Urgent bid support · situation 2 of 12
A private sector RFP has landed with a short deadline
A private sector RFP is not a public tender and the differences matter under time pressure. There is no statutory timetable, no published weightings in most cases, and no clarification window with a legal status. What there is instead is a commercial relationship and a decision maker you can usually speak to. That changes the strategy: on a tight RFP the highest return action is often a direct conversation with the buyer before you write a word, and it is the thing most suppliers skip.
The honest bit
RFPs are frequently issued to a shortlist where one supplier is already favoured and the process exists to test the market. That is not a reason to walk away automatically, but it is a reason to ask directly how many are bidding and how the decision will be made. A buyer who will not answer either question is telling you something. We will help you read that honestly before you commit a week to it.
What we need to start today
- The RFP document and any covering email, which often carries more of the real requirement than the document does
- The deadline, and whether it is firm or indicative
- What you know about the buyer relationship: who issued it, whether you have worked with them, who else is likely bidding
- Your commercial position, so the response and the price tell the same story
- Any previous proposals to this buyer or in this sector that we can build from
When we will tell you not to bid
These are the things that make the situation undeliverable rather than merely tight. If any of them apply we will say so on the first call, before you spend anything.
- A requirement you cannot meet that the RFP treats as mandatory, which is worth confirming before writing
- A price expectation you cannot reach profitably, where walking away is the correct commercial call
- No access to the buyer at all, on a process where the relationship is doing most of the work
- A decision date that has already effectively been made, which direct questions usually reveal
Questions people ask at this point
Do you write private sector RFP responses as well as public tenders?
Yes. The disciplines overlap heavily: reading what is actually being asked, answering against the criteria, evidencing claims with real figures. What differs is that a private RFP usually has a reachable decision maker, which changes the strategy under time pressure.
How is an RFP different from a tender?
A public tender runs under procurement law with published criteria, statutory timescales and a formal clarification process. A private RFP has none of that. It is faster, less transparent, more relationship led, and the weightings are often unstated, which makes asking the buyer how they will decide the single most valuable thing you can do.
The RFP deadline is in four days. Is it worth bidding?
Often yes, if you can meet the requirement and you have any relationship with the buyer. Call us with the document and we will read it and give you a straight bid or no bid view the same day, including if the answer is that you are there to make up the numbers.
Tell us the deadline and we will tell you if it is doable
We respond the same day. Send the documents and the deadline and you will get a straight answer on whether it is deliverable, including if the answer is no. A bid you were never going to win costs more than the fee it would have earned.
Send us the deadline
RFP deadline. Tell us the closing date and what you have, and we will come back the same day with whether it is deliverable.
Other situations we pick up
- A tender is due this week and nothing is written
- Your bid writer has dropped out mid-submission
- A framework application closes this week and you have not started
- You need to get onto a Dynamic Purchasing System quickly
- An ITT has arrived and you have no bid team
- An NHS or healthcare framework application is closing and you supply the sector