A request for proposal, abbreviated as an RFP, is a request for services that your client issues when some work needs to be done at a location.
RFPs may include a description of what should be fixed or installed, some guidelines for you to follow when creating a proposal, and other important details. Clients can issue RFPs to several providers at a time, compare received proposals, and choose the best one.
You can view and process RFPs in the Proposals and RFPs module of Provider Automation.
Accessing the RFPs List and Searching for RFPs
You can either retrieve all RFPs that your clients have sent you or filter your RFPs to find exactly what you need.
- On the top navigation bar, click Proposals. The proposals and RFPs page shows up.
- Under the RFPs column, click View/Process RFP. The page for searching and filtering RFPs opens.
- Click Retrieve Report to view all RFPs that you have. The View/Process RFP page opens.
- On the top navigation bar, click Proposals. The proposals and RFPs page shows up.
- Under the RFPs column, click View/Process RFP. The page for searching and filtering RFPs opens.
Use the filters to search for RFPs submitted to you for a response. You can search by RFP number, status, and date as well as by work order or purchase order number, trade, location, and subscriber.
In the Report Type dropdown, you can select how your search results are presented:
- As a viewable version so that you can view and process them online
- As a printable version so that you can print them out
- As an MS Excel report downloaded to your computer
- Once you’re done with the filters, click Retrieve Report to view a list of RFPs that match your search criteria. The View/Process RFP page opens.
Now you can proceed to view the RFPs that match your search criteria.
Viewing RFPs
You can review RFPs that your clients have sent you on the View/Process RFP page.
On this page, each line represents one RFP for one location of a particular client.
For each RFP, you can check the location details, RFP number, submission date, RFP status, and trade. If you’ve already submitted a proposal in response to your client’s RFP, the proposal info, such as proposal number, submission date, amount, and status, is displayed in the last three columns.
Your clients can edit an RFP even after you have submitted a proposal. If the RFP changes are significant, you will receive an email notification prompting you to submit another proposal to meet new requirements. If the changes are minor, you will receive an email informing you of the changes that occurred.
- The critical changes note will be also shown on the RFP List page.
- You can view updates made to the RFP by clicking the View Updates button.
Contact your Service Channel manager to enable the feature for you and your client(s).
The RFP status is determined by the color-coding.
- Open: You can submit a proposal for this RFP.
- Some PRP’S: Some proposals have been received by the client for this RFP. You can still submit a proposal.
- All PRP’S: All proposals have been received by the client for this RFP. You can no longer submit a proposal.
- Closed: The client has closed this RFP. You can no longer submit a proposal for the RFP.
To view the RFP details, click the link in the RFP # column. The RFP Details page appears. To return to the list of RFPs, click Back.
The RFP Details page shows the RFP number, date when the RFP was created, its description, due date, and attachments, if any.
Processing RFPs
In Provider Automation, to process an RFP means to create a proposal for it. You can do so only for RFPs in the Open or Some PRP’S status.
On the View/Process RFP page, find an RFP for which you want to add a proposal and click Create Proposal. See Creating a Proposal, the Creating a Proposal for an RFP section for detailed instructions.
