Pitching and Negotiation

Skills
Presented by: Dr.Lana Al-Awartany
Content page

 Request for Proposal (RFP).

 Definition.
 Tips and Notes.
 Process Explanation.

 Contractual process and contract types.

 Documents required.
 Monitoring process.
 Request For proposal (RFP)

 A request for proposal (RFP): is a document that solicited proposal, often made through a bidding process,
by an agency or company interested in procurement of a commodity, service or valuable asset, to potential
suppliers to submit business proposals. It is submitted early in the procurement cycle, either at the
preliminary study, or procurement stage.

 A request for proposal (RFP) is a business document that announces a project, describes it, and solicits bids
from qualified contractors to complete it.

 A request for proposal (RFP) is a formal request in which the issuer asks vendors to submit proposals
demonstrating how a product or service they offer can address one or more of the issuer’s key business
 RFP continued

 Document.

 Requested by Receiver.

 Product or/and Service.

 Submission / request time.

 Qualified Vendors to submit proposal

 Extra tips:
 Information requested within RFP
 An RFP typically involves more than a request for the price. Other requested information may
include: Basic corporate information and history, financial information, technical capability,
product information such as stock availability and estimated completion period, and customer
references that can be checked to determine a company's suitability
 Skillfully creating a request for proposal can ensure the success or failure of the resulting
solution

 Why do an RFP process?

 Outsource to serve a new project(Extra resources or expertise needed)

 To generate competition-increase the potential price/rent received or otherwise strike a

better bargain

 To get a range of solutions to best refine the project to achieve designed goals.

  The agencies want to ensure that they get the lowest and most competitive bid.
 Important Notes:
 Ensure to alert suppliers that selection process is competitive

 Ensures that suppliers respond factually to the identified requirements.

 Allows for wide distribution and response.

 Keep in mind that if the requirements analysis have been prepared properly, It
can be incorporated quite easily into the Requested document.

 It is generally expected to follow a structure evaluation and selection procedure,

so that an organization can demonstrate impartiality a crucial factor in public
sector procurements.
 Preparing for negotiations through a
RFP form
 An RFP is the face of your company so it’s important to compose them well. Good ones lead to good proposals
lead to better working relationships, which leads to better projects and outcomes.

 Sending out an RFP is a pretty standard operating procedure: potential clients determine a rough scope of the
job to be done, assess the timeline and budget available, and reach out to vendors asking them to propose a
solution (and themselves) as the best fit. They’re usually followed by a question-and-answer period and the
more useful details you can include up front, the less back and forth there'll be with the vendors later.
 RFP Elements
1. Brief Project Overview
 Organization Introduction and purpose RFP. This part of the RFP is mainly summary on the project/ deal.

2. Your Organization’s Background

 Describe your organization, what it does, and what you do, Additionally, this section comprises information on about your
values, Uniqueness of your company.

3. Project Goals & Target Audience

 Explain what company plan to accomplish. What are the most important things that, if done well, will make a success in
your eyes?

4. Sitemap
 will help you determine which questions to include in the RFP, Much of it may be outdated or irrelevant.

5. Scope of Work & Deliverables

 Here’s where you want to provide more detail about the project. Describe all the services you know that you’ll be hiring a
web team for
6. Timeline
 You may not know how long something will take to do, but you do have a timeline you have to accomplish it
within. Maybe you have a big trade show coming up and need the site live by then? Be sure to mention any firm
dates beyond the vendor selection process.

7. Technical Requirements
 This is a pretty broad subject but your goal here is to describe what limitations or requirements you know in
advance.

8. Principal Point of Contact

 Usually, most writers of the RFP are the ones who will lead the project. If not, or if there are other team
members involved, specify who they are

9. Budget
 It is a necessity to include budget, even if it’s best guess, If need to specify a range that is also acceptable.
 This also might include both assets and services.
10. Ongoing Support / Retainer
 It’s pretty typical to engage the vendor in an ongoing retainer agreement for support, training, ongoing
development or all 3.

