Your ultimate RFP checklist

Over the past few weeks, we've been sharing hints, tips, experiences, and insights to help you prepare for RFP season. Even if you’re not ready to go out to tender right now, having the tools and information at your fingertips will prove invaluable when the time comes.

The final instalment of our blog series gets down to the nitty-gritty – the ultimate RFP checklist.

Like with any large project, a checklist is always essential to make sure you’ve covered all eventualities and can share your progress with your wider team and stakeholders.

Below are our essentials for holding a successful RFP, with lots of first-hand experiences from our very own Travel Counsellors.

Pre-RFP preparation

As the quote goes, “By failing to prepare, you're preparing to fail”. Preparation is key to a successful RFP process. From understanding your objectives to engaging an array of stakeholders throughout your business, this is the point where you set yourself up for success.

• Define your objectives: Know your goals and objectives. Why are you going to RFP? What do you ultimately want from your travel programme? If you're not quite sure, you can use our Business Travel Barometer to help answer these questions. 
• Engage stakeholders: Travel impacts everyone in your organisation. Make sure you have a solid team of stakeholders around you who are engaged and understand the purpose behind the RFP process.

“Any RFP needs the booking community involved, but you have to remember that all parties involved want different things. You need to know how you are going to make the decision and who is the final decision maker/s.”  Louise Jones, Senior Business Development Manager

• Finalise project scope: Understanding the value of your programme, your anticipated spend and the scope of service you're requiring will help both you and potential TMCs define what is a ‘good’ fit.

Creating your RFP document

• Integrate care-centric questions: Most RFPs don’t centre care in their questions. If you're creating a care-led strategy, keeping this as a core focus throughout the RFP questions is crucial to discovering which suppliers share your values and can deliver the programme you require.

“I believe in a personal service. I like to understand what a client’s priorities are, their culture, their operational set-up, who’s in their team etc. It's all about the ‘WHY’.” Cat Rainey, Travel Counsellor - MICE, Group Travel and Events

• Include ESG considerations: Don’t forget to include questions around ESG. Not only will this help to quantify a supplier’s commitment to care, but it will also feed into many stakeholders' objectives and will ensure you've captured the right information to make an informed decision.
• Comprise a key questions list: Every RFP has essential details you need to capture, such as company background, project scope, service requirements, and evaluation criteria. But you also need to ensure that you capture details that align with your values and goals, such as culture, commitments to personal service, and the ability to be flexible. Make sure that these are clear and included early on in the document.

“I believe culture questions are really important. How will the relationship work in principle? How important will you be to the TMC? Who will look after the process? It’s important for a TMC to know as well, will this account work for us?” Louise Jones, Senior Business Development Manager

Evaluation and shortlisting

• Plan communication channels for suppliers: Be prepared to answer questions from potential suppliers openly and honestly. RFPs are a costly and time-consuming exercise. In reality, TMCs will be assessing how well you fit their culture, in just the same way as you're assessing them. Knowing how you will field questions will save time and improve efficiency.

“A big no-no from me is no communication prior to completing the RFP. If a client will not talk to me on the phone before I commit time and resource to a proposal then they are not the right fit for Travel Counsellors.” Joe Higson, Business Development Manager

• Set your evaluation criteria: Having a clear understanding of value and your objectives will make the creation of a scorecard much clearer. Remember to include criteria that accounts for both quantitative and qualitative responses, especially when leading a care-centric process.

“Weight what’s important to you. Not every question needs to have an equal weighting when it comes to evaluation. It also allows us to get under the skin of why you're doing this project and what really matters to you, rather than it being a tick-box exercise.” Cat Rainey, Travel Counsellor - MICE, Group Travel and Events

• Gain stakeholder input: Hopefully you have your stakeholders on board from your preparation work. Here's where you need to utilise their experience and points of view to assess answers and ensure you’re taking into account the needs of the wider organisation.

• Shortlist suppliers: Be selective with who you send your requests to. The more suppliers you invite to the process, the more RFPs you have to evaluate. Knowing the market and having established supplier relationships will help you narrow this down to a select few who you feel are aligned to your goals and objectives.

“Don’t dilute the process with 15 TMCs. Do the research for suitable companies and then invite five or six to move forward at the written stage of the RFP process” Joe Higson, Business Development Manager

Final selection

• Arrange supplier presentations: After the RFP evaluation, most processes move on to an in-person presentation. Ensure this is scheduled with ample time for both yourself and the TMC to prepare and deliver.

“Be collaborative – communicate with the TMC. You should want to get the best out of each company so that you ultimately make the best decision. By the time the process reaches the presentation stage, it shouldn’t be approached as an ‘us and them’ environment.” Joe Higson, Business Development Manager

• Make the final selection: Again, your stakeholders will come into play here. You need to engage all aspects of the business, especially finance and legal, who will help with the contracting and negotiations. Using your evaluation criteria will help you to quickly and accurately assess the TMCs in the process and select a suitable partner.
• Provide feedback: Ensure all suppliers are communicated with, despite the outcome. Giving constructive feedback not only helps the TMC to build on potential areas of weakness, but it can strengthen your relationship for the long-term. Business travel is a small industry – you never know when you might bump into someone again, so being courteous is always a good move.

Post-RFP

• Implementation: The RFP is concluded, now the work starts! Building a solid internal team, who will work closely with your selected TMC through the implementation process is key to success. Establish strong communication channels, project plans, and contingencies to help build a solid working relationship from the get-go.

“Setting a reasonable timeframe and including contingencies for staff absence and other business priorities is key.” Clare Bennett, Travel Counsellor - Gold

• Ongoing communication: Clear, open communication will continue to be critical throughout your working relationship with your TMC. Businesses and travel programmes naturally change and evolve over time, so keeping your TMC abreast of any changes means they can help support you and keep on providing the service you need. Consider setting up regular reviews and catch-up points to keep engagement high.

The RFP is a necessary but time-consuming activity. Having clarity throughout each stage of process will help you, and those around you, keep on track and focused on the outcomes.

Using this checklist, you can rest assured that all aspects of the RFP are covered - before, during and after. And don't forget to read the other blogs in our RFP series to help set you up for success.