rfp email cover letter

How to Write a Winning Proposal Cover Letter (Plus 5 Real Examples)

First impressions are important—especially in the world of proposals.

That’s why writing a good cover letter is an essential step towards winning a bid. In the request for proposal (RFP) process, this single-page letter marks your first opportunity to grab a prospect’s attention and make it clear that your company is uniquely positioned to solve their problem. So if you’re currently using boilerplate copy… Stop. Immediately .

In this blog, you’ll learn how to write custom proposal cover letters that grab a prospect’s attention and increase your chances of winning RFP responses . Plus, five examples of real proposal cover letters from industry pros.

In this article, you’ll learn: 

What is a Proposal Cover Letter?

• What to Include in a Proposal Cover Letter
• How to Write a Proposal Cover Letter
• 5 Real Proposal Cover Letter Examples ⭐

Next Steps: Build Quality Proposals Faster

A proposal cover letter is a single-page document used to pitch your business offerings to a potential client. In it, the customer can tell whether you’re genuinely engaged and have done your research—or if you’ve simply copy and pasted generic language from past business proposals.

It’s also your first opportunity to convince a client to why they should continue reading your proposal. Considering the average team spends 32 hours writing a single RFP response , it’s critical that your proposal cover letter makes a good impression.

“This is the most important five paragraphs one can write as it’s the only part everyone will read. You must knock it out of the park or you’ll lose.”

What Should You Include in a Proposal Cover Letter?

Like any good cover letter, your proposal should open with a unique offer or positioning. It’s important to establish early on why your team is best suited to solve a client’s problem.

A strong proposal cover letter includes:

• A greeting : Introduce your company and what you do.
• Clear summary: Describe your value propositions at a high-level. Be sure to connect these points to your client’s needs. ( Also known as an executive summary. )
• Personalized offer: Explain to the client what you can uniquely provide to solve their problem.
• Relevant references: Help the prospect understand why they should choose you over competitors.
• Visuals: If you have a designer on your team, include visuals that help emphasize the most important content on this page. For example, use callout boxes to make value propositions stand out for busy procurement teams who are skimming the page.

From the offer you present, to the visuals you include, the details in your proposal cover letter should be all about the client. The goal is to show how your company shines before they even get into the details of your proposal. Demonstrate the qualities that you bring to this potential customer by starting out your relationship on the right foot.

Jon Williams, Managing Director of Strategic Proposals , shares the key points you should concisely hit to be successful.

“Thank the customer, show enthusiasm, demonstrate senior sponsorship, briefly introduce win themes–and then shut up and leave the rest to a brilliant exec summary!”

How to Write a Winning Proposal Cover Letter

From reading the RFP thoroughly, to outlining a clear offer, there are six critical steps that seasoned proposal professionals recommend you take to craft a quality cover letter. ( Psst…you can fast-track these steps by using AI for proposal writing . )

Step 1: Read the RFP Cover to Cover

This step seems obvious, but it’s surprising how many teams skip it. You must read the RFP thoroughly, from cover to cover, before beginning your letter.

While reading, take note of any recurring themes from your prospect. Perhaps they focus on quality of design and ease of use. Or maybe they emphasize needing certain functionalities or features—whatever the case, Kori Warriner of KCI Technologies recommends you consider the following questions as you read through the request for proposal:

Questions to consider:

• What is the client’s reason behind the project? (revitalization, aging infrastructure, etc.)
• ​​Where is the funding for the project coming from?
• Does the client have any hot-button issues regarding the project?
• What is the desired end-result?
• What would speak to the client? (retirement-friendly, aesthetics, budget, etc.)

“You need to make the client feel as though you are speaking directly to them.”

While questions may differ by industry, the idea remains the same. Reading the RFP thoroughly helps you better understand the problems your prospect is facing. Which in turn help you paint a clearer picture of how your company can support them.

(It can also help spark ideas for win themes, or specific language, that truly resonates with the prospect—more on that later.)

“Instead of saying ‘we are pleased’ or other overused statements such as that, I introduce my company, and then switch back to talking about what we can do to help the client reach their goals,” Kori explains.

Step 2: Capture Your Prospect’s Attention Early

Chances are, your prospect is extremely busy. They’re likely to skim your proposal cover letter—which is why you should focus on making it memorable. Use it to create a connection to your prospect and capture their attention early in the proposal.

In the structure of a proposal , the first paragraph is the best place to earn your reader’s attention, shares Senior Proposal Consultant Kelly Allen.

“Try to capture the reader in the first paragraph by relating to them in some way. If they are a current client, leverage your relationship. If not, demonstrate a clear understanding of what they need.” Kelly Allen, Senior Proposal Consultant, UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)

Step 3: Use Clear, Competitive Win Themes

Once you identify their distinct needs, you can formulate which key themes need to be identified in your cover letter. Then, narrow it down to the most persuasive reasons that your prospect should choose your proposal over a competitor. Eileen Kent, President of Custom Keynotes, explains that these are also known as “ win themes ”.

Win themes should be based on what the customer told you they wanted. Position yourself as the one company that can deliver exactly what your prospect is looking for. To do this well, it’s essential that you also understand what your competition is doing.

Here’s how to brush up on what your competitors are offering:

• Review competitors’ websites
• Read competitors’ financial statements
• Look at review websites like G2 or Forrester reports including your competition
• Ask if clients are willing to share competitors’ past RFPs (You never know, unless you ask)

At this stage, you’ll want to focus on how you can stand out from the competition. Eileen also recommends acknowledging any elephants in the room. By that, she means anything that the client may consider your team’s weakness.

She recommends addressing weak points head on to leave a good impression, “The elephant in the room could be your business size. Address it by talking about how you formed a tight team who have exceeded performance expectations, and worked together for years, so they see that as a strength instead,” she explains.

Step 4: Provide a Personalized Offer

Now that you’ve grabbed your prospect’s attention, you need to maintain it. Do this by outlining clear benefits, which speak directly to their pain points in an enticing and clear way.

You should outline how your product will positively impact the buyer and identify what they will get out of your partnership.

“Choose the top 3-5 features of your solution and describe how they will benefit your customer in a single line. Be direct: Here’s what we offer. Here’s how it will solve your problem.”

Step 5: Use a Strong Closing Statement

Your closing statement should be concise, reiterate your capabilities, and highlight the value you deliver. But don’t forget that it’s also an opportunity to connect with your prospect through the proposal process.

“To build a connection, you have to ignore outdated writing advice and not be afraid to use real language” says Rebecca Baumgartner, Sr. Manager, Proposals, PFS .

“Whoever is reading your cover letter can immediately tell if you’re hiding behind jargon or parroting the language of the RFP because you don’t understand what they need,” she explains.

“But when you write authentically, you have the opportunity to show the client you’ve been listening.”

“A great cover letter isn’t stuffy or formal–it’s a conversation between real people, a chance to put aside the technical language of procurement and connect with the human being on the other side.”

Step 6: Add the Finishing Touches

When crafting your proposal cover letter, there are a few final checkpoints to leave your prospect with a good impression.

Graphics aren’t necessary for a proposal cover letter, but they can be helpful. For example: highlighting a quote from a customer in a different font, or using callout boxes to emphasize your key value propositions. Use visuals that help to emphasize your main points, not distract from them.

Here’s what Izane Cloete-Hamilton, CPP APMP, of nFold recommends.

• Use a company letterhead
• Address the letter to the individual specified in the RFP
• Sign the cover letter from a senior person at your company
• If the response is from a strategic partnership between two companies, use dual signatures
• Ensure your letter is no longer than one page

“Sign the proposal cover letter from the highest-level person with signature authority, preferably someone that the customer knows personally.”

Proposal Cover Letters (5 Real Templates)

Now that you know what steps to follow, it’s time to look at some real examples of business proposal cover letters. While you don’t want to copy a boilerplate letter, these templates may provide helpful guidance for your next proposal.

Here are the types of proposal cover letter examples you’ll see above:

• Real proposal cover letter example from a security company
• Example proposal cover letter for an amusement park
• Real proposal letter & executive summary from an enterprise design consultancy
• Winning cover letter example from KCI technologies
• Another proposal cover letter example from a security company

Looking for a sample grant proposal cover letter? Check out this article .

“Remember, your cover letter isn’t about you, it’s about your client. Let them know that you understand them. Then you can talk about how your company can solve their potential challenge.”

To make more time for writing winning proposal cover letters, you’ll need to make some efficiency gains in your overall RFP process. Start by setting your team up with a proposal software that can improve speed and collaboration amongst your team.

Take Aspen Medical for example. Their business development team started using Loopio’s proposal platform in October of 2019. Within a few short months, they were putting together proactive proposals in just 15-30 minutes and seeing a big return on investment (ROI).

In fact, a survey of 165 companies RFP ROI found that those who consistently use proposal software have achieved results of:

• 51% more RFP responses
• 42% less time spent answering proposal questions
• 85% of companies win more business

If you’re looking to improve the pace of your next proposal, try Loopio’s software.

Improve Your Proposal Writing 📝

Want to learn how to master your craft? Read more about proposal writing skills or how to craft a repeatable RFP response template .

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How to Write a Proposal Cover Letter: Examples + Free Template

Posted by: Cinthya Soto

Proposal cover letters are brief overviews that introduce the more in-depth content of a proposal. Cover letters are normally the first page of a proposal, making them the first impression you will give and your first opportunity to convince the reader to work with you. These letters directly communicate with the client and set the stage for the following proposal details.

If your proposal cover letter is not convincing enough, the reader might not read your entire proposal and choose a competitor. That’s why understanding the do’s and don’ts of proposal cover letter writing is crucial. 

In this blog, we’ll teach you how to structure and write a proposal cover letter, what makes a good and a bad proposal, and we even provide a free downloadable template for your firm to use. 

What Is a Proposal Cover Letter? 

