This was generally the message behind a new report by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), Improving RFPs With User Research. The report was drafted in partnership with U.S. Digital Response (USDR), a nonprofit which helps public-sector agencies better serve the needs of their constituents. USDR assisted in project management, user research and design, and its findings were the basis for the document.
The aim, per the report, was “a lightweight intervention into the procurement process: a simple way for state government agencies to modify their RFP templates to be easier for vendors to evaluate.”
Too often, RFPs bury key information like evaluation criteria, due dates or contractual issues deep inside the document, the report said — requiring vendors to devote a sizable amount of time to evaluating a request before deciding if it’s something for which the vendor is qualified to bid. How to fix that? Summarize.
Agencies should start by drafting a summary sheet immediately following the cover sheet or letter — which is also often strangely absent. The summary sheet could serve as a table of contents, which is itself a kind of road map to what the RFP includes, according to the report’s recommendations. In the appendices, the authors include a sample summary sheet.
“The use of a summary sheet will make it easier for vendors to figure out if a solicitation is not right for them, or if it merits further review. It will help agencies to understand the information that vendors require to effectively evaluate their solicitation,” the authors write.
Ship your RFP without all the information it needs, they caution, and you risk “asking vendors to price for that uncertainty,” potentially driving up the cost of bids — and bringing a partner on board to do a job that is still unclear.