11. Format & Proposal Timeline

 Does the proposal need to be submitted in a particular format, such as MS Word or PDF.
 Do you require signed & notarized hard copies
 Does it need to be single-spaced with no staples
 Is it OK for the vendor to use freelancers or sub-contractors or does every member of the team need to be
full-time
 What's the timeline for submitting the proposals, Typically, there's a deadline for receipt, for selecting semi-
finalists, for scheduling interviews and for final selection.
 Do the semi-final interviews need to be in-person or is remote OK.
RFP process steps

1. Gathering RFP requirements

2. Crafting your RFP
3. Conducting the initial evaluation
4. Following up with shortlisted vendors
5. Making your final selection
6. Creating and completing the contract
 1. Gathering RFP requirements
 Project Overview
it’s in the issuer’s best interest to make this document as clear as possible. The more information provided, the more accurate
and useful the proposals will be. 
You might also in this section comprises information on about your values, Uniqueness of your company
 Purpose
By checking stakeholders’ expectation and problem needed to be solved
 Project Goals
Explain what company plan to accomplish. What are the most important things that, if done well, will make a success in your eyes?
Examples: Do you know of any quantitative metrics that will help, such as increased sales or more newsletter subscribers or
better-qualified leads?
 Evaluation criteria
Identify the most important deliverable/desired outcomes and how to you will score them and how you will categorize them
Example factors: price, response time, availability, after sales service,,,etc
 2. Crafting your RFP

 During step number 1, dozens of questions might be raised, thus crafting will help you determine
which questions to include in the RFP, Much of it may be outdated or irrelevant.

 Questions might be classified based on industry need and project complicating, phrasing questions in a
yes or no format can help quickly eliminate unqualified or underqualified suppliers or open text
answers can encourage suppliers to share their creativity and vision.

 As you build RFPs, you may find it helpful to save them as templates. Remember, always review your
templates and remove any unnecessary or irrelevant questions. 
3. Conducting the initial evaluation
 This step started after Vendors submitted their proposals

 Expected outcomes: to short list the Vendors

 3 steps to select your shortlist:

1. Compare critical factors to vendor strengths

2. Eliminate vendors who are not qualified or cannot compete

3. Identify differentiation factors for an in-depth comparison

 4. Following up with shortlisted vendors
 In depth evaluation step

 Ask follow-up questions that focus on critical factors

 Set weighted scoring criteria

 Based on service/proposal requested, Vendors might be requested to proceed with detailed presentation or
Demo to represent their service/proposal
 5. Making your final selection

 At this step, issuer should decide which proposal/offer/solution will best fit their needs/desired goals.

 Widen the range of stockholders involved in the choosing criteria.

 internal review of the scoring might be requested to ensure that areas of disagreement can be identified.
 6. Creating and completing the contract
 Selecting a vendor is not the end of the process
 It’s time to document the decision
 Drafting a statement of work (SOW) from responses gathered
 Including performance metrics and review process in the contract
 Once the proverbial dotted lines have been signed, though, the process is concluded and the vendor
relationship begins

 One final Tip: share with your vendors the outcome and provide them with your feedback behind your decision
if possible, such a tip might maintain the good/positive relationship with your future potential vendors
Contractual process and contract types.
The Contractual Process & agreements
 A. What is Contract?
 An agreement between two or more parties that creates obligations that are enforceable or otherwise
recognized by law.

 A contract is a very important aspect of a business relationship between the parties involved.

 Contracts also include extra details like: the scope of work of the project, quality control, project schedules,
and payment terms.

 A contracting process: is a series of tasks and activities, defined differently by each individual company.

 Contracting agencies can be private industry, government agencies and non-profit organizations.

 Contract management: are the processes put in place by a business to govern all aspects of a contract.
 Which Contract to use?
 When applicable, and if you have the luxury to choose the contract type, it is always a key success to select the
agreement type best suited for your transaction.

 Contract should be written in clear language, followed country’s law requirements, expedite the contracting
process, and are intended to be fair to all parties.

 Contractual transactions entered into using a standard agreement do not require additional review and approval.
Types of Contract

 Fixed-price contracts

 Cost-plus contracts

 Time and materials contracts:

1. Fixed-price contracts:
 Fixed-price contracts are also known as lump-sum contracts.

 Ideally used when clearly defined scope of work.