A proposal cover letter is a letter that accompanies an RFP response or bid submission. Its primary purpose is to introduce the proposal, explain its relevance to the recipient, and persuade the reader of the value and credibility of what’s being offered. It sets the tone for the entire proposal, so make sure it’s well-crafted. 

The cover letter needs to be persuasive and blow your prospect away because it provides a first impression. Since it’s often the first thing the recipient will see, it plays a key role in the recipient’s decision to even consider reading the full proposal. 

The cover letter is frequently the initial opportunity for your proposal to align with the reader’s objectives. While it goes on top of the proposal, it shouldn’t be confused with an executive summary that outlines the main highlights of your proposal. 

Why Your Proposal Cover Letter Matters 

Your proposal cover letter is made up of the most important paragraphs you’ll ever write because it’s the section everyone will read. That’s why it’s essential to nail it, or you stand the chance of losing the project. A cover letter helps busy clients decide if they’re interested in reading the complete proposal. Therefore, having a winning proposal cover letter is equally important as the actual proposal. 

The proposal cover letter gives you a chance to leave clients with a memorable first impression. While proposals lean towards factual information, cover letters offer a more personal touch. Establishing an emotional connection from the beginning significantly increases the likelihood of the reader engaging with your entire proposal. 

What Should Be on a Proposal Cover Letter? 

Though the specifics of your proposal may vary based on the nature of your offer and your sector, the proposal cover letter should consistently stick to the following structure: 

Contact Information 

It’s essential to include your contact details, including your name, email, and phone number, as well as your organization’s information such as its name, email, phone number, website, and even its social media handles. For bonus points, include the link to your LinkedIn profile in the heading too so the reader can get a deeper understanding of who you are. 

Make these details easy to find by placing them at the top or bottom of the cover letter, ensuring they’re in a bold and easy-to-read font so potential clients have no problem finding them. Using the company’s letterhead for the letter not only ensures the inclusion of this information but also gives a professional touch. 

Greeting 

This is your chance to introduce your company and what you do. It’s your first opportunity to make a positive impression and establish a connection with the reader. 

Begin with a concise statement about your company. This could be your mission statement, a brief history, or an overview of what makes your organization unique. This is your chance to highlight areas where your company excels, which helps you establish credibility. 

Additionally, highlight your primary areas of specialization or the main services/products you offer. This will give the reader a clear understanding of your role and what you do. 

Summary  

Often, decision-makers are drowned in proposals, and they might not have the time or patience to go through every detail initially. A concise summary ensures that they can quickly understand your proposal’s primary objectives and value.

You should provide details about your value propositions at a high level and connect how they meet your client’s requirements. By summarizing how your proposal addresses the client’s specific challenges or needs, you can instantly resonate with them, emphasizing that your solution is tailored to their situation.

Offer 

Continuing to the offer, this is where you should further explain how you can provide a personalized solution. Clarify to the client the unique value your solution brings to solve their problem. 

Having captured your potential client’s interest, you now have to focus on keeping it. Achieve this by highlighting the clear benefits that directly compellingly address their challenges, making it easy to understand. 

While you’ll be mentioning how your work will benefit the prospect, you should also explain what they will win from choosing to work with you. 

Here are some tips on how you can accomplish this: 

• Select the three to five primary attributes of your solution 
• Explain their advantages for your client in a concise statement 
• Be straightforward– This is what we provide. This is how it solves your issue 

References 

In situations where multiple firms submit proposals, having strong and relevant references can set you apart from competitors. It offers an added layer of reassurance to prospective clients about your experience and competence. Essentially, relevant references help the client understand why they should choose you over others. 

References also show the prospective client or partner that others have trusted you and that you’ve delivered results. By showcasing references from satisfied clients or partners, you demonstrate that you have been trusted in the past, which can solve any insecurity or concerns the potential client might have. 

Visuals 

Visuals aren’t a must for proposal cover letters. However, they can enhance its impact by emphasizing crucial information. If you have a designer on your team, you can incorporate graphics that highlight the key points of the letter. 

Some examples of what this might look like: 

• Highlighting a customer satisfaction quote in a different font to make it stand out 
• Using callout boxes to draw attention to your key value propositions (especially helpful for busy teams skimming the page) 
• Using the company letterhead
• Including the signature from a senior person at your company 

Conclusion 

Similar to introductions, many cover letters tend to focus more on the body content than the concluding paragraph. However, ending on a powerful note is as crucial as creating a compelling start. It’s recommended to conclude your cover letter by highlighting a significant benefit and the value your project will offer to the company. 

Additionally, when wrapping up your proposal cover letter, always encourage them to continue by reading the complete proposal.

How to Write a Proposal Cover Letter 

Now that you know the structure to follow on the proposal cover letter, it’s time to go into the details of how to write a proposal letter. 

Powerful First Sentence 

Starting with a powerful opening sentence can grab the reader’s attention immediately, encourage them to continue reading, and make your proposal stand out among the endless others they may have received. It’s beneficial to use impactful verbs and straightforward wording to ensure your initial sentence remains engaging and brief.  

Demonstrate You Understand the Problem 

In any proposal, it’s essential to demonstrate to your client that you understand the problem they’re facing. Highlight their goals and the reasons behind your collaboration. Present the company’s challenges in an easily comprehensible manner. Dedicate a section to focus on the company’s concerns, and later in the cover letter, you can introduce the proposed solutions. 

Offer to Discuss the Proposal Further 

Before ending your cover letter, you should stress your readiness to dive deeper into the proposal and address any questions or concerns the reader might have. Additionally, this serves as a chance for you to propose a face-to-face meeting with the potential client to further increase your chances of landing the project. 

Thank the Issuer for the Opportunity 

In the cover letter, you have the opportunity to express gratitude to the proposal’s recipients. Recognizing their participation in the process and expressing appreciation for the opportunity not only demonstrates courtesy but also signals to all reviewers that you’ve closely read the RFP guidelines. 

Persuasive Closing

After completing the structure and details of your proposal cover letter, end with a persuasive closing demonstrating your understanding of the next steps. Clients want to understand how you’ll assist them in achieving their objectives and the next steps for moving forward. This demonstrates to them that you can simplify the process by detailing the necessary steps to advance. 

As mentioned earlier, you’ll want to encourage the reader to read the entire proposal. However, you should also mention the opportunity to discuss the proposal further. Some examples of what this might look like include: 

• “We look forward to the opportunity to discuss our proposal further.” 
• “Once you’ve had an opportunity to review our proposal, please don’t hesitate to reach out and follow up with any questions.” 
• “Our team will be following up in a week for an update and see if there are any additional ways we can support your team. “

Signature 

Don’t forget to include a signature! But who signs it? Who signs the proposal cover letter varies based on different factors. The person who has the relationship with the client is in charge of the strategy, and probably carried out the research leading to the proposal is typically the one that should sign the proposal cover letter. 

However, it’s recommended that you have the proposal cover letter signed by the individual with the highest authorization level, ideally someone the client knows. 

Otherwise, you should consider having the executive director of your organization sign the cover letter and include their contact details for professionalism. People to consider for signing the proposal cover letter include: 

• Executive director 
• Account manager  
• Executive of executives 
• CEO (a strategy used by small firms or when the RFP represents a large portion of a responder’s annual revenue) 
• Someone with a senior title 

What Makes a Good Proposal Cover Letter?

So, now we know how to structure a proposal cover letter and how to write one, but how can we make it stand out? Here are some tips you should follow to craft a good proposal cover letter. 

Capture Reader’s Attention Early 

Within the framework of a proposal, the first paragraph is the best chance you have to catch your reader’s interest. This means the introduction is one of the most essential parts of your proposal cover letter. It’s crucial to catch the reader’s attention immediately, so think of an engaging way to introduce yourself and your company. You can do this by finding a way to relate to them or showing that you understand their needs. 

Mirror Clients’ Words and Phrases 

When writing a proposal cover letter, it’s essential to align your language with the client’s terminology to show that you understand their needs. Failing to do so might not only display a lack of alignment and agreement. 

Prioritize the Prospect 

A common mistake is making a proposal letter about yourself. Clients aren’t focused on your achievements or your professional journey. They want to understand how you’ll assist them in reaching their objectives. Therefore, the cover letter should focus on how you plan to help the client in reaching their objectives.

If you do want to mention special company achievements, make sure they are relevant to your client’s objectives and provide value. 

Get Straight to the Point

Keep it simple. Be clear and avoid any uncertainty. Being unclear can break trust quickly. So, gather all your information before writing, so you don’t sound unsure. Make sure what you write is accurate. You’re the expert. Write confidently and avoid wasting your client’s (or your) time by putting unnecessary information in your proposal cover letter. The goal is to have clients read to the conclusion and sign. 

Stand Out From the Competition

The proposal cover letter shows that you understand the client’s worries. It helps you be different from others and encourages clients to read your entire proposal. After reading the cover letter, they can then look at the more detailed parts.

Moreover, the proposal cover letter is your first chance to highlight your value proposition and what makes your offer unique compared to others. For the cover letter, you should focus on how you can distinguish yourself from competitors.  You don’t want to “sound” the same as the competition. 

RFP Cover Letter Mistakes to Avoid 

Now that we’ve seen what makes a cover letter good, let’s take a look at what makes a cover letter bad. Here are the proposal cover letter mistakes to avoid. 

Repeating the Executive Summary 

Avoid repeating content from the executive summary within your proposal cover letter. Each document — the executive summary, proposal, and cover letter — should be separate. Repetitive information can damage the impact of your message and possibly bore or discourage the reader. 

Not Utilizing the Right Software 

When creating RFP responses, you need to manage digital assets while keeping everything accurate and up to date. With the right software, like a DAM system , you can store and manage all your project images, videos, and other media in one place. This makes it easy to find and incorporate the most relevant and impressive visuals into your RFP to make it more compelling.

