By Jane Bayler, The Smart Connector. Former MD of FutureBrand, with more than 20 years in global brand strategy.
By the time an RFP reaches your inbox, you have usually already lost the part of the sale that matters most.
The buyer has defined the problem. Someone else has influenced the scope. Procurement has set the rules. Your job is now to explain why you are the safest supplier inside a process designed to make every supplier look comparable.
That is why capable independent consultants lose RFPs they could have delivered brilliantly. The issue is not always your proposal, your price or your credentials. The issue is that you entered after the decision had already begun.
You do not win the RFP game by playing it better. You win by making it irrelevant.
The commercial move is to get upstream. Help the decision-maker define the problem before procurement becomes involved, own a point of view, build relationships with the people who control the outcome, and package your work around the result rather than the hours required to produce it.
Why the RFP puts you in a weaker position
An RFP is a formal request for several suppliers to explain their approach, timeline and pricing. In a large organisation, it exists to create consistency and reduce risk. That makes sense from the buyer’s side.
It is less helpful from yours.
By the time the request reaches you, the work has been translated into a set of deliverables. The buyer is comparing inputs, compliance, timelines and price. Your strategic judgement has been reduced to a response against somebody else’s interpretation of the problem.
That is a serious loss of commercial power. You are no longer helping the buyer decide what must change. You are answering a set of questions that may already contain the wrong diagnosis.
Senior professionals who have left corporate life are especially vulnerable here. They have spent years being invited into important decisions. Their reputation, network and past experience created access. Then they become independent and discover that expertise does not automatically create a route to the economic buyer.
The familiar corporate response is to produce a better document. More detail. More credentials. More case studies. More pages explaining the process.
That response is understandable and commercially weak. A longer answer to a commoditised brief is still a commoditised answer.
The shift from supplier to strategic partner
Independent consultants avoid the RFP trap by influencing the demand before the formal purchase exists. That requires three deliberate shifts.
1. Describe the problem before you describe your service
Most consultants wait for a prospect to name the problem they solve. That feels respectful, but it hands the buyer’s language and frame to somebody else.
Instead, publish and discuss the patterns you see. Explain the commercial cost of the problem. Show what senior leaders tend to misdiagnose. State what changes when the issue is solved properly.
When a decision-maker starts thinking, “This is exactly how we should be looking at it,” your point of view has entered the decision before a supplier list is created.
This is the thinking behind Jane’s Chosen First System. The aim is not maximum visibility. It is to become the obvious person for a specific, valuable problem.
2. Build relationships with economic buyers, not only functional contacts
Procurement usually enters when a decision is already in motion. If you only speak to the functional person who has been asked to source a supplier, you are seeing the buying process at the end of its journey.
You need relationships with the people who care about the commercial consequence. That may be the CEO, founder, managing director or senior executive responsible for the result.
This is not a suggestion to bypass everyone else. Functional buyers have a valid role and deserve respect. It is a warning not to let one gatekeeper become your only route to the decision.
Ask better questions early. What has made this important now? What happens if nothing changes? Who else is affected by the outcome? How will the organisation decide whether the investment worked?
Those questions move you from supplier conversation to decision conversation.
3. Sell the outcome, not the activity
RFPs are built to compare activities. Workshops, interviews, reports, implementation support and monthly meetings are easy to list beside a competitor’s version.
Outcomes are harder to compare. Strategic clarity. A stronger position. A shorter sales cycle. A more valuable client base. Better access to the people who can approve the work.
This does not mean promising an outcome you cannot control. It means connecting your method to the business change the buyer actually needs.
