Class overview

Summary: Differentiating Your Solution When Responding to RFPs is for sellers who write proposals in response to RFPs. It teaches students how to draft compelling proposal content that differentiates their solutions from competitive alternatives. Other classes tell you it's important to differentiate. This class shows you how. 

Audience: Sellers who write proposals in response to RFPs from commercial organizations or from SLED (state/local government and education) agencies. Differentiating effectively is universal so other audiences may benefit as well.

Duration: This class takes about 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete, plus assignments. You determine how much time you invest completing each assignment. 

Included: Each student receives a comprehensive workbook that includes all of the relevant information presented in class plus lots of examples. Students like our workbooks.

Why should I choose you?

That’s the question your buyers are asking, and that’s the question you need to answer. 

Buyers want to make good buying decisions. They want to choose the vendor who is best suited to their needs. 

The problem is it's difficult to distinguish between vendors, most of whom are qualified and all of whom are proposing similar solutions. Buyers need help deciding. 

This is where you come in.  

If you want to close more business, more consistently, you have to help the buyer by explaining—with exceptional clarity—why the solution you are proposing is both different and better than what everyone else is offering.

Course objective and description

Differentiating Your Solution When Responding to RFPs was designed to teach sellers how to differentiate their solutions more effectively. It does this by focusing on these four topics that sellers struggle with most:  

1. What makes a good differentiator? 
2. How do you find your best differentiators?
3. How do you make differentiators stand out?
4. Where and how do you articulate differentiators in your proposals? 

This class shows students how to identify and write differentiators that make a difference.  

 Audience

Differentiating Your Solution When Responding to RFPs is designed primarily for proposal teams who are actively involved in drafting proposals in response to RFPs. 

The class will also benefit other staff—including salespeople and subject matter experts—who are involved in non-writing aspects of the business or proposal development effort. 

Market focus

The ability to differentiate effectively is universal. 

This class is intended for businesses that respond to RFPs from other businesses or from SLED (state and local government or education) agencies. Despite this, sellers who work in other market sectors, including federal markets, may also benefit. 

Cultural considerations

Differentiating Your Solution When Responding to RFPs was created specifically for sellers in the United States. This is important to understand because the methods we teach may not be applicable in other countries or cultures. 

Competitive norms often vary by culture. It may be entirely appropriate here in the States to be more self-assertive when differentiating your solution. In other cultures, though, the same approach may be perceived as overly aggressive. 

If you have questions or concerns about applicability in your country, please contact us before you sign up for the class. 

Contact the instructor

 If you have questions about this class, or if you want to explore how to implement it within your organization, please contact the instructor, David Seibert, at [email protected].