Most RFPs are a waste of everyone’s time. They’re too vague to attract a serious response, too prescriptive to allow creative solutions, or so long that qualified vendors decline to respond. The result: a stack of proposals that don’t actually help you make a decision.
A well-written RFP does the opposite. It signals that your organization is serious, sets clear evaluation criteria, and makes it easy for vendors to respond substantively — which means you get better information to make a better decision.
Here’s how to write one that works.
What an RFP Is (and Isn’t)
A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a formal document that invites vendors to propose solutions to a defined business need. It’s distinct from:
- RFI (Request for Information) — used earlier in the process to gather general market information before you’ve defined requirements
- RFQ (Request for Quotation) — used when requirements are fully defined and you’re only comparing prices
- Sole-source justification — when you’ve already decided on a vendor and need to document why
Use an RFP when you have a real problem, real requirements, and genuine intent to evaluate multiple vendors competitively. Don’t issue one as a formality when the decision is already made — it’s a poor use of vendor goodwill and your own team’s time.
The 8 Sections Every RFP Needs
1. Executive Summary
Two to three paragraphs describing your organization, the problem you’re solving, and what you’re looking for. This is what vendors read to decide whether to respond. Make it clear, honest, and specific enough to be useful.
2. Company Background
Who you are, your size, industry, relevant context. Vendors use this to assess whether they’re a good fit and to tailor their proposal to your environment.
3. Project Scope and Objectives
What you’re trying to accomplish — not how. Describe the business outcome, not the technical specification. Good vendors will propose better solutions than you’d have spec’d yourself if you leave room for them.
4. Detailed Requirements
This is the core of the document. Organize requirements into:
- Functional requirements — what the solution must do
- Technical requirements — integrations, security standards, hosting environment
- Service requirements — implementation support, training, SLA commitments
- Compliance requirements — regulatory, legal, or policy constraints
Label each requirement as Must Have, Should Have, or Nice to Have (MoSCoW method). This helps vendors understand where they can differentiate and where they can’t.
5. Proposal Format and Instructions
Tell vendors exactly what you want in their response:
- Sections to include
- Page or word limits
- File format
- How to ask clarifying questions (and by when)
- Who to submit to and by what deadline
Consistency in format makes evaluation dramatically easier.
6. Evaluation Criteria
Be explicit about how you’ll score responses. If price is 25% of the decision, say so. If implementation timeline is a key factor, say that too. Vendors who know what matters will address it directly — which gives you better signal.
7. Commercial Terms
Outline your preferred contract structure, payment terms, and any non-negotiables (e.g., data processing agreements, insurance minimums, liability caps). This filters out vendors who can’t work within your requirements before you’ve invested time in evaluation.
8. Timeline
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| RFP issued | [Date] |
| Clarifying questions due | [Date + 5 days] |
| Answers published | [Date + 8 days] |
| Proposals due | [Date + 21 days] |
| Shortlist announced | [Date + 30 days] |
| Finalist presentations | [Date + 37 days] |
| Decision | [Date + 45 days] |
Give vendors enough time to write a real proposal. Two weeks is the minimum for most categories. Three to four weeks is standard for complex enterprise software.
What to Do Before You Issue the RFP
Align internally first. An RFP issued before your stakeholders agree on requirements will generate internal conflict during evaluation. Run an internal requirements workshop before drafting.
Research the market. Issue an RFI if you’re not sure what solutions exist, what they cost, or what requirements to ask for. Going into an RFP blind leads to requirements that don’t match what’s available.
Decide your shortlist size. For most RFPs, 3–5 vendors is the sweet spot. More than 5 and evaluation becomes a full-time job; fewer than 3 and you risk not having a real competitive process.
Set up your evaluation team. Decide who scores proposals and how conflicts get resolved before responses arrive. You don’t want to be negotiating your scoring process while vendors are waiting.
Common RFP Mistakes
Specifying the solution instead of the problem. When you write “the system must use a microservices architecture,” you’ve eliminated vendors who might have solved your actual problem better with a different approach. Define what you need to accomplish, not how.
Vague scoring criteria. “Quality of proposal” is not an evaluation criterion. “Clarity of implementation plan with milestones and named resources” is.
No clarification process. Vendors will have questions. If there’s no formal Q&A process, they’ll make assumptions — or they’ll contact your team members individually and get inconsistent answers. Publish a single Q&A document to all vendors simultaneously.
Impossible timelines. If you’re running a process that deserves serious proposals, give vendors time to write them. A 5-day turnaround signals that the process is a formality.
Get the RFP Template Pack
Our RFP Template Pack includes a complete editable RFP template, a vendor Q&A log, a proposal scoring matrix, and a shortlist communication template — everything you need to run a professional sourcing process from first draft to final decision.
Available individually for $39, or as part of the Procurement Pack alongside our Vendor Evaluation Matrix, Source-to-Pay Workflow, and Purchase Order Template.