With a DAM, you can quickly search, access, and integrate assets from the software directly into your RFP documents. This means that with the right DAM integrations for your industry, you can create documents in seconds with pre-designed templates. 

Additionally, a DAM helps ensure that all images and media used are in line with your brand guidelines and accessed by the right people. 

TIP: Want to know more ways a digital asset management (DAM) system can help you create RFP responses and win more clients? Read our Ultimate DAM Guide now. 

Not Reading the RFP Multiple Times

Overlooking details is the first challenge in the RFP response process. The data presented by the client within the RFP serves to guide and inform your proposal. Hence, it’s crucial to carefully review the RFP multiple times to ensure all essential elements are seen and there is no critical information missing. 

Moreover, if you don’t follow the client’s RFP guidelines, they’ll most likely ignore your response, and all your effort will be lost to those who did thoroughly read the RFP.

Not Understanding the Client’s Needs 

This might seem like a general mistake, but it’s a big one. If you don’t understand what the client wants, your whole response won’t matter. For this reason, you need to read the RFP carefully to know what the client looking for. Don’t send a proposal that’s missing details or doesn’t match what they need. 

Making the Length Too Long 

Your cover letter should always be one page unless you’re dealing with a long proposal of 100+ pages. If you do end up with a longer cover letter, it might be because you are including too much detail. Instead of describing every detail of your proposal (save that for the executive summary), focus on the top three aspects that will catch the reader’s attention. This will leave the reader wanting to know more, encouraging them to read the entire proposal.  

Proposal Cover Letter Examples 

It’s time to take a look at good proposal cover letter examples to help you further understand what is expected. 

Construction Proposal Letter Example 

Here is a construction RFP response cover letter example that works: 

Source: Examples   

Architecture RFP Cover Page Example

Here is an architecture RFP cover page example that works: 

Source: Utley Strategies 

Engineering Cover Letter for a Proposal 

Here is an engineering cover letter example that works: 

Free Cover Letter for Proposal Template 

Below, you can download a FREE proposal cover letter template made for the AEC industry from OpenAsset partner and proposal writing guru, Rachelle Ray. Just enter your name and email for immediate access.

AEC Cover Letter Template

Responding to an RFP? The downloadable RFP cover letter sample has the structure you need for a proposal cover letter that wins more clients. 

How to Create Quality Proposal Cover Letters Every Time 

Creating quality proposal cover letters every time isn’t an easy task. However, as the #1 DAM for AEC and Real Estate, OpenAsset can help you find, share, and use the digital assets you need to create high-quality AEC proposals quickly and easily. 

With dozens of integrations and useful features, OpenAsset makes it easy to share and manage the heavy amounts of digital assets needed to create winning proposals . 

Get your free downloadable proposal cover letter template today. And if you’d like to learn more about our DAM technology, you can reach out to one of our digital asset experts today to schedule a demo . 

Get OpenAsset DAM Insights

How to Create Winning Proposals

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6 RFP response email samples worth reusing

Why you need the ultimate library for your rfp responses.

Templates & guides

Updated: Jan 23rd, 2024

Between communication apps, social media, and text messaging, email seems almost quaint. Still, a well-written RFP response email adds a level of professionalism to business communications, especially when you want to impress a prospect.

The reality is that writing emails is a core part of the proposal process, whether responding after receiving an RFP or sending an email for a proposal submission.

After hours crafting the perfect proposal, the email might seem like the sprinkles on top of the icing on the cake, in that it might look nice, but doesn’t add much substance. That doesn’t mean your email should be an afterthought. Like the right suit or hairstyle, the email is the first impression that sets the tone before the prospect even opens your proposal.

At Responsive, the last thing we want to do is put more work on your plate. So here are six of the most successful emails our proposal writers use. Feel free to copy and paste and use them as you see fit:

Request for proposal email sample: Send after receiving RFP

Hi [First Name] –

I am honored that [Vendor] has been selected to respond for [Prospect]’s business through an RFP. We look forward to showing [Prospect] and the whole evaluation team why [Vendor] would be a strategic solution to address the current and future challenges that [Prospect] is facing in their RFP process.

Based on the current status in the request, I will show how [Vendor] will help to: create a more consistent process across international regions, save individuals time to focus on other initiatives, and provide insights into all RFP analytics across your organization.

I will follow up within the next week with any questions we have about the RFP.

Thanks again for the opportunity!

ProTip: Provide three specific pain points you will solve to show you are the right partner.

RFP toolkit

Download the RFP toolkit to get the templates.

Request for proposal email sample: Send to clarify RFP project

It is apparent that [name(s)] spent a lot of time putting this request together. Thanks for sending us such an organized RFP outline…they aren’t always delivered this way!

At this time we are still reviewing, and the requirements are aligning well with [Vendor]’s offerings. We have outlined a few comments and questions. We would like to schedule a one-hour review session with your team to cover everything.

Is your team available at [11:30 a.m. PST] on [Friday] for this review session? Please confirm and I’ll send over a calendar invite.

Thanks and talk soon!

ProTip: A positive tone is always key with clarification requests.

Request for proposal email sample: Use for proposal submission

I trust you are well and busy as you receive and review multiple RFP responses. Attached, you will find the following files and folders to accompany the RFP response from [Vendor]:

• [Relevant File / Folder]

Our team would be honored to earn [Prospect]’s trust and business as a result of this RFP submission. The connection we have with [anecdotal personal point, story, business fact, mutual customers, relevant content identified in the sales process] makes the potential of our doing business together that much more exciting.

We look forward to the next steps to come as we continue this process together. I will be standing by for any follow-up questions from your review.

ProTip: Bring in a personal touch to avoid a bland RFP submission.

Request for proposal email sample: Send to follow-up on proposal submission

Follow-Up #1 – When you haven’t heard from the prospect, and the deadline has not passed.

I trust this finds you well and in the throes of the RFP review. As we approach your review timeline of [August 1], I wanted to check in proactively on [Vendor]’s submission.

Are there any follow-up questions or clarification points needed from [Vendor]? I would be happy to hop on a quick call or share a sample of our work to clarify any other functional requirements you might have.

Speak to you soon,

Follow-Up #2 – When you still haven’t heard from the prospect, and the deadline has passed.

I’m reaching out to see if I can get an update on [Vendor]’s recent RFP submission. We passed our deadline of [August 1], and I haven’t heard from anyone at [Prospect] yet.

Perhaps the project is hung up due to competing priorities, the project is taking a different direction, or another vendor has been decided? Whatever the case may be, any updates would be greatly appreciated.

ProTip: Keep your first follow-up message brief and polite. On the second follow-up, gently back away to see if that draws them in.

Request for proposal email sample: Send after winning proposal

I was thrilled to learn that [Vendor] moved forward in the selection process. I speak for the entire team when I say that we appreciate the opportunity to earn your business.

Per the outline of the RFP process, the next step is an onsite presentation for the last week of [August]. I am available [Mon-Wed] in the [afternoons]…do any of these times work for your team?

Very excited, thanks!

ProTip: Show your enthusiasm and keep the momentum going to move the project forward.

Request for proposal email sample: Send after losing proposal

Thank you for the update. I am surprised by this result as I remember specifically how well the demo went with your team, and the excellent fit between [Prospect] and [Vendor].

I absolutely respect your decision, and I only ask for some additional feedback so I can understand how [Vendor] can continue to improve. Let’s schedule a few minutes to chat, so I can better understand the specifics you were looking for. Any feedback I can glean in this scenario is very valuable.

Thank you very much,

ProTip: Lose gracefully, but demonstrate complete confidence in your solution until the end. You never know…they may be back!

The formula for creating winning RFP responses

Want to stand out in the RFP process? Our guide can teach you how to write a winning RFP response.

Respond fast. Save time. Win more.

Add RFP software to your sales tech stack for response automation with a human touch, content governance that establishes trust, and outcomes that will only improve over time.  Learn more about Responsive .

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RFP Cover Letter: The Dos and Don’ts

Table of Contents

You’re not alone if you feel like completing RFPs is a never-ending process. Time, research and planning all take an organized effort from your team. There are myriad documents to assemble and requirements to meet. But, just when you think you’re finally finished, you may realize that you’re forgetting that all-important ‘first impression’: your RFP cover letter. Cover letters are often not on the list of the issuer’s requirements, so they’re easy to forget. Some people also feel uneasy writing cover letters because they’re so different, both in purpose and tone, from the rest of the bid. But, as with the icing on the cake, the cover letter tops off your information-full RFP with a personalized touch. 

Your RFP cover letter’s objectives are:

• To thank the company for the opportunity to bid.
• To provide a short explanation of who your company is.
• To quickly summarize why your company is qualified to meet the requirements of their RFP.

In this article, we share some notions of what to do (and what not to do) when writing your RFP cover letter. 

Do: Match Your Style to the RFP

As the cover letter is the first page of your RFP package, tailor the formatting to align with the issuer’s requirements. Issuers typically include a specific formatting guideline they ask responses to follow, including font and font sizes. For example, if the issuer requires the response to be in Times New Roman in 12-point font, implement the same into your cover letter. 

Don’t use any fonts meant for party invitations (i.e., Comic Sans, Scripts, or any that reflect handwriting). If the issuer does not list a requirement, select a font that’s clear, professional and easy to read (i.e., Roboto, Arial).

Don’t: Write a Lengthy RFP Cover Letter Introduction

Your response is filled with many pages detailing, defining and fulfilling a complete scope of work. The procurement manager will be spending all of their time reviewing and comparing your response to others with similar information. Don’t overburden the reader by writing a long, overly detailed cover letter. 

Rather, impress them with a quick, smart and to-the-point RFP cover letter not exceeding one page in length. Your team has put together the perfect set of responses to all of the questions of the RFP. So, leave that information to speak for itself within the remainder of the document.

