Your RFP Checklist: See This Before You Submit

You and your team have worked diligently for weeks putting together your RFP response. Now, you’re ready to hit submit. We understand the sense of urgency, but we encourage you take a step back and breath. Go through our RFP response checklist before submitting your proposal. It will help you avoid being quickly thrown into the rejection pile.

Why double and triple check your RFP response?

You may ask, why should I take yet another look at my RFP response? Because there are certain offenses that will almost ensure that your proposal gets rejected. These include:

1. Not following document instructions – If you don’t adhere to document requirements, evaluators will think that you don’t how to listen. They will assume that, if chosen as a vendor, you won’t be sensitive to their needs. Unsurprisingly, this offense will likely cost you the bid.
2. Incomplete responses – RFP responses that don’t answer all of the issuer’s questions, clearly and accurately, are going to wind up in the rejection pile.
3. Low quality printing and overall presentation – This is the time to impress RFP evaluators, showing them that you’re the best solution. Why would they choose a vendor who includes low-quality, blurry printing and graphics? (Need help printing high-quality proposals? There is a reason that Mimeo is the proposal printer of choice for more businesses in the US than any other company. Browse the array of options that we offer to make your proposal the best it can be.)
4. Careless mistakes – Nothing says sloppy to anyone reading your proposal like easily avoidable mistakes. Typos, misspelled names, and including a mishmosh of fonts and sizes are all deal breakers.
5. Poor grammar – This is a professional document, and the writing should be professional as well. For many RFP reviewers, grammatical errors, such as lack of subject-verb agreement, comma splices, and run-on sentences, are unforgivable – and costly for you.

How common are RFP response mistakes?

It may surprise you to hear that RFP issuers see these and other offenses quite often. One survey of dozens of RFP issuers reported that:

• 62% find grammatical errors in responses on a regular basis
• 54% describe responses as “cut and paste jobs”
• 50% say that responses are “sales fluff and lack creativity”

Why you need an RFP response checklist

By using a checklist, you can easily identify issues that may cost you the job – before they actually do. Then, you can correct them prior to hitting submit. Another advantage of following a checklist is that you will feel more confident after submitting your proposal. You’ll know that, no matter the outcome, you and your team did your absolute best to win the bid.

Our RFP checklist includes the top offenses that we mentioned as well as other items. Going through this short checklist is worth the time, since it will help you make sure that you followed instructions, eliminate blatant errors, include all mandatory materials, and more. Happy proposal reviewing and submission! We wish you and your team the best of luck in securing your next RFP.

Mimeo has been helping proposal teams deliver high-quality RFP responses on time, every time for the last 20 years. You can count on us to print and deliver professional proposals that stand out from the rest – as early as the next morning. Explore our proposal printing services.

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