Response Rates to an RFP
I assume we have all responded to an RFP in the past. I am interersted in hearing from you what your success rate has been with the RFP's that you have responded to this year.
My response: I'm on the buying side and while I believe it is good to measure your 'success rate', I hope you are measuring a few other parameters to put it into context (ie not just looking at how many RFPs you responded to vs how many you were successful on) because this year was a little different.
1) are you checking how many opportunities in your field have been available (whether you responded or not) - ie did you notice there were less RFPs for your field this year than in previous years (in BC, definitely there were less consulting opportunities due to spending freezes)
2) are you finding out how many people are responding to each opportunity? Not that every buying organization will disclose this, but I can say for a fact we've had MORE companies respond than in past years... for example in the early 2000s, I would normally receive about 12-14 proposals to each of my RFPs, then about mid 2005/2006 I was only getting about 5-6 and some only got 1-2 responses (everyone was busy), now we're back up to 15-20 proposals per RFP....
So, if you don't take these other factors into consideration, you may find your success rates 'look' lower this year
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