Do: Follow All the Rules of Business Letter Formatting Etiquette

Although the RFP cover letter is an introduction to your fun and exciting team, this isn’t the place to go rogue by using perfume-infused paper. Rather, stick to proper business letter formatting . However, you may introduce a visual of your business logo using your letterhead. This also adds a pop of color to the sea of black-and-white information that follows.

We then recommend applying formalized business letter etiquette rules such as:

• Include the issuer’s business name, address and contact information.
• Insert the final date of when your response was completed.
• Address the letter to the key person at the organization who’s reviewing your bid. Don’t address your letter “To Whom It May Concern” or the like. If the RFP doesn’t list a contact person, take the extra step and contact the organization to ask for the contact name(s). This little bit of effort shows the reader that you’re invested in creating a relationship with them. As simple as it is, the person on the other end of the RFP will likely continue reading your full introduction letter.

Do: Be Compelling 

When writing RFP cover letters, it’s easy to come off as sounding impersonal or even repetitive. But don’t fall into this trap! Introduce your company’s compelling personality by directly engaging the customer.

Do follow these steps when crafting your letter:

• Thank the issuer for the opportunity to bid. But not right away! Avoid starting the opening line in your RFP cover letter using any “Thank you for…” statements. Instead, be creative and address a fact about your potential client. For example, “ Our team recognizes the impact DigitalSolutions Inc. made by upgrading the software solutions for the University of Neptune. “ Now, you’ve gained the attention of the reader. Because you’ve directly addressed a successful project they completed in the past, they’ll pay attention when you discuss continuing that success in the future.
• Reiterate the details of their RFP. Next, address their pain point(s). This should quickly sum up the details of their RFP and state that your business is prepared to resolve that need.
• Explain why your organization is qualified to respond. By now, you’ve done your homework on your potential client. So, use this part of the RFP cover letter to state why your team is uniquely situated to deliver solutions. Remember, it’s not a sales pitch; it’s an alignment pitch.
• Provide a short list of deliverables.  This should acknowledge your inclusion of their requested main requirements. Don’t get into too much detail.
• Close the cover letter. Close your RFP cover letter with a call to action. A simple sentence letting the team know that you’re happy to provide them with any additional information is usually a safe bet. Then finish with a handwritten signature. This small step is the sprinkle on the cake that tops off the total investment you put into the bid.

Final Thoughts

Remember, the RFP cover letter should be the icing on the cake, and you want the reader to enjoy it. And you should also enjoy creating it. After all, your team dedicated their hard work, time and resources to crafting a perfect response for that customer. Your company is more than just a black-and-white response; use this area to your advantage and convey your commitment and personality! Just know that the more you engage, the more memorable you’ll be.

You Don’t Have to Go It Alone

At The Bid Lab, we work with clients who don’t have the time, resources, or experience to manage, write and build their bids. So whether you’re still learning the RFP process basics, looking for the perfect RFP recipe , or trying to avoid making common mistakes , The Bid Lab has your back. (Yes, even if you’re looking for non-RFP ways to expand your business altogether.) After all, we’re experts on both sides of the equation. We know how to write an RFP and how to respond to an RFP. Bids and RFPs are our business – all day, every day! So reach out for a free consultation by calling 1-844-4BIDLAB or emailing [email protected].

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January 17, 2024 3:40 pm

4 Tips to Master the RFP Cover Letter

Do you remember when you were in school, and you had to write an essay? If your experience mirrors mine, you had teacher after teacher hammer home the same point – the first paragraph is critically important. After all, it’s the first thing that the reader sees.

In the world of proposals, the RFP cover letter (also called a proposal cover letter, RFP response cover letter, bid proposal cover letter, RFP cover page, cover page for business proposal, etc.) is the first thing that the buyer sees. For all the time that companies spend crafting proposals, it’s surprising that the RFP cover letter is often an afterthought, rambling corporate pablum. But for you, dear reader, this presents an opportunity….

In the paragraphs that follow, you will learn

• What is an RFP cover letter?
• The value of an proposal cover letter.
• The components of an RFP cover letter.
• The best approach to a proposal cover letter.

Read on and find out how investing time in your RFP cover letter can boost your chance at a winning RFP response !

Don't have time to read the whole article? Here are the key elements of an RFP cover letter.

Take Notes : Keep good notes when reading the RFP, keeping in mind that you want to reflect the pain and goals back to the issuer in the cover letter. The RFP itself is the roadmap to best understanding the issuer's desires.

Start Strong: Consider playing up the pain of the pre-solution state and/or describe the positive outcome of a successful partnership. By reminding them of the issue they're trying to solve and its negative impact, you can increase the emotional resonance of your messaging.

Address Concerns: The RFP cover letter gives you, anticipate and address potential buyer concerns like your firm's size or lack of specific experience. Reframe these weaknesses as strengths: highlight past successes with similar clients or emphasize personal attention from your smaller team. Don't excuse, recast!

Run Through the Tape: A killer RFP cover letter finale reignites the problem you solve, extends a confident invitation for further discussion, and shines with genuine passion for your solution. This powerful combo leaves a lasting impression that speaks to their needs and sparks excitement for what you offer.

We go into greater detail about these specific tips later in the article. Keep reading to learn more!

What is an RFP Cover Letter?

Let’s begin by understanding what an RFP cover letter isn’t. It is not a multi-page document where you meticulously lay out your bid details, expound at length on the value of your product or service, and include matrix-style comparisons. Instead, your RFP cover letter should be a single page and addressed – yes, actually addressed as it is a letter after all – to the prospective customer. It should contain high-level, rather than super-detailed information, but still be customized for the recipient. The proposal cover letter is the first page in your submission and should be followed the rest of the proposal.

That’s it. And if you’re wondering why you’re reading an article that is longer than any good RFP cover letter should be, I want to remind you about where we started and think back to the intro paragraph to an essay that grabs the reader’s attention and sets the tone for the rest of the paper. This is your first and best chance to captivate your prospect.

The Value of a Proposal Cover Letter

You’ve poured hours (32 on average) into developing the perfect proposal, meticulously answering every RFP requirement. So, at this point, you simply want to call it a day. After all, who wants to spend one more minute working on a brief introduction? The best sales executives and proposal writers realize that like sprinters, they need to run though the tape. The race isn’t over when the proposal is written. You have an opportunity to stand out from the crowd before your prospect even gets to the meat of your proposal.

Let's be honest, most cover letters fall into the " Dear Sir/Madam " black hole. "Thank you for the opportunity, blah blah blah..." <Yawn> Your letter? It's the first handshake, where you look the counterparty in the eye and introduce yourself. This isn't just about meeting specs; it's about leaning into to authenticity and igniting excitement. Why did the prospect issue the RFP to you? There is a problem or need that your company is qualified to address.

A generic greeting, an RFP cover letter than reads like boilerplate, can undermine even a strong proposal. I get it; no one gets excited about responding to an RFP. But you’re close to the finish line and surely you can get excited about winning the business. Before we get into the contents of an RFP cover letter, here are three things to keep in mind when crafting your killer cover letter:

• Lead with authenticity. Your company may be providing the product or service, but the prospect is buying from you . Put a little personality into it.
• Connect to the pain/need. Whatever it is that you’re proposing should solve a problem for the prospect. Reiterate the problem in your own words to frame the rest of the proposal.
• Don’t oversell features and capabilities. Remember, this is just the first page of a proposal. The proposal itself is where you’ll have ample space to explain why your solution should be the winning one.

The Components of an RFP Cover Letter

Odds are that you’ve applied to a job and submitted a resume along with a cover letter. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot you can apply from a resume cover letter to an RFP cover letter. The major difference is that you’re representing your rather than yourself.

When drafting an RFP cover letter, you want to be sure to include the following:

• Addresses and date: You cover letter is, at its heart, a business letter. Make sure that it’s formatted as such and include the names of the key stakeholders as well as the physical address – even if you send it via email. You might be thinking, “Duh,” but a surprising number of people miss this and it conveys a lack of professionalism.
• Brief greeting: It’s enough to spend a sentence or two telling the recipients that you enjoyed meeting them and appreciate the opportunity to earn their business. Space is limited so you don’t want to invest too much here.
• Recap needs/pain: This is the first part of the aforementioned framing. You are going to restate the buyer’s needs in your own words. Lean into the “pain” if you can do so subtly.
• Summarize your value proposition: Again, this is the RFP cover letter, not the proposal itself. You want to briefly explain why your solution is a perfect fit for the buyer. If possible, cite other success stories and spell out areas of differentiation from competitors.
• Close: You can thank them again, invite them to send you questions, etc. But aside from that, just make it short and sweet.

Some suggest including visual design elements. Given the limited space you have (we’re not kidding about the 1-page rule), you are generally going to be better off not using them unless they are going to make a huge impact on your narrative.

As you write, remember that the prospect is, at least for the moment, the center of the universe . All of the things that you highlight that made your company special should apply specifically to the prospect. If you have offer X and Y and offer the world’s best X, it’s not worth mentioning if the buyer only wants Y. There are ample opportunities in the rest of the proposal for this kind of information.

The Best Approach to a Proposal Cover Letter

Every time you respond to an RFP, you are building a bespoke piece of content. It doesn't matter if you've received RFPs that were almost identical. We encourage you to incorporate elements of previous responses, particularly if they are successful. But it's important to bear in mind that regardless of the similarities when it comes to requirements, budgets, et al., the issuer of the RFP has its own concerns. Consequently, your RFP cover letter should speak specifically to that issuer. In this section, we'll cover key tips on how best to do that.

Take Notes When You Read the RFP

The person who writes the cover letter should be involved in the proposal process and certainly should have read the RFP. I’m not suggesting that this person re-read the entire thing, but rather take notes while doing the initial reading. This is an important step anyway as you want to track the requirements, nice-to-haves, identify areas where your solution provides differentiated value, etc.

