RFP template: how to write one that actually works

1. Executive context (½ page): what you're solving, why now, who the decision-makers are.

2. Scope of work: specific, measurable, with a clear boundary of what is IN and what is OUT of scope.

3. Deliverables and acceptance criteria: how you'll know each deliverable is done.

4. Commercial ask: pricing structure you require (unit price, T&M, fixed fee, retainer), payment terms, volume assumptions.

5. Supplier requirements: certifications, references, financial health, geographic coverage.

6. Evaluation criteria and weights: publish them. Suppliers write better proposals when they know what you're scoring.

7. Timeline and process: dates for Q&A, submission, shortlist, orals, award.

Long company bios that suppliers don't read. One paragraph is enough.

'Any other information you think is relevant.' Suppliers dump 20 pages of marketing here.

Open-ended pricing questions like 'provide your rate card.' Specify the exact rate categories you need priced.

Say exactly how you want to be quoted. 'Provide a fixed fee' produces one number. 'Provide a fixed fee broken into: discovery, design, build, test, deploy, with resource loading and hourly rates' produces a proposal you can actually compare, negotiate and true-up.

For services: request loaded hourly rates by role plus estimated hours. For products: unit price + freight + duties + payment-terms cost. For SaaS: per-user, tier boundaries, overage rate.

Typical weights for a services RFP: 35% technical approach, 25% team & experience, 25% commercial, 15% risk & references. For product RFPs, shift more to commercial (40–50%) and delivery reliability.

Publishing weights up-front produces sharper proposals and defensible awards. Hiding them looks strategic but produces vague proposals and awards you have to justify twice.

Give suppliers 5 business days to submit questions in writing. Answer all questions publicly (redact company names). One consolidated Q&A doc goes to every bidder.

This is also when you fix your own scope gaps. Every good question exposes a hole — patch it in a scope addendum, don't answer inconsistently to different bidders.

Copy-pasted from a previous unrelated project. Suppliers notice within 3 minutes and stop taking you seriously.

No named decision-maker. Suppliers won't invest in a proposal for a committee that never signs.

Unrealistic timeline (2 weeks for a $2M program). Serious suppliers no-bid.

Evaluation criteria that don't match the scored questions. Legal risk on award.