If you’ve had to respond to RFPs—even just one—you know that RFPs do, in fact, suck. Lots of books have titles that don’t work well, are misleading, or weak, but RFPs Suck is a title that speaks to the soul of anyone who has fought—and probably lost far more often than won—the RFP system.
RFP’s Suck: How to Master the RFP System Once and for All to Win Big Business by Tom Searcy (Channel V Books: 2009) is designed specifically for small to mid-size companies seeking to compete with their large competitors in the game of responding to the Request for Proposal or Request for Quote that is so often the vendor selection method preferred by major companies and by government agencies.
Searcy is a veteran of the RFP wars having won over 1.5 billion dollars in business through the process. He’s turned that experience into a lucrative consulting/training business. Now, he’s taken the next step and turned it into a book.
RFPs Suck is a short, direct, to-the-point guide to giving you and your company the advantage you need in order to compete in a process that is, as Searcy says, “not built for you.” The system is built for and caters to large vendors, not small to mid-size companies. In fact, Searcy says, in many cases rather than giving you a chance to compete, the system is designed to keep you out.
Can you as a small to mid-size company compete in a system that is built not only to cater to your large competitors but to keep you in your place?
According to RFPs Suck, you certainly can—IF you learn how to recognize and take advantage of real opportunities, avoid those where you have little or no chance of winning, and construct a proposal that gives you the winning advantage.
RFPs Suck is a short, direct, to-the-point book that wastes little space. You won’t find lots of tangents, filler stories, or attempts by the author to become the next Hemmingway or Faulkner. Instead, Searcy concentrates on laying out in concise chapters the guidance you need to become an RFP expert:
- How to recognize a real RFP opportunity—and how to recognize and avoid dead ends that can cost an arm and a leg in both time and money
- How to determine if your company is ready and capable of competing
- How to ‘read’ an RFP to discover the real motive for issuing it
- How to stand out from the crowd and give yourself the necessary advantage to win the battle
- How to write the RFP from cover letter to the addendums
- How your proposal will be evaluated and how to get it into final consideration
- Detailed examples of responses to RFPs with an analysis of the response
In only 143 pages Searcy takes you from beginning to end in evaluating and responding to an RFP or RFQ and shows you how to create a winning proposal and does it very well.
In a world where RFPs are becoming increasing important, knowing how to create a proposal that gives you the best possible shot at getting the business is crucial—and surprisingly simple (simple, not easy). Whether RFPs are a regular part of your business or just an occasional pain, RFPs Suck is a guide book you really shouldn’t be without.
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Pingback by Twitter Trackbacks for Book Review: RFPs Suck:How to Master the RFP System Once and for All to Win Big Business « Sales and Sales [salesandmanagementblog.com] on Topsy.com — October 22, 2009 @ 11:09 am |
These book titles are really getting at the nerves of their buyers. I bought another book with that in the title and find it quite inappropriate to store in plain view of customers.
Comment by Sales Training — October 22, 2009 @ 12:20 pm |
I agree that some of the titles are getting a bit much. Even though this book’s title is close to the line in terms of polite company, it certainly expresses the feelings of most of us who’ve dealt with RFPs.
Comment by Paul McCord — October 22, 2009 @ 12:30 pm |
Please, it’s hardly offensive. What’s offensive about the word “suck”? Especially when talking about something that clear does, in fact, suck. I wasn’t going to reply but that’s just silliness, and takes away from a legitimate conversation. It’s like gluing yourself to the TV to watch balloon boy when there’s a war going on. Just my two cents.
Comment by Gavin McAllister — October 22, 2009 @ 12:48 pm |
Offensive? Are you kidding me? You know what really sucks — most sales books? We need someone to get in out face and tell us that we are being idiots about the current RFP model. That we are being raped and pillaged by “big business”… I don’t go out of my way to offend anyone. That is childish behavior, but people will be offended everywhere… Tom delivers the truth and that’s what I care about…
Comment by Daniel Waldschmidt — October 23, 2009 @ 2:46 pm |
If you’re popping down to the shops later today, you might want to look into getting a life! If you’re that prissy I would suggest:
(a) not buying the damn book
(b) putting it on your shelf the wrong way round
(b) looking for an alternative profession.
Just my 50 cents!
Comment by Phil C — October 27, 2009 @ 10:05 am |
Personally, what gets on my nerves is people putting keywords instead of names when leaving comments on blogs just to try to improve their google rankings.
Ian
Comment by Ian Brodie — January 12, 2010 @ 9:39 am |
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