6 IT Support Contract Tips for Coping with RFPs

IT support contracts are often awarded as a result of a Request for Proposal. Decoding the RFP is important to succeed at winning the contract.

In this post, we'll look at six questions that you should be asking every time you come across an RFP that you didn't have the luxury of writing yourself. 

1. Does the client appear to believe that every scrap of information about him is super-secret? Do not expect that to change when he is paying you. It may be impossible to meet the client’s needs because he won’t let you know what his company is or does.

2. Who is running the show? Purchasing is probably the point of contact, which is fine. If purchasing (rather than IT or Finance) will be the sole decision-maker, then expect all add-on work to be purchased on price instead of value.

3. How much extraneous information is requested? If a small company wants to see your policy on “Protecting the Rights of Left-Handed Lutheran Balding Bowling Team Captains of Samoan Descent,” you should pad the pricing now. Once the contract is signed, you will need a full-time employee to handle this sort of zero-value-add nonsense.

4. Is the client asking the right questions? You do not care if the client knows anything about IT support contracts or not. A client who asks the right questions will be a joy.

5. Is there a compliance matrix? This is usually a table with a list of every requirement in one column and a place in the second column for you to fill in the page/paragraph where you comply. If there is none, you are on your way to winning. You can create one and blow the socks off the client, who will then apply your matrix to all the other proposals and find out that your competitors missed something.

6. Does the client appear to value what you believe should be valued? This is subjective, but will still make or break your relationship. If you and the client are not on the same page about what is important, save your time for opportunities you will not regret winning.

Most of all, remember that IT support contracts are never better than the RFP that gave them birth.

What has been your experience with RFPs for IT support contracts? Please share your tips, hints, and war stories in the comments below.

And if you're trying to grow your IT support client base, especially with SaaS and IaaS support, make sure that you enroll now in our free 7-day eCourse: Go-to-Market Strategy 101 for B2B SaaS Startups and Scaleups.