Which deal stage is more appropriate for RFI and RFPs?

Smart CRM & Sales Hub CRM
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1

Hi,

I have been searching about deal stages for RFIs and RFPs and I was wondering if there are any best practices or if anyone can share their experience about that?
I use the following stages:
1.Discovery

2.Demonstrate

3.Proposal

4.Negotiate

5.Closed

Thank you,

Patrick

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Thank you for your post @Digital_Mrk .

@HubDoPete and @JonPayne , would you mind sharing your advice for Patrick?

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Thank you @natsumimori :slightly_smiling_face:

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Hi Patrick,

Let’s use the term “reactive”, for responses to an official RFI/RFP and “proactive” for when you have uncovered and developed the opportunity and are proposing a solution as part of your sales cycle.

Your current deal stages are best suited to a proactive proposals sales process.

For reactive RFx responses, I recommend having a separate sales funnel so you can design the whole process to suit responding to an RFI/RFP, including key milestones like the bid/no-bid decision.

For example, here are some stages, with my comments in (braces)

  1. Identified (We are aware of a potential RFx coming up, but it is unqualified)
  2. Capture/Pursuit (We have qualified it and are working on influencing the RFx pre-release)
  3. RFx issued (RFx has been issued but is pending our bid/no-bid decision)
  4. Bidding (yes it meets our bid criteria, so we are investing the resources and are preparing our bid)
  5. Submitted (bid submitted by the deadline)
  6. Negotiation (we are shortlisted so are working on being the winning bidder)
  7. Closed-Won (Hooray!)
  8. Closed-Lost (use the loss reason to record why lost: Decided to no-bid, missed submit date, Not shortlisted etc)

The sales process should be distinctly different from regular sales, and your win rate is also likely different too.

Having a separate funnel lets you manage and report on the different sales processes to make ongoing improvements.

cheers

Pete Nicholls CF APMP

5

Thank you for your detailed advice!!

6

You are welcome! :slightly_smiling_face:

7

Thank you for your detailed reply Pete, I really appreciate it!!

Have a great week and thanks again :slightly_smiling_face:

Cheers,

Patrick

8

Thanks Patrick you are very welcome :slightly_smiling_face:

9

Hi Pete,

Thanks for your detailed response. I am facing a similar dilemma while setting up CRM and your response provides more clarity. One quick question - In the reactive sales pipleine, for the bid submission stage, how do we define the deadline for submission?

I wish to see upcoming deadlines (for each specifi day) for my bid submissions - that is my base requirement.

And if possible, I would like to receive auto-reminders at least a day in advance. Appreicate your help.

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You can also do an enterprise sales pipeline in general. And then either;

1. Stage for “RFP” if nearly all your enterprise deals go through RFP (e.g. you sell to government).

2. Don’t do a stage, but instead of RFP related properties.

“Went to RFP” Yes/No

“Invited to RFP” Yes/No

“Date RFP provided” Date

“Date RFP submitted” Date

“Date RFP Due” Date

Then you want to track whether you make it to the next stage in the RFP. More properties that are relevant there.

The comment from Pete regarding capture is super important. That could be leads though if you are already doing lead object for enterprise deals. Answer Pete provided is perfect if you want a seperate pipeline.
There are RFP Software out there that have integrations with CRMs/HubSpot (e.g. worth looking at AutoRFP.ai).