What is a Request for Proposal (RFP)?
A “Request for Proposal”, generally termed “Procurement Auction” or “RFP Auction”, is an auction format generated by a Buyer of products and services, soliciting the lowest bid from Sellers of the same products and services. The buyer creates an RFP describing the product or service needed with multiple items, photos and text narratives that describe the need and asks the sellers to place the lowest “BID” (how much will the seller charge the buyer) for providing the Requester this product or service. The companies or individuals needing a product or service create “Request for Proposals” (RFPs). These are the buyers mentioned above. We refer to them as “Requesters”. The sellers of such products and services are called “Bidders”. (Only in RFP Auction formats) After the RFP auction has ended, the “Requester” (buyer) then manually reviews all bids and conditions of all items plus the the “Bidder’s” Profile (Mini Webpage), and manually selects the winning bidder. The winning bidder is noti
A. The RFP process is used to obtain complex services in which professional expertise is needed and where different methods/approaches may be applied during performance of the contract. Depending on nature of the services to be provided, the CIWMB may choose either the RFP Primary or the RFP Secondary method. Often times, the agency is unsure of the most effective route to take in fulfilling the contract. They are looking to outside contractors to prepare a proposal outlining a creative way to fulfill the contract. The RFP is specific about the qualification requirements, performance specifications, time frames, and other requirements. The proposals submitted by the contractors are reviewed by a panel and scored. In a RFP Primary process, those proposals meeting the minimum percentage score (identified in the competitive document) will then have their submitted Cost Proposal opened in a publicly noticed bid opening.
A Request for Proposal (referred to as RFP) is an invitation for suppliers, through a bidding process, to bid on a specific product or service. An RFP is usually part of a complex sales process, also known as enterprise sales, and typically involves more than the price. Other requested information may include basic corporate information and history, financial information (can the company deliver without risk of bankruptcy), technical capability, product information such as stock availability and estimated completion period, and customer references that can be checked to determine a company’s suitability. More info can be found at Wikipedia.
