I was having separate conversations recently with Guy Lloyd and Scott Schnaars about RFPs and both took me right back to my early sales career

Scott made a great point in a recent post:

“Yes, I know that it can be exciting when you receive an unsolicited RFP from a company that you've been killing yourself to get in the door with, but if you don't stop (remember, slow down to speed up) and take a beat on it, you're going to find yourself spinning a bunch of cycles — not just your own, but others on your team too.

First, go back to your Challenger Sale training when they told you that almost 70% of the purchasing decision had already been made prior to talking to a salesperson.

Why would an RFP magically showing up in your inbox be any different from any other transaction?”

He’s absolutely right

In my first five years in sales, I sold into the public sector, or what’s called federal in the US, where everything revolved around RFPs

But rather than waiting for one to appear, I learned to create my own

I’d embed our unique strengths and differentiators into the draft, then use it as a discussion tool

My first meeting with a prospect was always about process and specifically whether an RFP had already been written

If it hadn’t, I’d offer to save them time and money by sharing a pre-written RFP template they could use

Inevitably, when that RFP came back later as the “official” version, it was faster for me to respond and better aligned to what we could deliver

Pro tip: Don’t make it too obvious

If your RFP reads like your brochure, other vendors will spot it instantly and cry foul

Conclusion:
Winning in RFP-driven environments isn’t about reacting faster, it’s about shaping the process before it begins

When you take control early, you stop chasing and start leading the conversation