The only difference is considering the cover letter while you are reading the RFP and taking those notes. You’ll want to keep your eyes open for a few things:

• Are there any specific things that come up repeatedly? Maybe there is an aggressive timeline, a budget constraint, or a usability concern. This is something you’ll certainly want to address in a cover letter.
• What is driving the initiative? Or put differently, what is the big honking problem that prompted an RFP in the first place? Be warned – this might not be explicitly detailed in the RFP itself. If that’s the case, you might consider reaching out to the buyer and inquiring. The answer will not just improve your RFP cover letter but could improve the proposal itself.
• What is the desired end state? If you can put the reader in a place where he or she feels psychologically comfortable, you could find yourself one step ahead of the competition.

Get to the Good Stuff Quickly

Odds are that you are not the only proposal that has landed in the issuer’s inbox. And while you aren’t asking for much time here – remember, the RFP cover letter should be limited to one (1) page – there is a strong possibility that there is more skimming than reading. This doesn’t mean that the cover letter isn’t important! But what it does mean is that you want to grab the reader’s attention immediately. You do this by putting your hook in the very first paragraph.

There are numerous ways to do this. A few ideas include

• Starting at the end. What? Specifically, describing the end state of a successful engagement in the beginning of the RFP cover letter. If you can get the reader feeling warm and fuzzy early on, that’s a win.
• Lean into the pain. An organization develops an RFP when they want to spend money to address a specific issue. What is that issue? How does the fact that the issue is unaddressed negatively impact the current state? Warm and fuzzy has its benefits, but turning up the pain is another approach that is often employed by successful salespeople.
• Remind them who you are. In some situations, you might receive an RFP from a buyer with whom you have previously developed a professional relationship. You should absolutely incorporate this into your cover letter, particularly highlighting past successes together. Positive experiences can sway buyers by adding a measure of emotional safety to an uncertain process. “I feel comfortable working with this person/company,” is a compelling sentiment.

Confront Your Weak Points

The RFP Response itself is going to provide a ton of detail about what your company does, how it does it, prior success having done it, etc. In terms of how you would provide a solution, it might be comprehensive. But it may not touch some of the points that could give a buyer pause.

When dealing with prospects that resemble the organization that issued the RFP, what are the concerns that they have? This is your opportunity to take control of the narrative around those concerns. Here are a couple examples:

Concern: “We’re concerned that you’re not large enough to take on this project.”

Answer approach: Discuss how you’ve worked with companies that are as large or larger, if possible. You can also turn your smaller size into an advantage by promising more executive attention and engagement as a deal with your smaller company would be relatively more impactful than it would be for a larger company.

Concern: “You don’t seem to have done a project like this before.”

Answer approach: Discuss your successes taking on other projects that seemed to be outside your core area of expertise. See if you can find alignment between your company’s vision and the project.

Remember, the goal here isn’t to excuse yourself, but rather to recast your perceived weakness as a strength. For example, as it pertains to the size concern, you don’t want to write, “Even though we’re a small company, we are confident that we can deliver on time and on budget.” Rather, you might write something like, “As a smaller provider, we are able to cultivate much more intimate relationships with our customers, which ultimately leads to better outcomes. I would be happy to connect you with some of them to learn how.”

Close Strong

If you've done all of the above, you should make sure you're like a sprinter and run through the tape. The finish line is so close, it might be tempting to just downplay the ending of the RFP cover letter. That would be a mistake. Just as hooking the reader early increases engagement, closing strongly can have a meaningful impact. This is your chance to cement a lasting impression and reinforce the value you bring.

• Reignite the spark: Don't let the momentum fade. Briefly reiterate the core problem you address and remind the reader how your solution ignites their desired outcome. Use strong verbs and specific details from the proposal to paint a vivid picture of their success. This final punch reminds them why your offer is worth serious consideration.
• Extend the invitation: Make it clear you're eager to dive deeper. Whether you suggest a specific follow-up action, like scheduling a meeting, or simply express your availability for further discussion, project confidence and enthusiasm. Use active language like "We welcome the opportunity to discuss this further" or "We're confident our proposal can propel you towards..." This confident call to action leaves the reader with a clear next step and fuels their next move.
• Let your passion shine: Genuine excitement about your solution is contagious. Infuse your closing with an authentic spirit that reflects your team's dedication and belief in the project's success. This human touch builds trust and sets you apart from generic proposals.

Remember, a strong closing isn't just about summarizing, it's about sealing the deal. By reigniting excitement and providing a smooth transition to the next stage, you'll leave a lasting impression that sets your proposal apart.

It would be folly to think that the RFP response and the RFP cover letter are equally weighted. The response is  clearly more important. But the cover letter serves as an appetizer in advance of the main course. Go to a good restaurant and a people may rave about the amazing appetizers. They'll still order the entree, but the appetizer sets the tone.

Given the time you'll invest in drafting your proposal (a time that can be dramatically shortened with an AI RFP strategy and specifically an AI application for RFPs ), it's worth being thoughtful in writing your cover letter. Every little bit helps.

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About the Author

David Wadler

David Wadler is a co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer at Vendorful. Prior to Vendorful, he was the General Manager for Rich Media & Cloud at Lexmark Enterprise Software, where he was responsible for strategic direction of Lexmark’s initiatives as they related to rich media and cloud products. He came to Lexmark in 2013 with the acquisition of Twistage, where he was a co-founder and CEO. Prior to Twistage, he worked in a variety of industries and roles while trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with himself. David is a holder of a degree in economics from Brown University and is a resident of New York City.

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September 21, 2019

RFP: The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Request for Proposal

Challenges of the rfp process, the biggest mistake companies make in the rfp process, our rfp template: how to write an rfp the smart way, 1. company and business overview, 2. project scope, 3. team and metrics, 4. new project requirements, rfp deliverables.

We really empathize with where you are right now. You’re about to kick off an incredibly important, and expensive, process at your company by sending out a request for proposal, or RFP.

You’re sending out an RFP because you need help figuring something out. But, by definition, you aren’t the person to solve it, so how can you write the RFP?

Most standard RFPs are crap and you’re here because you don’t want to write the standard RFP.

Most standard RFPs are also long, legalistic documents that show how big organizations struggle to hire creative agencies and partners.

Your RFP will be the start of an ongoing conversation, not a standalone statement. It needs to set the right tone for the kind of conversation you want to have. Ultimately, it’s about relationships and finding the right partner.

The RFP process raises a lot of challenges that, no matter how awesome you are, you’re bound to run into. Let’s first identify a few of them, and then we’ll address how to solve them.

Most of the RFPs that go out from big companies are extremely impersonal.  However, the work is going to to be extremely personal.

Ultimately, it’s about relationships and finding the right partner.

The goal of this guide is to help you engineer the RFP process so that it not only reveals who the best agency is to meet your needs, but also the relationship that’s best for both your company and your vendor’s.

Prescriptive

In the RFP process, you’re looking for a partner that will guide you in the right direction and tell you what you what to do, leveraging their technical and creative expertise.  When your RFP is overly specific with deliverables, it doesn’t tap into any of your potential partner’s expertise and boxes them in with potential solutions.

RFPs should be problem-driven, not solution driven .  For example, in giving our designers feedback, we would give them the problem with the design, not the solution.  By asking a question (“What else do you think could be done here?”) and not simply emailing them a stock image for the homepage background, we get creative, non-obvious results.

Narrow RFPs lead to both you and your partner doing a box-checking exercise.

Here’s what an overly prescriptive RFP looks like:

We want a mobile-friendly, responsive, 8-page WordPress website that includes the following:

• PPC Landing Page

We want no more than four plugins and the site must load in under 2 seconds. The overall layout should look just like https://cliquestudios.com .

Sending out an RFP that is cookie-cutter will get responses from cookie-cutter and box-checker agencies.  That’s why you won’t find any completely “fill in the blank” template in this guide.

So what then? Are you supposed to leave things incredibly open-ended?

Actually, no.

Going the opposite direction and making things too vague cause you to fall into one of the biggest pitfalls of the RFP process.

Things tend to go haywire when conversations stay high level for too long. High-level conversations are great at the outset of the project, but not in the RFP.

Simply put, you can’t request specific details that are needed to ensure a successful project when you keep things high-level for too long. The way we fix that is by focusing on the timeline and what will happen during the course of the design / development process.

RFP includes information about the entire company, but no bios on who is actually going to work on the project.

RFP includes detailed information about the team that will be working on the project, just like the RFP responses from vendor agencies will.  This starts to establish a relationship and improves the responses you receive.

RFP includes a bullet point list of integrations that they’ll need to use.

Not all integrations are equal. One could take ten minutes and another fifty hours.  Instead of just a high-level bullet point list, inquire to the potential partners whether or not they’ve done a Salesforce web to API before, how many times they’ve done it, and request links to that work.

The more granular, the better.  Building on the last example using integrations, mention in the RFP that you’re reviewing skills around integrations and want to look at their team’s skills around them.  Let them know that you want the best team and master of every integration isn’t a requirement.  You just want to know their experience and comfort.  This will help vendors to acknowledge that you’re unique and also gauge whether they’re aspirationally responding (claiming they can do everything or do work they’ve never done), or whether they’re an honest agency worthy of partnering with.

If conversations stay high-level, everybody responding can copy and paste a bunch of standard responses – if my RFP asks how long has your company been in business, the cost, your process, etc. everybody who responds is just going to copy and paste, put a number on it, and hope it goes through.

Creating an RFP that finds the right partner and right relationship for your company’s project is both art and science.

RFP template overview

Let’s talk about the science first.  Since most of our experience comes from working with RFPs related to web design, development and marketing, that’s what we’ll focus on in terms of examples, but you’ll find these principles still apply to all RFPs.

Here is an RFP template of must-have sections:

Competitors

• Customer Segments
• Customer Insights
• Current State
• Future State
• Advertising
• Products / Services
• Website Navigation

Requirements

Design ui / ux, accessibility.