Jane’s Message To Market Fit principle is simple: the market needs to understand the value of the change, not admire the list of tasks required to produce it.
| Supplier frame | Strategic partner frame |
|---|---|
| Here is what we will deliver. | Here is the decision this work will help you make. |
| Here is our process and timeline. | Here is the commercial problem we will clarify and change. |
| Here is our day rate. | Here is the value of resolving the issue properly. |
| We can respond to your brief. | We can help you define the right brief. |
My experience of the problem
For 20 years, I worked in global advertising and brand strategy. I sat on the agency side and saw how major decisions were shaped. I also ran a business that grew from £1 million to £6 million in under two years before we sold it to Interpublic.
That experience taught me that the visible request is rarely the whole decision. At senior levels, the person who first contacts you may not be the person who owns the money, carries the risk or has to defend the choice internally.
When I work with an independent expert, I am looking for the thinking that happens before the proposal. What are they seeing that the buyer has not articulated? Can they connect the commercial issue to a decision at board level? Can they help the organisation understand why the work matters before they start comparing suppliers?
If the answer is yes, the proposal becomes confirmation. If the answer is no, the proposal becomes a test of price and presentation.
That difference is not academic. It determines whether your expertise is treated as a strategic asset or as a line item.
Three mistakes that keep consultants trapped in the RFP
- Waiting for the perfect invitation. Inbound opportunities are attractive because the buyer has already announced a need. They also arrive with the scope and comparison rules attached.
- Leading with methodology. A framework matters after the buyer understands the problem. Introduce it too soon and you look like another provider with a process.
- Speaking to one champion. High-value decisions are usually a group effort. Map who influences the decision, who owns the risk and who signs it off. One enthusiastic contact is not a buying committee.
What to do before the next brief arrives
Choose the organisations where your expertise can create a meaningful commercial difference. Treat each one as a market of one. Study its priorities, leadership language and public decisions. Then create useful points of view that help the people inside that organisation see an issue more clearly.
Do not turn this into generic outreach. A senior buyer does not need another message saying you would love to connect. Bring an observation, a question or an introduction that has relevance to the decision they are facing.
As your visibility and relationships develop, package your service around the outcome. Use a named method where it helps the buyer understand how you think. Jane’s strategic services follow this principle: the value is in the commercial shift, not in a pile of activities.
If procurement still appears, you have not failed. You may still need to participate. The difference is that you are now entering with a point of view, internal advocates and a clearer definition of value.
That can turn an open competition into a decision where your work is already the reference point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should independent consultants refuse every RFP?
No. Some RFPs are worth answering, especially when you already have access, influence and a clear understanding of the commercial problem. The mistake is treating every RFP as a growth strategy. Build demand upstream so you can choose the opportunities where your expertise will be judged on value, not only compliance and price.
How do I get involved before procurement?
Build relationships with senior decision-makers before a formal project exists. Publish useful points of view, ask commercial questions and help clarify problems that have not yet been fully defined. The aim is to contribute to the decision itself, rather than waiting to be invited into the supplier-selection stage.
What should I put in a proposal?
Connect your approach to the business decision and outcome the buyer cares about. Explain the problem, the consequences of leaving it unresolved, the change you will help create and how progress will be assessed. Keep activities in the document, but do not make them the headline.
What if the buyer insists on an RFP?
Respect the process while protecting your position. Ask how the problem was defined, who shaped the scope, how the decision will be made and what outcome matters most. If you can add insight before submitting, do so. If the process is purely price-led, decide whether it deserves your time.
Can a personal brand help me avoid price comparison?
Yes, when it communicates a specific point of view to a specific buyer. Generic visibility creates attention without preference. Strong positioning helps the right people associate you with a valuable problem before they start searching for suppliers. That is the difference between being known and being chosen.
How many stakeholders should I speak to?
Enough to understand how the decision works, not an arbitrary number. Identify the economic buyer, the people affected by the result, the functional owner, the procurement contact and anyone who can block approval. A strong discovery process maps the decision ecosystem as well as the stated problem.
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The RFP is not where your expertise becomes valuable. It is where the buyer tries to measure value after the important thinking has already happened. If you keep arriving there first, do not blame the proposal when you lose.
