Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:03 Welcome to the web dev success podcast. I'm Emily journey. And this podcast is where I take a hard look at the challenges facing the website development industry, learn how to attract loyal customers, how to raise your prices with confidence and take steps to craft the work-life. You've always wanted listen in with me Emily journey and develop brilliantly.
Speaker 1 00:00:47 Hey, let's talk about RFPs. RFP stands for request for proposal, and it's a term that is frequently used by government institutions, city, state, federal, or larger corporations that go through, instead of just hiring someone to do work, they put out what's called RFP requests for proposals, and it's basically a bidding process to get the work. And it's meant to make the process more equitable fair so that decision-makers in institutions that use taxpayer money to make sure that money is spent wisely and that people aren't just giving contracts to their best friend or to their relatives. It's supposed to be a fair process for awarding jobs. Right? So with the work that I do, training website management, a website development, those are frequently big projects. And so that, so that's, that's what an RFP is. And so I want you to know what my experience is with people calling my agency and requesting that we apply that we go through the RFP process with them, uh, because frequently when we are invited to submit a proposal through an RFP process, we declined that invitation.
Speaker 1 00:02:24 And so I'm going to tell you why, uh, why we declined that invitation. So here's what it can, here's what it has looked like for me. So I've been on the winning side of an RFP and also on the side of feeling kind of used. So, so even though an RFP process is designed to make the bidding process and the award process fair, I've been on the side of that, where the decision maker has said to me, we really want to work with you. You're the person, you're the company that we want to with, but we have to go through this RFP process because we're a government agency or, you know, whatever, it's our policy. Um, so we have to request quotes from other organizations and, um, but you're the one we've all we already know that you're, you know, we, we can't imagine that anyone else is going to submit an RFP that we'd actually seriously consider.
Speaker 1 00:03:23 So, so you're the one that we want to work with, but please be patient while we go through this RFP process. So what does that mean? So think about that. What does that mean for those other companies? My competitors that are submitting they're completing this proposal and they don't even have a chance. So their time and energy is being wasted. And this has happened more than once. And I've been to me like that. I've had this conversation and I've also been on the side of that, where it became clear to me that I was just being used to meet the quota of quotes that they have to ask for, you know, at some point in the process, or even at the end, it became really obvious to me that, oh, I never actually was being taken seriously. At any point, during this process, I never had a chance.
Speaker 1 00:04:15 They had already made up their decision made up their minds. So, um, so you can see how that would create hesitancy on my part to say yes, when I'm invited to complete an RFP. So this is just a reality of that process. And if you're, if you don't know about it, you could end up putting a lot of time into trying to win a bid when you never had a chance. So, so that's one thing, right? So if we, if we have someone, uh, you know, a government, you know, let's say a county, a county agency that has some kind of grant funded program that they're trying to help business owners with training for WordPress, right? And they are looking for someone who that who can do WordPress training or, you know, SEO training or something like that. And they have to put bids out.
Speaker 1 00:05:09 Well, they really prompt since they're taking low taxpayer money, local, taxpayer money, they should probably hire someone locally, right. They still have this requirement where they need to get multiple bids and nothing prevents them from requests, from getting bids from out of state. And who else who better to play this game with than some than a company that that's out of state. So when they know they're going to have to award it to someone that's a local business, right. Because it's local taxpayer money, right? So we get calls for RFPs for out of state businesses that are taking taxpayer money from there. We know, I mean, it's, we know that they're actually not seriously considering us, so they just want us to add to their RFP people. So, so that's something to think about whenever you're asked for an RFP, think about like, does it even make, doesn't even make sense that I apply for this and you might be willing to look at the application process and look at the questions that they have on the request for proposal.
Speaker 1 00:06:17 And, um, that will also shed more light on the type of company that they're looking to work with. And sometimes they have a requirement to award the project to the lowest price, right. So I tell people I'm going to be the highest price. Okay. That's actually something to get right out in the open before going through an RFP processes. You know, that's part of the transparency that they're supposed to go through, you know, provide you with as well, how they're making their decision. And if the number one factor or the number two factor, or the number three factor is price. I don't play that game because I'm, I'm not, I'm not going to compete based upon price. And if you infrequently those questions on the RFP have nothing to do with the value of your services. So that's why we frequently decline them. Another reason is in my experience, feel like I've been dragged through the mud sometimes with requests for proposals, so it can look like this.
