When an RFP (request for proposal) is submitted by a potential client (PC) for the services of a virtual assistant, understand that the PC has many, many replies to weed through. Having your reply stand out above the rest is key to securing the interview.

I came across an interesting post, “Get More Clients For Your Home-Based Business by Avoiding These Five Deadly Mistakes” written from a client’s perspective who was terribly disappointed with a majority of the 20 or so replies she received for an RFP. The gist of her post was simply that the replies did not offer an answer to the all-important question…’What can I do for you?’

The author wrote:

“My needs were clearly listed – web maintenance, shopping cart and autoresponder administration. One of the offers I received listed typing, transcription, scheduling appointments and making travel arrangements as the services provided.

No mention of providing the technical skills I required.

If you’re submitting a quotation to provide a product or service, make sure you understand what the prospect needs, then tell that prospect how you can meet those needs.

If you merely provide a list of what you offer with no reference to what the prospect is looking for, she will think you either a) don’t pay heed to what you’re reading, or b) just don’t care – and either one of them will put your proposal into the round file.”

This client/author fielded replies which simply responded to “WHAT I am or WHAT I have done in the past” but never really addressing the client’s specific requirements. This was a constant theme through the author’s post.

I addition to the author’s suggestions, I have listed 10 Tips to help virtual assistants respond correctly and efficiently to a potential client’s RFP. If you follow these tips closely, you will have the best reply to an RFP ever!

1) Follow the RFP directions – As simple as this sounds, read the RFP thoroughly and gather the information the potential client is asking for. If they want samples of your work, attach a link to a portfolio or a link to your work as featured on someone’s site or your own site. If they want three references, provide the name, phone number, title, email address and a link to your reference sites; make sure you include the required number three. If they ask a question such as ‘why do you want to be a part of my team’ be sure to answer that question completely…however…

2) Although your reply can offer an explanation about your company and your specialty, answer the question (#1) in terms of ‘what you can do to benefit the client’. So don’t answer, “I want to be a part of your team because I need a job” or “I want to be a part of your team because I am good at what I do”. A better response would be, “I want to be a part of your team because my marketing skills have increased my clients’ email subscriber list from 100 to over 200 in one month’s time. I can do the same for you.”

3) Do your homework! The best means to offer a clear, concise reply to an RFP is to become educated about the PC’s business. Most potential clients will offer up a website address. Check out the site and familiarize yourself with their business. If the PC is a coach, personalize the RFP reply with something about their coaching business and what you have done for other coaches to help them with their work.

Do not critique their site in the reply RFP.

If the RFP does not provide a website address, check the domain for the email address and see if that garners some online clue about the client. If not, Google the potential client’s name and/or business name; read any articles he/she may have written and check Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook to see if you can familiarize yourself with the client’s work. If you get the interview, you are already ahead of the game when discussion of the client’s business presents itself.

4) Have ALL of Your Ducks (Ready!) in a Row – Do not send a reply to an RPF if your website and social networking sites including your blog are not ready for the potential client’s review. If you have a PC’s attention from your written reply, chances are they too will do their own research about you before they make contact so having the best possible website and ‘store front’ available will be key to securing that consultation.

5) Include all of your contact information in the reply in an easy-to-read format. Make links clickable and check those links before you hit ‘send’. Be sure that you have full testimonials in place.

The author wrote:

“One bid provided a link to a web site where I could read testimonials. The testimonials were one and two liners followed by clients’ labels instead of their names, locations, or businesses.

For example, “Betty does good work. – Accountant”, “Betty always has her work to me on time. – Chiropractor.”

If your services are worthy of receiving testimonials, there is no reason why the providers shouldn’t approve the use of their name, business and town to validate the testimonials as authentic. Adding a picture creates even greater validation.”

(Although I personally felt that a photo was not necessary and often difficult to obtain.)

6) Read the RFP Carefully for Keywords – If an RFP uses words like ‘team’ or ‘dedicated’ or ‘looking for enthusiasm’, include these words in your reply and explain what you have done to be a part of a team AND how that effort paid off. If the PC is looking for a ‘dedicated’ person, give examples of client relationships which have had endurance AND how that attribute can be beneficial to the PC. If someone is looking for someone with enthusiasm, then write the reply with enthusiasm! Other keywords to look out for are ‘expert’ or any level of experience such as ‘intermediate’ experience. If a PC is looking for someone with specific experience, never say, ‘I am a quick learner’ or ‘I always wanted to learn XXX but if you show me how, I can do the job’.