• Third Party Integrations

Functionalities

• RFP Deliverables
• Criteria Selection
• Attached Document

But it’s not just about having these items—it’s what goes into them that matters most.  Each section not only allows your potential partners to learn about you, but also affords the opportunity for you to demonstrate that you, too, are aware of them, making you somebody worth partnering with.

Here’s how these “must-have” sections break down:

This section of the RFP is going to give context to everything else you do going forward.  It helps project managers (PMs) contextualize every decision made throughout the process, so the better the partner agency understands you and your business, the better the project result.

Including items like revenue, clients / customers / users, and all other metrics that would apply to raising capital are applicable here.

If your company has multiple products or brands, this is a great place to differentiate what sets them apart from one another in your marketplace and how that will relate to the overall project.

Laying out the competitive landscape from the start allows your partner agency to more deeply understand your category and why users are (or are not) choosing you.  If you compete in multiple markets, attach a document to your RFP organized by location that list competitors and how you compare.

Consider listing other competitors outside of your category, as well.  For example: Basecamp’s number one competitor isn’t other project management software, it’s e-mail.

Customer segments

Some of the best breakdowns that we’ve seen are demographic data and % of revenue.

Additionally, making note of your sales cycle (peak times of the year) as well as items like user churn are incredibly valuable for your partner agency to know.

If they respond well (and they will, because you’re putting equal time into your RFP), they’ll address possible solutions for things you may not even be asking for.  This information helps them get there.

Customer insights

Remember, the more context you can provide up front, the better.  This starts with why your customers hire your service, app, or product, and what job it does for them (see more: jobs to be done)..

Also include how often they come back to your business and how they hire you: do they come in through the website, phone, or sales calls?

One of the most beneficial customer insights are your customer personas.   Elaborating on your top three customer personas will be extremely valuable for your potential partner.  If the goal of your project is to attract new customer personas or appeal to a new audience, include that here as well.

Any way that the partner agency can get a better feel for your customers is important.  This could be links to your Yelp (or other aggregator) profiles, searching your social media accounts, or even branded hashtags that your customers use.

The second major section of an RFP is the project scope. The best RFPs kick this off with a reminder of why you’re doing the project (brand re-design, new product, etc.)

Current state

For whatever problem your project is looking to solve, how do you solve that problem now? What were the goals when that project or process was initiated?

The more your can share with your potential partner, the better (you’ll hear us say that a lot), so include various platforms or engines that power your business (payments, tickets, support, etc.) as well.

Future state

Without being prescriptive, paint a picture of what you’d like the end result to be as defined by the problem that it will solve for you.

Don’t only say: We want a website that looks like A and does B in these specific ways.

A better starting point for your future state might be: We want X outcomes and we think that a website that looks like A and does B might be a good start, but we’re looking for you to give us your take on that.

This is one of the few times that it’s okay to keep things high level.

Look and feel

Often, there will be specific brand guidelines, such as brand colors and fonts. These are very helpful to include in an RFP.

The key to this section is to not elaborate further.  Anything beyond that becomes prescriptive and really limits your potential partners and what they might come up with.

The best RFPs we’ve seen have varied goals that are outlined clearly, whether it’s marketing, hiring, acquiring users, user interface, sales, scalability, raising another round of funding, acquisition, etc.

The goal with goals (…ha) is to speak with clarity.  It’s a challenge to your prospective partner to answer these questions thoughtfully and exhaustively.

For example, an RFP for a small legal firm looking for a website might have a goal that looks like the following:

Good: Grow our team.

Better: Double our team size.

Best: Double the size of our firm, adding seven new veteran attorneys by the end of the year.

Clearly defined goals also tell your potential partner that you know what you’re doing.  An RFP is an interview that works both ways and both sides want to work with a professional. A good agency is going to be grading you, as well.

Another item that can be included under goals is how the project will influence other parts of your business, such as paid acquisition, SEO, app usage,etc.

The best RFP “Goals” sections explain that your company has a problem, and a new platform that needs to be built. We want the platform to solve these ten things and we want an active engaged partner to guide us through that process.

Laying out early on who the decision-makers are in this process is helpful for a potential partner.

Transparency builds trust and trust builds relationships.  By arming them with with a level of honesty regarding the fact that this is a partnership, not a dictatorship.  Both sides will have teams and timelines to manage so the sooner we can show respect for our potential partner’s time, the better our project result.

Digital advertising

A rundown of your current digital marketing efforts: Facebook, Influencer Marketing, Instagram, PPC (google, bing), Display, Referrals / Affiliates

Current metrics

A quick note referencing the goals listed above in ‘current state’ Metrics for the past year that include:

• Visitors – users and sessions
• Traffic Channels – organic, ppc, referral, direct, email, social
• Bounce Rate – broken down by device
• % of traffic by device
• % of sales by device
• % of leads by device
• Top 5 (non-branded) organic search keywords

If the design is for an app or saas company, also include the following metrics:

• Retention Rate
• Daily Active Users (DAU)
• Monthly Active Users (MAU)
• Sessions per DAU
• Stickiness ← Prioritize this
• Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
• Lifetime Value (LTV)
• Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)
• Average Revenue Per Paying User (ARPPU)

Without being overly prescriptive, you need to lay out what our new project will be able to do and how it will work within your existing system.  Use these points to ask questions of your potential partner and open a conversation around them, versus telling your future partner what widget to put where.

Products / services

List the products and services you offer, and to whom.

Website navigation

This is a section that often trips up companies like yours because it becomes overly prescriptive with specific requirements for header navigation, footer requirements, and calls to action.  This is the work that you’re hiring a partner to solve for you, so let them solve it.

Content Management System (CMS) requirements

Provide as much context as possible for the question you’re about to ask: What CMS should we use?  Give your potential partner agency the current CMS that you’re using, as well as the limitations and benefits you find with it.

Here’s what that looks like:

Too vague: The CMS should be intuitive and user friendly.

Too specific: The CMS should have the ability to add custom-designed social share buttons.

Perfect: We need to be able to add images and include alt text.

Will you be migrating content from a past website or creating it fresh?  Is that content going to be created by you prior to launch or post-launch? Or do you need someone to help create it? Outside the world of web design and development, are you migrating existing databases of information or previous versions of your product?  Do considerations need to be made for how that will look in the next CMS?

Don’t be afraid to ask for something challenging in your project  We receive RFPs all the time that ask for a super-fast website, with tons of movement, video, and a slew of other things that conflict with one another.

But that pushes us and it helps the company sending out the RFP (like you) see who asks smart questions and who comes in having checked all of the boxes and tells you that they can “do it all.”

Remember, the more intentional your RFP is, the better partner you’ll attract to your project.

Another great section to ask questions is in the SEO section (for a web design RFP).  Let the potential partner know that, given what you’ve already proposed, you’re looking for their expertise in this area.

Accessibility is often something that’s often inserted as a matter of law, versus a matter of priority. In 2017, Kmart, McDonald’s and others settled lawsuits over website and app accessibility .

If it isn’t a priority, the law quickly reminds us to make it one: in the first eight months of 2017, 432 lawsuits were filed over website accessibility.

“As of the 2010 census, one in five Americans have a disability, and one in ten people have a disability that directly impacts their computer use. That’s 56.7 million people! This is a huge portion of our potential users, and we have an ethical duty to help all people who will use the technology we create.” – Fen Slattery

Instead of requiring the website meet “ADA standards” or some other vague guideline, consider asking your potential partner how they’d include those standards in their work.

Accessibility depends on what you’re making and who you’re making it for. For example, if you’re creating a medical database, there are legal requirements you need to meet.

If you’re an education startup working with public school to adopt what you’re creating, there are strict legal requirements you have to follow to attain federal funding.

Are you going to require that your partner meets certain accessibility guidelines? In general, if you aren’t a company with an obvious legal requirement just to sell the product, give you potential partner agency the guidelines you’d like them to follow.

Most firms don’t guarantee legal compliance, and while that doesn’t make them bad people, you need to vet whether or not they know anything about accessibility or if they’re giving you the “we can do it all” response.

Do you have particular accessibility legal requirements? List them.

Particular sets of guidelines (such as the WCAG)? Include them.

Have a specific accessibility conformance level? Say that.

Depending on the level of accessibility you require (such as Single A versus Triple A), the workload can change drastically. It matters a lot for your potential partner.

Instead of waiting to answer questions about it later, use the RFP to let your future partner know why you have requirements for accessibility.

Note: This should be done through consultation with your own legal advisor or advisor through your partner agency, not us. We are not lawyers.  But, we do take accessibility serious on our website designs .

If you require a database to be created or configured, what will you need it to do?  What will it be used for under optimum conditions?  What flexibility may be needed in the future?

Providing a list of sites that you find to be inspiring and interesting for various reasons is helpful, but this list would be most helpful when presented with a thought process of “As our partner, what would you think about this?” versus “This is what we want. Make this.”

Third party integrations

What third-party integrations are you currently using in your system?  Are there any that you would like to see utilized in the new project? Use this section to ask questions about a vendor’s comfort level and experience, noting that expertise in all integrations is not a requirement. If it sounds like it is, vendors will claim they’re experts at everything. They never are.

What functionality will your project absolutely have?  For example, if you’re a theater, visitors must be able to purchase tickets and select their seats.  If your project is an application that allows visitors to reserve parking spaces in cities, they must be able to view available spaces in real-time on a map, select the location, reserve it and pay for it within the app.

Additionally, are you open to re-thinking how these things work together?  If you are, note that in your RFP that you’d like to leverage your partner’s expertise and see their recommendations on how things could be done better.  Many agencies, like ours, have in-house marketing and UI/UX teams that come together on web design and development projects for projects that require them.

If you’re like us, there’s a good chance you’ve done your homework and have a million things you’d love to have included on your new project.

You’ve seen them somewhere in another app or on another website and you think it’d be great to have them on yours.  The “optional” section of an RFP is perfect for items such as:

• Promotion countdown timers
• Popups for promotions
• Widgets that pull data from other websites (aggregators, social, etc.)

