Speaking the Right Language

When we respond to RFPs, we make a lot of assumptions about the reviewers on the other end. This may not be a conscious activity, but because we are so entrenched in our response and our challenges, we don’t always slow down long enough to realize that there are real dynamic beings on the other side of the RFP. Focusing our writing to their style, not just our style, helps capture their attention for a more effective response.

There is likely more than one person evaluating a proposal, and each one comes with his or her own uniqueness. Individuals have different perspectives and different personalities. So, how do you write to several different types of people?

There is likely more than one person evaluating a proposal, and each one comes with his or her own uniqueness.

If you take time to consider the various behavioral styles (or the personalities) that may be reading your proposal, you realize that you need to write your response to accommodate all styles, especially when you don’t know who exactly will be reviewing and evaluating your response.

Let’s take a look at the four major behavioral styles:

1. Straight shooter: Straight shooters don’t like to waste time. They probably will read the beginning of your answer and then move on. They enjoy efficiency and appreciate hearing about benefits over features and will focus on the bottom line. They like to do business with people who are focused and get results. Straight shooters love case studies, quantifiable results, and value-adds.
2. Social butterfly: Social butterflies love people and are generally very outgoing and extroverted. They want to do business with people they like. They do not like boring, and they will appreciate getting to know someone through personal stories and testimonials. They also will probably read just the first part of your answer and not be overly thorough.
3. Slow and steady: Slow and steady personalities are very methodical and like process. They will appreciate responses that break things out into steps. They are very loyal, and once they trust you, they likely won’t want to leave you. They will be the ones that like additional detail, so that supporting documentation in the appendices will appeal to them.
4. Statistical: You guessed it, the statistical personality loves data. These individuals tend to be very analytical, and they don’t like fluff. You can easily lose their attention in an RFP response if you’re telling too many stories without the data to back them up. Quantifiable results in callout boxes will appeal to these personalities, and they will also likely tune into supporting documentation as long as it’s factual.

How do you balance all of these personalities in one response? You combine a little bit of everything and don’t emphasize too much of one thing.

How do you balance all of these personalities in one response? You combine a little bit of everything and don’t emphasize too much of one thing. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to make sure you are covering all four styles in your response:

• Have we been short and succinct, yet in a friendly voice?
• Have we answered the question at a high level in the first paragraph, so the skimmers will get a full understanding of our solution?
• Have we backed up our claims with tangible evidence?
• Have we laid out our processes in simple terms so that both high-energy and lower-energy reviewers can easily follow along?
• Do we have a good balance between formal and informal writing?
• Have we demonstrated an appropriate balance of people focus (partnership, relationship, etc.) and results orientation?

If you can answer “yes” to these questions, you will do well in resonating with all four behavioral styles.

Lisa Rehurek is founder and CEO of The RFP Success™ Co., a Tempe, Arizona-based business consultancy. She can be reached at lisa@lisarehurek.com.