Common RFP Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
October 14, 2025
By
Evie Secilmis
When it comes to winning business through RFPs, precision matters. Even experienced teams fall into bad habits — skipping steps, overexplaining, or failing to tailor their message. The good news? Most RFP mistakes are completely avoidable with structure and foresight.
Here’s how to recognize — and eliminate — the most common missteps in RFP responses.
1. Submitting Generic Responses
The mistake:
Recycling old proposals without tailoring them to the new opportunity.
How to avoid it:
Start every RFP with a short discovery session. Identify the client’s goals, challenges, and success criteria — and weave that language throughout your response. Personalization proves you’re listening.
2. Ignoring Formatting and Instructions
The mistake:
Overlooking basic submission details like naming conventions, attachments, or page limits.
How to avoid it:
Treat the RFP instructions as part of the evaluation criteria. Build a checklist to ensure compliance before submission.
3. Overloading with Jargon and Filler
The mistake:
Trying to sound impressive with long, technical sentences that dilute your message.
How to avoid it:
Use simple, clear language. Replace buzzwords with real results and examples.
4. Forgetting to Focus on Outcomes
The mistake:
Listing product features instead of explaining the impact they deliver.
How to avoid it:
Frame every feature as a benefit. Tie capabilities directly to quantifiable outcomes — such as time saved, risk reduced, or revenue gained.
5. Rushing Without Review
The mistake:
Skipping final review steps and submitting with typos or missing data.
How to avoid it:
Build review time into your timeline. Assign a second reviewer for tone, accuracy, and completeness.
6. Misunderstanding the Evaluation Criteria
The mistake:
Writing a “good” proposal that doesn’t align with how evaluators are scoring.
How to avoid it:
Study the evaluation rubric and use matching language in your headings. Address each point explicitly so scoring is effortless.
7. Neglecting Visual and Structural Design
The mistake:
Delivering dense, text-heavy proposals that feel hard to navigate.
How to avoid it:
Use visual hierarchy and modular sections. Incorporate tables, diagrams, or timelines for clarity. A polished layout signals professionalism.
8. Skipping the Executive Summary or Cover Letter
The mistake:
Diving straight into technical content without a compelling introduction.
How to avoid it:
Use a short executive summary to reframe the client’s challenge and position your solution as the best fit. Make it conversational and client-focused.
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9. Lack of Collaboration Across Teams
Why it matters:
RFPs often require input from sales, marketing, legal, and technical experts. When teams work in silos, responses become inconsistent.
How to avoid it:
Centralize collaboration with shared workspaces or proposal automation tools (like Iris) to unify content and keep messaging consistent.
10. Missing Post-Submission Follow-Up
Why it matters:
Even a strong proposal can go cold without proactive follow-up.
How to avoid it:
After submitting, send a short, professional follow-up confirming receipt, offering to clarify details, or providing an optional demo link.
11. Failing to Build a Reusable Knowledge Library
Why it matters:
Teams waste hours recreating content that could be reused and refined over time.
How to avoid it:
Create a centralized RFP content library — with approved answers, security documents, and case studies. Automate tagging and version control for faster future responses.
12. Not Measuring RFP Performance
Why it matters:
Without tracking metrics, teams can’t improve their win rate.
How to avoid it:
Analyze RFP data — turnaround times, win/loss rates, reviewer feedback — to identify bottlenecks and opportunities for optimization.
Final Thought
RFPs aren’t just paperwork — they’re reflections of how your company communicates, collaborates, and delivers. Avoiding these mistakes helps you stand out not just for what you sell, but how you sell it.
By investing in structure, clarity, and automation, you transform RFP responses from a repetitive task into a competitive advantage.
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