s needs and focused on your desired outcomes.

All courses are followed up by a full training evaluation report and certificates of learning for each delegate. For groups of up to 12 delegates per course, our in-company training is a very cost-effective way to develop your people and improve team performance.

Get in touch today for a full quotation to suit your budget. To discuss your requirements in more detail with one of our friendly advisers please call on 0845 130 5714 or email one of the team at info@contractlawtraining.co.uk. Alternatively you can complete the short contact form below.

Getting in Touch

If you would like to discuss your commercial acumen training requirements with someone on the phone, please call us on 0845 130 5714 and you will be put straight through to one of our friendly advisers who will be pleased to assist you further.

Alternatively if you would prefer you can email us at info@contractlawtraining.co.uk or fill out our simple online contact form below and one of the team will get straight back to you.

If the exact solution does not already exist in our portfolio we will design something specifically for you.

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