The author wrote:

“One bid listed web maintenance and design as a service offered, however, the bidder didn’t have a site of her own or offer any references or testimonials for sites she ‘allegedly’ maintains.

If you offer a particular service that can be verified, provide testimonials, references and samples in your original bid so the potential client can corroborate them.

People are busy and if you don’t give them what they want on first contact, they aren’t going to take the time to contact you for more information when five, ten or fifty other proposals are giving them what they need.”

7) Proofread, Edit and Reread, Again! – Once you finish your reply to an RFP have someone proofread it for you. Spelling and grammatical errors stand out like sore thumb and distract from the content. Further, you are the example you set in your reply so if it is sloppy, you can be that the PC will believe your work is sloppy as well. Make sure that you are answering the question, “What is it that I can offer to the PC?” Does your reply answer that question?

8 This is not your biography.

The author writes:

Don’t make it all about you.

“I received two offers that demonstrated no real interest in how they could meet my needs. The first went as follows …

“I love working with coaches! I’ve been running my own business for “x” years. I have a degree in “x”. I worked as a nurse’s assistant for ‘x’ years, then decided to pursue my love of organizing, and I have …” – there was no mention of skills that would meet my needs.”

I reiterate again, make sure the reply is answering the question, “What is it that I can do for the potential client to meet their needs?”

9) Follow up to your replies within one week. Ask if you can offer any additional references or if the PC has any questions. Show a continued interest in the position. Be prepared for not receiving any reply at all! I would say that 95 percent of the replies to RFPs I send out never receive the courtesy of a return reply. Once I received a phone call back where the PC thanked me for my time and on occasion, I will receive a nice email with ‘thanks but we’ve filled the position’. However, I mention following up because one time I received a response to a follow-up indicating that the VA they hired was not working out so I was able to secure the account in that manner. Tip: Ask if you can add the PC’s email address to your own e-newsletter subscriber list. You never know if they may call on you later!

10) Customize each reply! Each reply should be custom to the RFP itself. If you use one cookie-cutter form to send out to every RFP, the lack of customization will be apparent. PCs want to know that you find their RFP to be important.

It takes time to craft a good reply to an RFP. Consider it a part of the virtual assistant’s job. Not only do we work on client work but we continually market our own businesses. I consider replies to RFPs part of my marketing plan. Sure, it can be laborious and the rejection factor can be high but well worth effort if you secure that client who appreciates the time and effort put into that RFP reply!

Recently, I have ‘been on’ a few back-to-back consultations with potential clients. Each conversation had to be fine-tuned on the spot depending upon the clients’ expertise with working with a VA and in regard to his/her use of the internet.  Since consults are not ‘one size fits all’ this post can help VAs to customize the conversation to achieve maximum results.

*note RFP used herein is a Request for Proposal. This is the form that potential clients complete with information regarding their virtual assistant needs.
*Letter of Intent is the reply letter a VA writes in response to the RFP.

1)      Research, Research And More Research – If there is any tidbit of information you will take away from this post this will be it:  Research the client’s website and business as much as possible before dialing the phone. I suggest going one step further and research as much as possible before hitting the send button to reply to the initial RFP itself.  Although each Letter of Intent should be customized to the client’s requirements, take more time than usual to know the client because you may not have much time to do the research between the time you hit send and the time the client replies back to your customized letter of intent.  I have been in close-timing situations and have had mere minutes to vamp-up my research before I called the client back. Being prepared ahead of time will thwart being caught off-guard because you may need to book an immediate consult. It happens.

2)      Be Careful How You Phrase Your Opinions – Before making the consult call (and creating the Letter of Intent), make a list of what you think can be improved on the website or blog but do not come forward right away with a critique while on the phone with the potential client. Wait until the client asks for your opinion and phrase your critique as such, “If your website heading is decreased in size you can offer more information about your business above the page fold” or “If you add your social marketing badges to your home page, you can increase your membership”.  Making suggestions as opposed to saying, “The header is too big” or “The web page is messy” may make for bad vibes during the consult. Diplomacy is key.

