The Problem with RFP Software

The problem with RFP response tools is that they’re mostly just knowledge management.

There, that’s the whole post. You can stop reading now.

Alright, we’ll elaborate.

Whether you’re a sales rep trying to close a deal, a solutions engineer responding to a technical review, or a security leader filling out a compliance questionnaire – all of these are painful delays to an already difficult sales process. RFP tools are supposed to ease the pain of responding to a questionnaire by speeding up the process.

But do they really make things faster?

Having personally bought and used RFP tools, and spoken with hundreds of users who have done the same, we’ve learned a few things about this space. Our hot take is that while most RFP tools are great for project management, they do not actually automate RFPs. Here’s why:

Found an answer you’re looking for? Great! Now you just need to write it again from scratch.

Although most questionnaires are quite similar, they’re just different enough that you can’t copy/paste every answer.

Re-writing takes just as long as creating a response from scratch. This can get stressful, especially when you need to chase down multiple subject matter experts to verify that your responses are accurate.

This is a problem that compounds over time.

The more you use these products, the bigger your knowledge base will get. Searching through answers and sources become exponentially more difficult as your knowledge base grows.

You will also find yourself sanitizing this large database. Do you keep the responses from 2022? Or is there a better, more recent version of a response? How do you make that determination on a per-question basis?

We previously wrote about the gaps in enterprise knowledge management – all of which are present in traditional RFP software. So instead of automating responses, you end up having to manage knowledge as a full-time job.

RFP management software looks complicated and intimidating.

That’s because so much of it is optimized for enterprises. The bloat you’ll notice in legacy RFP tools is the result of years of feature requests stitched together.

Small and medium size businesses need a lightweight UI that can help them automate responses quickly. A common piece of user feedback we hear is, “RFP products do so many things that I just get lost and don’t know what to do.”

Responding to a questionnaire is frustrating enough. The tool you use to help with it should be intuitive and easy to use.

One of the biggest gripes with questionnaire management software is that as time goes on, it starts to feel like an expensive knowledge management tool.

While they do a good job of managing the process, these tools don’t actually automate responses.

Proposal management is of course, a process. Positioning the software as a means of automating that process can lead to disappointment for users. Check out our RFP software buyer’s guide for a deeper dive.

Some tools have gone the route of adding Generative AI into the mix. This is a great idea, but simply adding an “AI” label onto an existing product does not solve the underlying issues with process and knowledge management.

We see a huge opportunity for meaningfully improving the RFP process by focusing on the user experience. This is how we approach questionnaire automation at 1up:

The advent of Large Language Models has given us an opportunity to improve the painful process of responding to questionnaires. Sales teams are taking advantage of this to automate responses and complete questionnaires 10x faster.

Don’t believe us? Try 1up for free.