Virtual professionals are familiar with responding to RFPs (request for proposals) to secure projects and partner with clients. Several virtual assistants have written ebooks about how the process works and provided endless tips for moving your proposal to the top of the list. With this being said, I’d like to talk with clients about how to get your RFP noticed and moved to the top of a virtual assistant’s list of action so that you’ll get responses pouring in giving you to highest yield of candidate businesses to select from.
For each RFP submitted be sure to include:
- Your name, business name, and website URL. Businesses like to know which businesses they are partnering with. Virtual assistants are no different and you’ll discover that VAs will often pre-screen themselves to compliment your style and services. If you want to have a cloaked RFP then at a minimum include which industry your products and services serve.
- Include a listing of the services you require. With the services listing be sure to indicate if the person responding must have knowledge of all of these services or if you’re willing to hearing from those possessing a partial list or if you’ll train the right candidate.
- Indicate the deadline for submittals and if decisions will be made after that date or at any time during the process. Basically, will you review each RFP submitted or if an interesting prospect comes through you may contact, interview and contract with that person before all RFPs have been received.
- Tell us what the right candidate will be like.
- Indicate if there are any benefits for the VA in partnering with you. Bold statement to consider, I know. What do you bring to the table to attract the VAs possessing the skills and experience to help you to the next level in your business? Afterall, VAs aren’t employees but other business owners who want to partner with mutually beneficial business owners. Who would be a good match for you to partner with?
- Will you answer questions from the RFPs respondents during this time?
- Will you notify each response with a reply?
I understand that sometimes RFPs are born out of desperation to get out from under the mounds of work and stresses to not having enough help, enough time, or enough knowledge in a specialized area. Before you hit the submit button please take a moment to review what you’ve written and ask yourself, ‘Reading this would I respond if this came into my business?’ If you answer, ‘No.’ Then go back and fill in whatever blank areas you’d want to see.