 Buyer provided needed information, while the seller creates a formal statement of work.

 Seller statement should outlines: 1- the total project cost (incl. both labor and materials) 2- billing milestones
based on a detailed project schedule.

 Any changes to the scope of work or timeline will be subjected to extra charges.

 Sellers take on the majority of the risk.

 Help buyer to determine the exact cost of the project from the start.
2. Cost-plus contracts:
 Also known as a cost-reimbursable contract.

 A fixed percentage charged by the seller added to the actual he actual cost of any materials, equipment, labor,
and overhead involved in running the project.

 A cost-plus contract defines all rates and percentages, as well as all allowable expenses and incurred costs.

 The contract might be subjected to a maximum amount sellers can spend. In case of any exception, this should
be pending for buyer's approval.

 With a cost-plus contract, neither the rates for materials and labor nor the quantity of time needed to
complete the project is fixed

 Uncertainties and risks are by the buyers side.

 Buyers prefer such contract because they only pay for what they get.
3.Time and materials contracts:
 Preferable by buyers when scope is not clear enough at the beginning of project.

 Sellers use time and materials contracts when it's difficult to determine the amount of time they need to spend on
the project and the types of materials required to complete the project.

 With this type of contract, sellers charge for the cost of any materials they end up using plus an hourly or daily wage.

 All rates, including any markup charges on materials and wages, are included in the terms of the contract. Once the
contract is finalized and accepted, these rates stay in place for the duration of the contract.

 Time and materials contracts work well for budget-conscious buyers. If they keep a close eye on the project costs,
this type of contract provides an excellent way for buyers to enhance the skills on their team.

 However, a time and materials project poses a risk of blowing estimated costs if the project is not well managed.

 When sellers charge buyers based on time and materials, they typically keep a record of the time spent working on a
certain project, as well as proof of any work they did during this time. This provides buyers peace of mind that their
money is well spent. 
 B. The Necessary Information
 It is important not to engage in any work without a formal, written agreement signed by a
person authorized to sign.

 What documents are needed to complete the contracting package?

The complete contracting package will include:
1. Fully signed Proposal Routing Sheet. 
2. Budget
3. Payment Schedule
4. Statement/Scope of work
5. Word version of the contract with all relevant exhibits and attachments
6. Additional supporting documents
 C. Choosing a Negotiator
 It is a key strategy process decision.

 Another important tip: before choosing, consider how they will look from the counterpart’s
side/perspective/point of view.

 Direct negotiation team generally only involve a few people, but indirectly (at the backend operation)
negotiation steps could involve more team members with discrete fields of expertise.

 Negotiation team leader needs to know all the information that is being shared.

 Teamwork is critical
 Choosing a Negotiator Contnd
 Points to be considered:
1. Negotiation experience.

2. Understanding of negotiation processes.

3. Position and Level of authority.

4. The way s/he performs during negotiation.

5. Concession process management.

6. Communication skills.

7. personal competences (this should be defined based on situation itself)

 D. Contract Review Process
 This step is important to ensure that all the (needed) Elements of the contract are included before signing the
contract.
  It is also important to reduces overall risk by preventing any misunderstanding point.
 Review responsibility might be vary based on ; contract scope and importance, financial situation,
complexity ,stakeholders involvement, etc..
 It is a good technique to make a checklist to ensure that the most important areas in the contract are being
carefully analyzed and cleared.
 Follow the internal routing path when submitting the contract, as an example:
1- Send only original agreements -- faxed, scanned, or copied signatures are not accepted usually.
2- Include all terms & conditions, either on the back of the document or as an attachment.
3- Include all referenced exhibits, attachments or addendums.
4- It is important to note that contracting reviews agreements only for legal content and may not be aware of any
special terms and conditions. As principal investigator, you are responsible for correct inclusion of special terms or
conditions

 All processing times are dependent on the complexity of the agreement.

 E.Contract Signing

 This is the part of the process where the parties of the contract meet in presence of legal agency approved by
the government. Reading the terms & conditions and finally agree to the same by accepting through signature on
the contract binding the two or more parties in the deal.