I am a planner/landscape architect who is involved in writing RFPs right now, and am curious if anyone has advice on how to proceed. I work for an institutional client, and we are working on various projects involving architecture, planning, transportation, and landscape. For large capital projects, we have other departments who write and procure work for us. But for "small" projects, i.e., with design fees less than $60k, we're on our own. I've responded to enough of these while working as a consultant that I have a pretty good idea of how to proceed, but I've managed enough projects now to understand that the client/consultant relationship is not an exact mirror image....there are all sorts of nuances and loss of perspective that take place when you switch from one side to another. So with that said....
* Any actual books, articles, online resources that people can recommend?
* We would love to include the target budget for each project, but we just aren't allowed to do it. How can we provide enough information so you can give an intelligent, meaningful estimate of the cost of your services? We try to outline the number of meetings expected, the type of project, final deliverables, and the number of square feet involved. But we do sometimes get back bids which are wildly off-base.
Having asked for that, let me offer some free advice for responding:
* I've noticed a perception in some past threads here that RFPs aren't worth responding to unless you've already talked with the agency/company who wrote it. This is sometimes true, but not always. For large projects, we advertise, and the process is excruciatingly fair. Connections and personal preferences can play a role in the second round of selection, but for the initial round, it's truly impartial. For small projects, we have discretion in who we send the RFP to, but anyone who receives it is certainly under consideration if they submit a reasonable bid.
* Respondents who win projects are those who have extensive prior experience with the same project type and present, in their interview, a detailed explanation of how they would proceed if they won - i.e., what kinds of meetings and processes they would convene, how they would manage their process to meet our budget and schedule.
Nov 24, 11 8:27 pm
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-Writing- an RFP....advice?
I am a planner/landscape architect who is involved in writing RFPs right now, and am curious if anyone has advice on how to proceed. I work for an institutional client, and we are working on various projects involving architecture, planning, transportation, and landscape. For large capital projects, we have other departments who write and procure work for us. But for "small" projects, i.e., with design fees less than $60k, we're on our own. I've responded to enough of these while working as a consultant that I have a pretty good idea of how to proceed, but I've managed enough projects now to understand that the client/consultant relationship is not an exact mirror image....there are all sorts of nuances and loss of perspective that take place when you switch from one side to another. So with that said....
* Any actual books, articles, online resources that people can recommend?
* We would love to include the target budget for each project, but we just aren't allowed to do it. How can we provide enough information so you can give an intelligent, meaningful estimate of the cost of your services? We try to outline the number of meetings expected, the type of project, final deliverables, and the number of square feet involved. But we do sometimes get back bids which are wildly off-base.
Having asked for that, let me offer some free advice for responding:
* I've noticed a perception in some past threads here that RFPs aren't worth responding to unless you've already talked with the agency/company who wrote it. This is sometimes true, but not always. For large projects, we advertise, and the process is excruciatingly fair. Connections and personal preferences can play a role in the second round of selection, but for the initial round, it's truly impartial. For small projects, we have discretion in who we send the RFP to, but anyone who receives it is certainly under consideration if they submit a reasonable bid.
* Respondents who win projects are those who have extensive prior experience with the same project type and present, in their interview, a detailed explanation of how they would proceed if they won - i.e., what kinds of meetings and processes they would convene, how they would manage their process to meet our budget and schedule.
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