Did we have a hand in shaping my key account's RFP before it landed?

Did we have a hand in shaping my key account's RFP before it landed?

By the time an RFP lands, the criteria are set. The vendors who helped shape them often start ahead. A KAM who learns the decision criteria early can help the customer ask for what matters most, including the strengths your team has already proven.

Five questions to see if your team can do this job today:

1. Does your KAM know the customer's decision criteria and the capabilities they will require?
2. Has your team helped define those required capabilities before the RFP is written?
3. Do the requirements reflect the strengths you've proven in this account?
4. Has anyone explored whether skipping a formal RFP would create value for both sides?
5. Will an executive at the customer advocate for you in the forums where the decision gets made?

Two or more no's, and your team may be answering an RFP written for someone else.

A key account's spend with us grew 100X in 18 months, to $10M. We knew finance and procurement would eventually push for discounts. Before an RFP existed, we shaped the client's decision criteria around their stated business goals and the capabilities they needed to reach them. We helped our champion build inclusion and exclusion criteria based on risks the client had faced in the past, with scoring that favored our strengths. Our whole account team worked the plan together: finance, contracts, marketing, sales and delivery. Then we asked our champion to have procurement issue an RFP to validate and protect the partnership. About three months later, procurement issued it, and the procurement manager consulted us on writing it. We won a new five-year contract worth close to $30M in total spend.

The lesson: do not wait for an RFP to land in your inbox. Your team can start shaping the next one now, with your champion and the decision criteria that matter most to the customer.

Our system, the Vitality Index, shows your key account teams where they stand today, the work it takes to level up, and how to do it, until they reach a vital partnership that lasts.

How much of your last RFP did your team help write?

We built a free, 4-minute Key Account Risk Assessment. It gives you a risk score for your key accounts across team alignment, account planning, account transitions, and visibility. Link in the comments.