3)      If the client indicates that they do not know how to do something while you explain what services you can provide, offer to show them how to do it. You may think that offering to train a client, for example how to post a blog will take away work from you; I actually believe that this leads to more work, which is what we all really want as virtual assistants.  I believe in offering to share my knowledge with a client for three reasons:  First, you will get paid for training; Second, once you spend more time teaching the client a task, this helps to build a relationship and solidifies you as the expert and, Three, these tasks lead to more work because then you can make suggestions as to how the task can be fine-tuned. The latter is much easier to do when you have built a rapport with the client.

4)      During the consultation call, be keen and listen to the client as they speak. Clues to how much expertise they have will be apparent just by listening. It can be embarrassing for the VA to review services the client is already familiar with.  In fact it is a waste of time.  Some clients know what ftp might be, while others have no idea.  Do not assume a client knows the entire internet ‘lingo’ so it pays to be clear during conversation without being too ‘techie’. It is easier to consult with client who has already worked with a VA so be sure you know this information in advance. 

5) If the client is seeking to replace their VA, it pays to know why but never be intrusive by asking outright. Most clients will say if they are replacing their VA upfront.  Use that information to your advantage.  For example, if the client states, “My VA does not know how to post a blog”, that would be your cue to indicate this is a service you offer (if you do, of course). But do not ask why the VA is being replaced. Only use the information if offered to indicate what you can offer to fill that hole.

Finally, evaluate each consultation call immediately after hanging up.  What could you have done better? What did you do well that you can use for the next call?  Consultations calls can improve over time.

Janine Gregor

1) Have a good understanding of what you want the VA to do for you before you search. Keep an ongoing list next to your desk of responsibilities you really want to delegate. List those items which keep you from doing the work you enjoy.

2) Prioritize that list. Break the list down to three categories: Items which should have been done yesterday; those which need to be done this week and those which can wait until next month.

3) Decide how much your budget will allow to contract with a VA. If you can spend $200 a month then stick to that budget.

 
4) Post a request for proposal (RFP) on the Virtual Assistant Forums for free. (This is the premier virtual assistant forums website. VAs are not charged for services here, so the site is open for all VAs and business owners with diverse backgrounds.) Make your RFP as detailed as possible and do not forget to include your website address and alternate email address. Most VAs will research your business online before posting for a position so any information you offer ahead of time only helps to weed out those who may not meet your needs.

5) Give a timeline as to when your request for proposal response has to be submitted but give a fair amount of time to respond. Anyone who is really interested will respond right away but it does take time to reply properly to RFPs as they are often customized to clients’ needs. Specify what you want the VA to send you in the first pass…i.e., links to sites, blogging samples, graphic samples, articles, etc. It is not necessary to ask for a resume. This is not an employee-employer situation. A VA is a business owner as well.

6) Ask for references. And by all means send out for those references asking for feedback on the VA’s work and turnaround time.

7) If you know someone who uses a VA, then ask for a referral from that colleague. Many VAs handle multiple clients. If you like the work you see, then this can be indicative of a VA you might wish to work with.

8 When you have decided upon the right person for the job, expect that in the beginning you will need to ‘hand over’ passwords and usernames and business information to get started. Be sure that your VA has a confidentiality agreement. You will need to open up your business to another person with whom you have never been physically introduced. Trust will grow over time.

9) Review the service contract needed to begin and return back to the VA in a timely fashion. If you are not in agreement with something in the contract, say so upfront.

10) Communicate…communicate…communicate…Set aside time during the work week to answer your VAs emails and questions. The faster you return your replies, the faster the work will be completed. Share ideas…send your VA articles and blogs which spur conversation and brainstorm to grow your business. Suggest that the VA read online newsletters or mail her/him publications which are related to your business.

You will have more time to do the work you enjoy. You can focus on your business plan. Best of all you can partner with someone who has an interest in the growth of your business.

Janine Gregor

When a business owner is need of a virtual assistant, the protocol is to submit a Request for Proposal (RFP).  This online document format varies from posting-site to posting-site but the main components are:

*Software or Hardware needed?

*Expected date of completion if one-time project work

*What do you expect from a virtual assistant?

Here are 5 basic recommendations I have compiled when submitting an RFP to better help the virtual assistant assess your needs:

1)    Unless the proposal is anonymous, submitting your website address is helpful to the virtual assistant choosing to respond.  Even if the online format does not ask for your company URL, consider adding this information.  I prefer to research the company for which I am submitting a proposal beforehand, so any industry information will only help the virtual assistant send an informative introductory letter to the potential client.

Janine Gregor