RFPs and due diligence questionnaires (DDQs) are amazingly effective at proliferating around an organization and eating up your colleagues’ time as a silent productivity killer.

Questionnaires often arrive unexpectedly, so you can’t always necessarily plan for them. There’s usually a deal on the line, so they require immediate attention and quick turnarounds. Your weekend BBQ just became a DDQ.

RFPs and due diligence questionnaires require input from specialists across the whole organization, requiring endless emails, IMs, spreadsheet versions and passive aggressive reminders to get the job done.

Constant context switching is the millstone around the neck of organizational productivity. Questionnaires are a toxic combination of: important, detailed,
repetitive and of low relevance to a subject matter expert’s goals. The
perfect recipe for frustration!

However, there are practical strategies that can alleviate the burden, speed up sales momentum and improve the quality of your responses once you understand how the process looks in your organization.

What job titles and roles are responsible for RFPs and due diligence questionnaires?

You’d be amazed how many people end up getting involved in RFPs and
DDQs. Here's a breakdown of the key players in your organization:

1. Frontline sales

Accound Executives are the frontline warriors in the sales process, managing customer relationships and quarterbacking the due diligence process. When they should ideally be building relationships and understanding your customers’ requirements, they’re often stuck navigating the due diligence process and managing internal stakeholders instead.

2. Technical sales

This team supports frontline sales by providing in-depth technical knowledge about the product. They often do a "first pass" of due diligence questions relating to the product and technology, although sometimes DDQs and RFPs are farmed out to them entirely.

3. Customer success (CS)

From a due diligence perspective, CS teams need to understand the customer's product and operational requirements. They are likely to manage any post-deal due diligence requirements so it's important this context is handed over effectively to them so they can maintain and elevate the trust you’ve begun to build in the sales process.

4. Subject matter experts (SMEs)

These are the individuals with deep knowledge in specific areas related to your product or service. SMEs will bring the specialist knowledge required for many of your customers’ questions. They can often end up being a blocker though, and the cost of pulling them away from their core job can be very high.

Subject matter experts could include people from the following departments:

1. Legal
2. Finance
3. Product & Engineering
4. IT
5. Cybersecurity
6. Operations
7. Compliance

Check out our case study with Omnea and find out how Platformed took RFPs and DDQs from strenuous to straightforward

DDQ-topia: collaboration without bottlenecks

So, what does "good" look like for RFP and due dilligence questionnaire processes?

1. Self-sufficient sales teams

Sales teams can handle 90% of RFP and DDQ queries using the company knowledgebase, reducing dependency on subject matter experts. Ideally this is automated to a high degree so it’s not a time consuming task for the AE.

2. Subject matter experts keeping their ear to the ground

SMEs have on-demand insights into the sales process and customer feedback, enabling them to tailor their roadmaps effectively to ensure you have strong foundations upon which to grow trust.

3. Streamlined escalation processes

Clear escalation paths: There are transparent procedures for when and how sales teams should escalate more complicated queries to SMEs.

Rapid response mechanisms: Subject matter experts are supported by tools and processes to give their input speedily in critical situations, ensuring that sales momentum is maximized.

4. Streamlined tooling

Workflows and tooling are integrated into the tools that stakeholders are already using, such as Slack and Docusign.

Discover how Platformed has helped Orbital Witness to speed up its sales cycles and breeze through deals with Platformed Respond

Reducing redundant requests: Ensuring accurate data for sales teams

Developing one central knowledgebase with accurate information that learns with each questionnaire answered and can populate responses with AI could empower sales teams to turn RFPs around quickly with very little project management needed.

A knowledgebase or library, such as Platformed Graph, can work with an automated response provider, such as Platformed Respond, to answer RFPs and DDQs quickly based on uploaded historical data such as:

• Policies and procedures: Includes documents of company policies, processes, and compliance guidelines
• Technical documents: Includes architectural guides, product documentation, and technical specifications
• Historical questionnaires: A searchable archive of previous RFP and DDQ responses. They are a rich source of information for future queries, as long as you can filter out information that’s no longer accurate
• Responsibility assignment: Subject matter experts own different sections of the knowledge base, ensuring content accuracy and relevance
• Continuous contribution: SMEs contribute regularly to keep the knowledge base up-to-date with the latest industry trends and internal developments, and to remove information as it goes stale
• Search-first: Advanced search features, including filters and tags, help users easily locate specific information
• CRM integration: The knowledge base is linked with your CRM to streamline the sales process and provide context-specific information
• Automated responses: Responses to common RFP and DDQ queries are automated using the knowledge base
• Finding conflicts: Ensure that conflicting sources of information are identified and resolved before they have a chance to cause confusion
• Clear ownership and authority: Specific individuals or departments own certain sections of the knowledge base so that there's clear accountability for information accuracy

So there you have it! Even just working towards one part of DDQ-topia will have an immediate impact on freeing up colleagues around the org. It might even save someone’s weekend!

Trusted by innovative brands globally, Platformed is your integrated toolkit to navigate procurement and risk management processes. Platformed automatically builds and maintains a live graph of trust information about your organization, and empowers your team to showcase your trust credentials, respond to trust enquiries, and build trust with enterprises faster than ever before.

If you sell to enterprise organizations and have to balance multiple RFPs and questionnaires per month, Platformed can help to put your procurement pains to bed. Sign up for a demo with our team of experts, or get in touch to find out more.

This is the second instalment of three blogs in our series:

1. An inside look: Due diligence 101 - Delve Into the reasons behind due diligence, its increasing significance, and its role in deal cycles
2. Reaching DDQ-topia: How to get through RFPs and DDQs quickly and painlessly - The impact of RFPs and DDQs on your organization and how can you reduce it
3. Nine tips to navigate RFPs and due diligence questionnaires quickly - Actionable steps to make customer questionnaires quick and predictable

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