This is where you can let your hopes and dreams for the project shine, or at least get them out in the open for your partner to think about.  The more honest you are here, the better proposals you’ll receive.

List out what security functionalities you currently have in place and what you would like to implement in the future state of the project.  For example: will the site require an SSL certificate, how often will the site need to be updated for plugins, and how often do backups need to be run?

List who you currently use for hosting and inquire about how to improve your contract with your current host (if you have one).  What requirements do you have for uptime and page load time?  Are you open to changing your hosting service based on your partner’s recommendation?

Your “Timing” section of the RFP will include everything a potential partner needs to know about what to send to you and when to send it.

When is the closing date for receipt of all tenders? When will the partner agency be chosen and when would you like the project to be completed by?

Project-related RFP deliverables

Some of the best RFPs ask for details around the specific phases, milestones, deliverables, and outcomes at each milestone.  Additionally, the partner agency would supply the time and cost of each.  Let your potential partner know that you prefer more detail in the response and those will be looked at favorably versus a high-level overview.

Let your potential partner know that you’re open to questions and to submit what they’ll need to know before moving forward.

We can’t understate how important it is to ask participants to provide details for the queries you’ve mentioned in your RFP.  It shows their willingness to read an RFP that you’ve crafted and shows they aren’t “box-checkers” or “copy/paste” agencies that send out replies to RFPs en masse.

Where possible, assess vendors’ capabilities on specific tasks for your project.

For example: “We’re using salesforce for this, hubspot for that, and have five different integrations.  Do a self-evaluation on your experience level with that and provide any links to relevant examples of your work with those.”

What we want most as a deliverable here is their recommendations.  Sometimes, things have to be done a certain way (your whole company is using Salesforce, with a 200+ person team, and you have to use Salesforce), but otherwise it should be very open-ended.

Firm-related RFP deliverables

Many RFPs fall short here because they ask the same questions as every other RFP, such as:

• What makes you unique?
• What experience do you have related to our project?
• What are your services?
• Do you have a case study we can see?
• Who will work on this project?

These are generic, but important, questions so please ask them, but also consider asking more so that the agency can’t copy and paste what they’ve supplied to every other RFP in the past.

• What’s something you believe that some of your contemporaries might disagree with?
• What experience do you have that is most representative of what you’ll do here?
• What risks do you feel are present that we haven’t addressed as part of this RFP?

What we need to discover here is why they care about this opportunity in particular—is this just another proposal as a part of an automated process or do they actually want this project and care about your collective success?

6. Criteria selection

Proposal time and process.

How will the potential partners submit their responses?  The best way we’ve seen this done is providing the email address to send their responses to and what to put in the subject line (again: can they follow directions or are they copy/pasters?).

How long after the deadline will you move forward with in-person presentations?

Again, you’re listing out your team that will be working on the project along with their associated roles.

How do I know who to send my RFP to?

Now that you’ve completed your RFP, how do you know who to send it to?

I’ll give you a hint: it’s not Googling.

Mistake 1: Googling to find RFP vendors

In fact, that’s the biggest mistake that companies make when putting together their RFP.  Unless you’re hiring an SEO company where their Google rank might be correlated with the ability to get you results, Google’s algorithm has nothing to do with how successful they’ll be on your project.

Mistake 2: going with the big dogs

Too many big companies think that because they’re big, they need to go with the same team that other big companies use.

In the same vein, many startups fall into the trap of raising a significant round of money, feeling on top of the world, and going with “the biggest and the best” in every area they can, flying through their newly-funded capital with reduced discernment.

Setting yourself up for success on your project has infinitely more to do with how you qualify who you send your RFP to than it does with how big a potential partner’s name is.

Mistake 3: sending out your RFP to too many suppliers

The thinking that “more is better” makes sense at first glance.  Why send your RFP to four suppliers when you could send it to forty? With forty, you get a much better standpoint on the baseline cost and capabilities, right?

Yes, but you’ve forgotten to consider the opportunity cost and informational overwhelm of having to effectively evaluate forty proposals.  If you estimate that roughly 90 minutes should be spent evaluating each proposal, the time and effort adds up quickly.

The result is that none of the proposals get reviewed properly, often getting skimmed or evaluated based on the estimate pricing at the end of the proposal.

This hurts both your relationship with the suppliers and your reputation in your industry.

If you evaluate them correctly, you won’t need to send your RFP out to more than five or six suppliers.  As the project becomes less complex and/or less expensive, that number goes down to two or three potential partners (the fewest we’d recommend).

Who to send your RFP to

It’s with all three of these mistakes in mind that we recommend doing research ahead of time and targeting your RFP to digital partners that are likely to return the best responses.

By properly vetting your candidates ahead of time using the criteria below, you’ll save your company 50%-75% of the hours you would have wasted on evaluation later on.

Every potential partner that you reach out to needs to be two things:

1. Fully qualified

Who does your board and/or mentors recommend? Can they refer you to another company that they’ve worked with that might be able to make recommendations?

Social proof – This includes awards, case studies they’ve produced , current portfolio, client testimonials and past clients.

Thought leaders – Is the agency a leader in their space?  Do they have prolific team members that are also influencers in their respective fields?  Often, this is a great indicator of how supportive the agency is of pushing boundaries and remaining on the cutting edge.

Values – Does the agency have a published list of their values ( we do )?  Do they appear to adhere to those values as you’ve seen them lived out in their work?

Relationships – How much are they into putting in the work?  Do their past clients still recommend them after the project has finished?  Have they continued to work with the same clients over and over throughout the years?

Process – You’ll be speaking with your partner every day for the next 6+ months across phone, text, email, conference calls, etc.  Are they good communicators?  Are they good writers and do they value teaching others? Are you going to enjoy communicating with them, and learning from them during the process?

Skill – At the end of the day, we’re all making similar things, whether it be apps or websites.  It takes a high-level of skill to execute on your upcoming project so, while this may seem like the most important factor going into an RFP submission process, working with a mad genius with high technical skills often just results in madness.

2. Acceptable

If you ask every person on your team, given the current information they have, whether or not each agency would be acceptable should they win the RFP, does any single person answer negatively or seem unsure?  If so, recognize this as a big red flag.  From the outset, every single agency receiving the RFP should be acceptable should they submit a winning proposal.

Tip: One of the best ways to pre-qualify potential partners is to send out a quick email to their teams, letting them know you’re putting together an RFP with a brief project overview and asking them if they’re interested in receiving it.  If they don’t reply, you know they aren’t a fit for you.

How to choose who to send your RFP to

You’ve dedicated the time to creating an incredible RFP, procured a team dedicated to vetting the proposals, and researched your potential partners. Next, make sure you have a rubric of your values and goals for this project to help make decisions based on the team’s vision rather than personal preferences.

Remember, a good digital partner is going to put a lot of work into their response, so they may choose not to respond at all if they feel the request isn’t genuine.

You’re choosing a partner you’ll talk to most days for the next six months. Know what they stand for and believe in, how they work, and why they’re the best, in addition to references and making sure they’re trustworthy.

At Clique, growth has come from being open and honest about when a project is not a good fit for us because there’s a lot of great companies that do what we do, but when it’s a fit, we make sure the company knows why.

RFP process timeline

Create a process (including the rubric) for selecting a vendor and stick to it. Make sure the vendors stick to it. Lateness and sloppiness is indicative of problems down the road.  Here’s a few checkpoints that we’d recommend in your selection process (this should all happen within 30 days, start to finish):

• Send emails to 7 vendors via a shortlist asking if they’d be interested in receiving the RFP. Let them know when the RFP will go out and when you need to know their “intent to respond” by.
• Send out the RFP to those who reply by the date provided.
• Answer all questions in a document sent to all possible partners.
• Receive proposals
• Conduct phone calls to talk it through (60 minutes minimum)
• Narrow down to 3 vendors.
• Conduct phone calls with vendors.
• Narrow down to 2 for in-person presentations.

Your RFP sets the tone for your project

With few exceptions, how the proposal process goes will be how the project goes.

How the company operates during the proposal will be indicative of how they operate during the project (on both sides). If your team members seem disinterested and aloof during the pre-RFP process, they probably shouldn’t be a part of the RFP.  Likewise, this is true for potential partners as well.

No matter how great a company’s work is, nothing is worth losing the time, money, and stress of a project gone awry from a bad project relationship.

The ultimate leverage is not being desperate. If you have any other questions about your RFP, get in touch . We’d love to help. Here’s a few more bonuses to get you going. Consider it access to our personal swipe file.

RFP email invitation sample

Dear VENDOR, You have been invited to participate in the RFP for PROJECT.

Purpose <Include a brief overview of your project’s goals as you currently see them.>

Eligibility <Include details of what type of partner agency you are looking for and why you have chosen to send the invitation to this specific agency.>

Letter of intent format The letter is limited to NUMBER pages, plus the cover sheet.  Please adhere to the following questions: <Compose a list of questions and required information from the potential partner agency.>

The letter of intent must be received by TIME on DATE.  Submit via email to ADDRESS and place “SUBJECT” in the subject line.  Email attachment must be PDF file. Please also attach the cover letter.  A confirmation email will be sent to your designated contact upon receipt of your Letter of Intent. Please contact STAFF at PHONE NUMBER if you have submitted a Letter of Intent and do not receive confirmation by DATE.

Review and notification Our committee will review the letters of intent. Applicants selected to submit a full proposal will be notified by DATE.  All applicants invited to submit a full proposal by DATE.  Full proposals will be due to US by DATE at TIME.  Please be advised that both Letters of Intent and proposals are non-binding.

<Insert your RFP timeline>

RFP email cover letter

Your request for proposal (RFP) cover letter should accompany your official RFP document.

Why do we need a cover letter to say the same thing our RFP says?  You’ve already received an “intent to respond” from your potential partners and your cover letter gives you a chance to, once again, reiterate the importance and overview of your RFP process timeline.

