Beyond the RFP: What Modern Buyers Expect

Why Traditional RFPs Are No Longer Enough

The Changing Landscape of RFPs

I think this goes without saying — traditional RFPs (Requests for Proposals) are a thing of the past. Buyers are increasingly seeking more information, far beyond a generic cut-and-paste answer.

As a fundamental component in securing business, RFPs remain a primary type of assessment that companies must address. In fact, nearly 50% of organizations say they respond to these lengthy, highly technical requests at least once per week. For already stretched sales and presales teams, this creates significant pressure.

Why Iris Was Built for This Problem

Iris not only acknowledges this challenge — we’re hitting it head-on. This is not just a concern I’m hearing from prospective clients, but also a pain I have felt myself. That is exactly what attracted me to Iris early on: both as a representative of the company and as an end user who needed a better way.

Beyond RFPs: The Expanding World of Information Requests

The landscape of information requests is broadening and growing in complexity. Organizations today don’t just face RFPs — they’re increasingly dealing with:

• RFIs (Requests for Information)
• RFQs (Requests for Quotation)
• DDQs (Due Diligence Questionnaires)
• VRAs (Vendor Risk Assessments)
• ESG and DEI questionnaires
• …and countless other three-letter acronyms that require tailored, detailed responses

This variety means organizations must manage an extensive workload of questionnaires, assessments, and inquiries — each one requiring personalization to fit the audience.

How Iris Helps Teams Respond Better

This is where Iris excels. Instead of relying on disconnected documents or outdated Q&A banks, Iris gathers, shapes, and personalizes company knowledge to ensure every response is:

• Current and compliant
• Accurate and detailed
• Compelling and on-brand

Through a fluid, AI-powered response process, Iris brings together subject matter experts (SMEs) and stakeholders to collaborate effectively and share knowledge efficiently.

Core Competencies That Matter in RFP Response

Almost 100% of organizations consider the following competencies critical when it comes to strategic response management — all of which Iris provides:

• Aligning stakeholders on the response process
• Facilitating cross-functional collaboration across departments
• Maintaining a consistent brand voice across proposals
• Producing accurate, detailed, and compliant responses
• Centralizing knowledge in a single source of truth
• Personalizing responses at scale with AI assistance
• Trending historical data to identify what drives wins
• Generating reports to measure response impact
• Enabling automation and self-service tools for faster cycles

Why Iris Is Different From Other “AI RFP Tools”

Instead of clicking a button to spin up a proposal from a bank of canned responses, Iris is actually focusing on the meat of the process.

With Iris, every rep or SME becomes infinitely more autonomous — empowered to act like an expert on company knowledge, without waiting on bottlenecks.

Where other platforms stop at retrieval, Iris delivers AI-powered generation, personalization, and collaboration toolsthat actually elevate the quality of responses.

The Evolution of RFP Software

The way people are thinking about RFPs is evolving. Shouldn’t you have a platform that is evolving as well?

Iris serves as your internal AI deal desk, empowering enablement, tailoring content for specific audiences, and providing the collaboration tools needed to make the RFP process faster, smarter, and more effective.

Bottom Line: Transforming How Teams Respond

The bottom line is clear: the right AI RFP software doesn’t just make responses faster — it transforms how your team works. By enabling accuracy, compliance, security, and personalization at scale, Iris ensures that organizations can handle RFPs, RFIs, DDQs, and more with confidence.

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