Speaker 1 00:07:24 So, so I had a company call and say, Hey, we, we have this project it's training and we'd love for you to, um, work with par people. And you're just perfect. Let me talk to my boss first. And I'm like, okay, great. Just let me know. And I'm excited. It sounds like they've already made a decision. It's just a formality and it's a large group of people and it's going to be fun. Right? It's in another state, I'm excited. I'm just, you know, wait for them to call back or follow up. And so I get a call back a few days later and, and the, the woman tells me, so we have to go through this process. You know, since we, we get, you know, funding from this source, we have to go through this RFP process. I can't find anyone else that does what you do.
Speaker 1 00:08:14 Right. So obviously the RFP is going to be awarded to you, but we need for you to actually fill out this form and we need to put it out to bid. And so before it will be approved and I'm like, okay, no problem. Just, you know, send me whatever I need to fill out. And I feel kind of laborious to fill out this red tape, this paperwork, but I fill it out and I send it and then I'm expecting an answer. Um, but, and then I get another call that says, oh, by the way, we, you know, thank you for getting all of that information to us. Oh, we also need you to register at this online portal to become a vendor. It's a requirement. And so I'm like, okay. So I do that. I go through the process. I actually have to be, you know, it's very detailed.
Speaker 1 00:09:02 I had to upload all of these misinformation about my corporation and sign all these agreement just to become a vendor. And so I'm like, okay, I've got that done. Oh, and then another call, oh, I promise this is the last we also need for you to have liability insurance of, you know, this X, Y Z amount. Oh, oh, I do. I need to have, and so, yeah, we need you to provide that proof of life, uh, liability, business insurance. And so I'm like, so at this point, I feel like I've put in so much work that I can't turn back, that I put in so much work that, and th this is something called the sunk cost fallacy, where we tell ourselves that we cannot, like, after we've either lost so much money or invested so much time. And, you know, we're at the point where we want to quit, but we don't, we just cling to, to see it through because we've invested so much time and energy instead of walking away.
Speaker 1 00:10:08 And so that's where I was at in my head. So I didn't want to walk away. So I thought, all right, I have no idea how much liability insurance is going to cost. So, so I take, so I have to shop around, right. I, I start doing that and I start getting quotes for thousands of dollars. So, I mean, it's just like what, this is the only project that I think of right now that I would need this for. And I finally did find a quote that was reasonable. And it was like, I don't know, $250. And I thought, okay, I haven't been awarded this project yet, but I'll go ahead. And then I'll invest the $250 in this liability insurance for a year and send them the proof of insurance and the, so they get that. Right. So that was like hours of time just trying to meet that requirement.
Speaker 1 00:11:02 And then I get a call, oh, it's not enough insurance. Right. We need it. And then I was like, then I can't do it because it doesn't makes sense. And they said, well, let's let me see if I can get an exception made. And so they go do whatever they do on their end. And they get an exception made and I'm like, okay, good. We can keep going forward. Let's just see, you know, this is months and months are going by. And then the last, finally, this is the last piece. Then I get a call. Okay. So we originally thought the project was going to be a lot bigger than it really is going to be. So we thought it was going to be XYZ amount, but now we've decided to really just start small and do a much smaller project. And so it's a much smaller project for me.
Speaker 1 00:11:52 I've gone through all this work in the end. I do get awarded the project it's for a lot less money. And I gave them an excellent deal because I thought that the project was going to be so much larger. And so they ended up getting a great deal and it was a learning experience for me. Right. So I, now, whenever someone runs this opportunity by my desk or whatever, I'm just like, oh, okay. Yeah, I know what this, I know what this is potentially about. So, and, and that's not my first experience with the RFP process. I've been a salesperson outside of my current industry and had to go through RFPs, filling out RFPs, and then the person that never had a chance. And I've also been the person that was selected in advance, you know, waited for them to go through the hoops of completing the RFP process.
Speaker 1 00:12:51 So that's just good information for you to have, um, just take a close, look at them and really think about whether you are not, you really want to and ask a lot of questions at any time during the process. You, you can walk away. Remember my, my experience. And so if you find yourself, oh, things, oh, new requirement. Oh, new requirement. You know, even just the initial, oh, we thought it was going to be straightforward, but we actually need to go through an RFP process. That's the red flag where I say, I actually say, I don't want the job. I don't want the job. Well, because likelihood is, they knew from the beginning that there was going to be this RFP process. Okay. So hopefully that's helpful to you in evaluating those invitations to, to fill out RFPs for projects. I will see you next time.
Speaker 0 00:13:55 Thank you for listening to the WebDev success podcast. I'm Emily journey. And if you enjoyed today's episode, take a minute to leave a review on iTunes until then develop brilliantly.
