This is the second part continuation of our “Wranglin’ an RFP” blog post series. Click here to read Part 1. Already read Part 1? Then read on to learn 3 more steps on how to “wrangle” your next RFP:
STEP 3 – Ask for stuff!
You won’t get lower costs if you don’t ask for things. Ask for as much as you can, the carriers can only say “no” and will often say OK. The good ones will negotiate a clever term or a creative way to give you what you need and also be able to satisfy their finance team requirements. Often it can be all in the framing of the issue (this is where needs vs. wants really come in).
For example, learn everything you can about the competition, the industry and offerings to other customers. This is where we really make a difference.
- As a WEM firm, we see across all carriers and many customers, and while we cannot provide specific data on specific customers or carriers due to confidentiality agreements, we can guide and provide many industry suggestions on what offerings are out there to similar type customers.
- You can’t believe what a difference it makes just to have us sit at the table and keep the providers honest. Carriers know they can’t tell tales if we are in the room. So many times, I have heard a carrier state something, have the customer glance my way, I’ll shake my head, “not so much”, and it is a powerful way to get past a meaningless debate and into the real matter at hand.
Recently, we attended a Home Health Care Conference and TMobile GAVE each conference participant an Android device (pictured below) PLUS a keyboard docking station. This was to the tune of about 250 devices. Carriers will give you stuff if they think they will get money back.
STEP 4 – Document what you ask for and what you ultimately receive
Get a comprehensive document that is generic to be sent to at least 3 carriers for responses. The document should have:
- General overview of your organization
- Questions regarding the carrier overview and performance standards
- Timeframe expectations
- Non-disclosure statements
And pertinent sections for specific needs:
- Voice & Data
- International
- Features (text messaging etc)
Document everything consistently to each carrier (that is, do not provide different information to different carriers; you want apples to apples comparison). A very simplified RFP version can be found in Microsoft Office.com templates.
Finally, document all the responses from the carriers in a standardized format. This will help you with the next step.
STEP 5 – Look at NET cost (it’s not all about the discount)
Discounts, as shown below can be deceiving and inconsistent.
This step is particularly interesting to write about because it seems so simple, it is often not stated, but, an RFP is not all about the discount. It is indeed about the net cost.
As you receive information from your carriers, make sure you get to bottom line dollars of what you will write a check for each month and then use this number to compare it to what you write a check for now. That is your only real accurate means of comparison with the carriers. This is not, unfortunately, how they present the data to you.
Consider the following:
Look at net cost of the plan and the discount (see next page). If you have a 25% discount, this is great, but if it is on a plan that gives you 500 minutes and is $15 per month more than the competing carrier, how does the competing carriers’ rate stack up? As you can see from the below graphic, the carrier with the worst discount is actually the lowest cost option.
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