Writing RFPs for building maintenance companies is an important part of Boardroom Metrics’ business.
Winning RFPs is a Key Opportunity to Grow Many Businesses
There’s a noticeable welcome feeling when you walk into a public building is being well maintained. Chances are the building maintenance company responsible has successfully competed in an RFP bidding process and been awarded a contract for doing the work. Every year, literally billions of dollars worth of Government and Commercial contracts are awarded through the RFP and RFQ bidding processes.
RFP stands for Request for Proposal. RFQ is Request for Quote. Governments and commercial clients use the RFP/RFQ process to seek out and evaluate qualified vendors bidding for contracts. Contracts are awarded to successful companies of all sizes.
Especially when a building maintenance company is ready to take their business to the next level, successfully winning an RFP bid is crucial. The question is, how does a small or medium sized building maintenance company with no RFP writing experience do that?
How the RFP/RFQ process works
Typically, new building maintenance RFPs and RFQs will be posted through an on-line proposal portal. There are several of these portals. Some key ones to monitor are Biddingo, Bonfire or Jaggaer (see links below). In the posting, the RFP or RFQ issuer defines the criteria that building maintenance companies must meet in order to respond to the proposal. These ‘mandatory requirements’ are then evaluated and rated by the issuer on a scale that determines a successful bid. Here is an example of how an Ontario Municipality recently defined their evaluation formula based on 100% total scoring:
50% = Pricing
15% = Company Profile, Experience and Qualifications
35% = Methodology 35%
Pricing: Whenever we see that Pricing is worth 50% of the scoring, this means that your price MUST be competitive. You are experts in your industry and should know where your pricing fits versus your competitors. It means that a good price is the top priority for the issuer.
Company Profile, Experience and Qualifications: Pricing isn’t everything. In some cases, it is not even the top priority. RFP/RFQ issuers also want to know that you have relevant, successful, past experience fulfilling the work required in the contract. This is where having strong references is very helpful. Other things that score highly in this section are attracting and retaining quality personnel; owning and purchasing modern equipment; a focus on continuous training and on-going skill development for employees; having a solid Health and Safety Policy; and, of course being Environmentally friendly.
Methodology: This section details how you do what you do – what’s your building maintenance process? What’s your method of operating? This includes, planning, scheduling, listings of all equipment; and, documentation of your equipment maintenance program. It should also include how you communicate between cleaning staff and the Government agency or the Building managers, and defining your Quality Control process. In working with building maintenance vendors, we generally find that regardless of size, they know their operation and what it takes to maintain a building successfully. Otherwise, it is difficult to grow. This knowledge and expertise must be communicated in a way that meets the needs of the issuer.
List of On-line Portals for Building Maintenance RFPs and RFQs
Here is a partial list of Ontario online Portals where building maintenance RFPs, RFQ, tenders and proposals may be found. The proposals listed come from a wide range of organizations including the Ontario Government; Ministries and Agencies, every Municipality, Schoolboard, University and College, Healthcare facilities; Hospitals, Long Term Care homes, Assisted Care, Children’s Aid Societies and Community Care Access corporations:
1) Jaggaer:
2) Bonfire: https://gobonfire.com/
3) Biddingo: https://www.biddingo.com/*.main?toPage=SrBrowserReg.jsp $250/year
The Key to Writing a Successful Building Maintenance RFP
One of the greatest challenges in successful RFP writing is determining what exactly the bidder is asking for. Many RFPs are difficult to understand. It frequently isn’t easy to interpret what issuers are really asking for. Sometimes this is intentional. Sometimes it is because of thow the RFP is written.
Understanding what an issuer is seeking and responding clearly to meet their requirements is how hiring a professional RFP writer (like Boardroom Metrics) can really help – especially for first-time bidders or companies who have not won many RFPs. RFP specialists, like those at Boardroom Metrics have many years experience reading, understanding and responding to RFP’s and RFQs. They can really help you navigate the complex and get comfortable with the RFP process. A big part of this process is creating a Deliverables Checklist that outlines everything required to respond to the RFP. Once you have this understanding, then it is easy for you to respond to future RFPs and RFQs on your own, if that’s what you choose to do.
Summary of Building Maintenance RFP Writing
We take great pride in helping organizations of all sizes. We especially love to see companies take their business to the next level by winning their first RFP. If you reach out, we can talk in more detail about our process for writing RFPs and how we can help. Here is a link to our RFP Services page. Good luck!
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