Why Automating your RFP Responses Will Boost your Workflow

In this post, we’re going to discuss why using RFP software that is capable of automating your RFP responses will make your life easier and help you boost your workflow.

Presales guru Don Carmichael recently said in an ebook (that can be yours for free) that we need to get serious about RFPs, RFIs, ITTs, compliance questionnaires, security questionnaires, pre-qualification questionnaires, etc. the list could go on forever.

The business world is inundated with proposals, questionnaires, and forms to fill out. These often take up so much time and ask so many of the same questions that you’re simply copy-and-pasting answers into a document time and again.

Only, it’s more frustrating than that. You can’t actually remember where the answer is to copy it. You also have to wait for the email you sent to the SME… who just so happens to work in a different office. Or, a colleague in a different time zone…

Sound familiar?

This isn’t the most valuable way to spend your time.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to have your RFP software be able to fill out these simple question and answer documents with a single click? That way, instead of wasting precious time on finding the relevant information you can work on the important aspects of your process: winning more of the right business.

Automating your RFP responses

Automation is something that the world is still adopting. Not every human is happy to adopt technology immediately. Some things take a while to filter through to everyone. But, here’s why you should adopt automation in your RFP response process today.

Automating responses cuts down on your frustration

Natural language processing (NLP) understands your documents the moment you upload them. Avnio is able to identify and answer questions by searching through your company knowledge library.

By hitting the “Retrieve Answers” button you’re retrieving the right answers in seconds; whether it’s a question on the fly or hundreds simultaneously. It’s as simple as that.

From there, you can automatically insert the answers into the original document file, keeping all its source formatting. Or, populate the answers into your company specific templates in Word/Docs, Excel/Sheets, or PDF.

We hate when we have to chase up answers from people who are often too busy to reply quickly. The joy of storing up-to-date answers in a central library to use automatically makes us so thankful every time.

What we find this helps the most is how we frame the effort and time spent on an RFP response. Instead of thinking “this will take me ages”, we’re able to think “what parts can I really make shine”?

Not only that, but the Avnio Assistant, our intelligent conversational assistant, is able to answer questions you may have on the fly, too. Can’t remember what your compliance is off the top of your head? Ask.

The Avnio Assistant works anywhere and on pretty much any device with an Internet connection. In a meeting and someone asks you a question you didn’t prepare? No worries.

Automate and refocus your efforts on the most important parts of the response to win more of the right business. You won’t find yourself dreading the RFP response process at all.

Smarter working means better working

Automating your workflow means that you work smarter, not harder. It sounds clichéd, but it’s true.

Instead of pushing through the pain of getting people to answer questions, review the document before it’s sent, or giving you specialist subject knowledge by emailing or calling each person, you can simply assign them to a task in Avnio.

Answering RFPs isn’t going away, and we’re likely to see more of them, not less. It’s often a struggle to get the ones that we’re already getting done complete, let alone a whole lot more.

So, choose to be smarter about the way you deal with RFPs that come through your door.

Only answer the ones you have a high chance of winning. You can define a sophisticated Go/No-Go algorithm, giving you the confidence to only go after what you know you can win.

This is a process that is vital to the success of many businesses today. It’s something that is possible through Avnio’s software. Be smart about the business you chase.

You can worry less about formatting when your RFP responses are automated

RFPs come in all shapes and sizes. It seems like there’s no single solution, you need to figure out how to format every different document separately, right?

Well, automating your process with a solution that can import and export to any file format you’re sent will free up that worry.

Why struggle through scrolling through a 60 page Word document for one RFP, then a huge 100 row spreadsheet for the next? Your process can be uniform for every document.

Avnio will interpret the important parts of your RFPs for you, giving you a familiar interface every single time you approach a new response. No wondering what program you’ll need, no worrying about getting it back in the same format at the end.

Won’t automating my RFP responses just do it all instead of me?

No.

Automation takes away the repetitive struggles of RFP responses. Computers were made for this, after all. You, the human element, is just as vital as before but you can pour your creativity and insight into crafting the perfect responses.

At the end of the day, no software solution can be provided that will completely remove the need for humans in the process. But, more importantly, why would you want to remove all of the humans from the process?

If it was all computers that used machine-learning, we’d very soon have documents that were either extremely strange or entirely the same. Humans can iterate with new ideas, computers still cannot.

Overall, automation will smooth out the process

Automating your RFP responses process will smooth out the rough edges, make it easier to get on with your job, and ultimately allow you to win more of the right business. 

If you’ve been feeling the pain of RFPs and want to know more about Avnio and what we offer, go to our solutions for more information.