Here’s a brief rundown of what to include in your cover letter:

• Invite the potential partner agency to submit a proposal based on the requirements in the attached RFP
• Include a brief description of your company along with its goals, objectives, business model, location, and link to your website
• Describe your current state (the problem you are looking to solve), your project and how you see the project as meeting your business objectives listed above.
• Present the overall RFP and project timeline.  Staying really granular on timelines and deliverables is going to make or break the success of your project.  Highlight the major events and due dates so there are no unforeseen delays.
• When and how to submit pre-proposal questions and how the answers will be delivered.
• Specify the requirements for the proposal (structure, format, electronic versions, number of copies) as well as where they are to be delivered and by when.
• An estimated timeframe should be provided for the project’s contract award

Time is money and the more time that you can save in this process, the better.  Avoiding undue delays by clearly and effectively communicating your timeline helps to guarantee that your selection process timeframe and budget remains accurate.

One of the biggest mistakes we’ve seen is companies expecting to receive items on the days they ask them to be submitted, even if they are submitted digitally.  Always allow for a reasonable amount of time between submission and receipt deadlines.

Have your entire team read and re-read the cover letter to ensure that a prospective partner understands where and how to submit items based on your clear instructions.  Also, be very clear within your team who will be receiving what items and when.

Finally thank the person for their interest in your project.  They’re going to put in a lot of work and make a financial commitment to their proposal, and so are you.  Beyond receiving their letter of intent, the cover letter kicks that relationship off on the right foot.

Obviously, consult your legal team for further information on areas that can best leverage their expertise. We’re a bright, talented, and extremely hard working web design agency , not a legal firm.

Here’s what that cover letter might look like:

Dear NAME, You have been invited to submit a proposal for PROJECT in accordance with the attached request for proposal (RFP). <Company description, goals, objectives, business model, location and link to your website> <Current state – the problem you’re looking to solve> <Future state – how you see the project solving your problem and business objectives> <RFP Timeline Including all dates and times> <RFP structure and format details> NAME will be the single point of contact for all inquiries and correspondences.  Please contact him/her at EMAIL and PHONE. Thank you for your time, effort, and interest in working with COMPANY on PROJECT. NAME TITLE COMPLETE ADDRESS PHONE / FAX EMAIL

RFP process flow chart

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Template: RFP Cover Letter

RFP Cover Letter Explained

Responding to a request for proposal  (RFP) is a standard step in the buying process. With RFP responses, there are always opportunities to improve the quality of your content and improve your conversion rates as a result.

90% of successful marketers  at B2B companies prioritize the audience’s informational needs over a sales/promotional message. The introduction of an RFP response involves a cover letter and an executive summary—these sections offer golden opportunities to develop content that is laser-focused on your prospect’s needs.

What is an RFP Cover Letter?

First up is the  RFP cover letter . For positioning on your RFP response, this section should come before your executive summary. A cover letter should be no more than one page in length.

An RFP cover letter is a conversational introduction  at the beginning of your RFP response . Similar to a cover letter you submit for a job opportunity, this letter is your chance to tell a little bit about yourself and why you’re the best candidate. It is almost always a requirement of an RFP, even if the issuer does not include a specific section.

The RFP cover letter:

States that you are bidding for their business by responding to the RFP.

Reiterates details from their RFP (i.e. company name, service/product requested).

Explains why your organization is qualified to respond to the RFP.

Reveals key benefits they will experience while working with you.

Lists anything you are providing in your RFP response.

Demonstrates your excitement for the potential partnership.

The RFP cover letter is not:

An excuse to jump into a sales-y spiel about your product or service.

Formatted with images or headers…it’s a letter with a greeting and sign-off.

The time to go into great detail about your strategy or execution.

An RFP Cover Letter Example You Can Replicate

The goal of your RFP cover letter  is to eloquently introduce your organization as the right partner. By the time the issuer reaches the last sentence, they should feel confident about spending their time reading the rest of your RFP responses.

RFP cover letter example:

Hello [first name of RFP issuer]:

I speak on behalf of the entire [RFPIO] team in saying how thrilled we are to have been selected to respond to an RFP to become [Company]’s preferred partner for [Company – service or product need].

We look forward to showing the [Company] team why [RFPIO] is a strategic solution that will address the current and future challenges that [Company] is facing in their [response process]. With [RFPIO] as your partner, we will help:

[Create a more consistent process across international regions.]

[Save your team time to focus on other initiatives.]

[Provide insights into all RFP analytics across your organization.]

Included in this RFP, you will find responses that meet and exceed your requirements along with the [Company – additional materials] you requested. Should you need any other information to move this process forward and further validate your decision, please let us know.

We are grateful for this opportunity with [Company].

Thank you for your time, Kylie

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How to Write an RFP Response Cover Letter

October 4, 2021.

Table of Contents

RFP response cover letter : What do you need to know?

Are you about to submit a government bid and need help with your RFP response cover letter?

Submitting the perfect RFP cover letter could improve your chances of success. To find out more, keep reading this blog!

What is an RFP response cover letter?

Basically, an RFP response cover letter is an introduction to your business. It’s your chance to introduce yourself to the buyer and explain why you’re the best candidate for the contract.

You’ll most likely be required to submit a cover letter with every public sector RFP response. However, even if it’s not a requirement, it will still be beneficial to submit a cover letter with your bid.

There’s a good chance that you’ve spent weeks (or even months) producing the perfect bid response. Therefore, you want to do everything you can to increase your chances of success. Including a cover letter with your RFP response is another chance for you to appeal directly to the buyer.

Your RFP response cover letter should be positioned at the beginning of your RFP response, before your executive summary. Generally, it shouldn’t be more than one page in length.

What’s the difference between an RFP response cover letter and an executive summary?

  While an RFP response cover letter introduces your business, an executive summary is your statement to the buyer. It’s your chance to address their needs and explain how your solution(s) will help them.

The executive summary isn’t an essential component of an RFP response. However, it can give you a competitive advantage and make you stand out from other vendors.

What should you include in your RFP response cover letter?

To increase your chances of success, your RFP response cover letter should include the following:

• A statement to say that you’re bidding for their contract.
• Details from their RFP, such as their company name and the commodities being procured.
• Explain why your business is qualified to respond to the RFP.
• Outline your USPs (Unique Selling Points).
• Briefly describe everything that will be discussed in your RFP response.
• Show enthusiasm for the potential partnership.

What should you avoid in your RFP response cover letter?

Don’t be too pushy  .

While it’s important to outline your USPs, you shouldn’t push your services too much at this stage. You can sell your business and its services in your bid response. However, your RFP response cover letter should be an introduction, not a sales pitch.

Don’t choose the wrong format

  Your RFP response cover letter should be structured as a formal letter, with a greeting and sign-off. Therefore, it’s important that you don’t overcomplicate matters with images or subheadings.

Don’t go into too much detail

It’s important that you don’t go into too much detail in your RFP response cover letter. That’s what your bid response is for, after all! Your cover letter should be a brief overview of your business and your USPs.

5 tips for producing your RFP response cover letter

Address your cover letter to the right people.

Our first tip for improving your RFP response cover letter is to make sure it’s addressed to the right people. When you use a generic salutation, your business will blend in with every other vendor.

If you aren’t sure who will be reviewing your RFP response, it’s worth your while to find out! You should find out the names of any key contacts who will be reviewing your bid response. If you’re writing a bid for local , state , or federal governments , the information should be easily found on their website.

Make your cover letter unique

For this next tip, you should put yourself in the buyer’s shoes. Depending on the project, they could receive dozens and dozens of proposals from potential vendors. As you can imagine, reading through each RFP response will be tedious, time-consuming work.

To make it easier for the reviewer, you should try and make your cover letter unique. By making the process more enjoyable for them, you’re improving your own chances of success. It will make you stand out against your competitors from the very beginning. So, the reviewer will be ready to engage with your RFP response, making all of your hard work worth it.

Show the buyer that you understand their problem

More than likely, the buyer will be facing some kind of problem. They wouldn’t be procuring goods and services if they weren’t!

Your RFP response cover letter is your chance to show the buyer that you understand the problem they’re facing. From there, you can start to explain how your goods and services are the solution they’re looking for.

However, remember not to be too pushy in your cover letter. Outline your USPs and save the rest for your RFP response!

Stay true to your brand

Our next tip for writing your RFP response cover letter is to stay true to your brand.

Bidding for contracts is a formal process. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t demonstrate your values, culture, and style in your cover letter.

If all of your company’s communications are written in a particular style, you should follow that in your cover letter. Otherwise, the buyer might get confused about what kind of business you actually are.

Close with a CTA

Finally, you should finish your RFP response cover letter with a call-to-action (CTA). Just like you would with any other sales materials. By encouraging the buyer to act, they’re more likely to contact you or follow up with your bid.

Here are some examples:

• Please reach out with any questions you might have.
• Let me know if I can put you in touch with another customer for a reference.
• We’re eager to show you more. Please get in touch to schedule a demo with our team.

  Top tip! For that final touch, you could sign your RFP response cover letter with an actual signature. This is one last way to show the buyer that you’re invested in the contract and working with their business.

So, here’s what you need to write an RFP response cover letter

To write an effective cover letter, you need to explain why your business is qualified to respond to the RFP. As well as outline your company’s USPs and briefly describe everything that will be discussed in your RFP response. However, it’s important not to be too pushy at this stage. Leave the hard sell for the body of your RFP response!

Remember our top tips for producing a persuasive cover letter  

• Address your cover letter to the right people.
• Make your cover letter unique.
• Show the buyer that you understand their problem.
• Stay true to your brand.
• End with a call-to-action.

You can download our RFP Cover Letter template to get started on your RFP cover letter response for free. It is a customizable document that allows you to make a lasting impression with the buyer.    

Need support writing your next bid?

Not got the time to write winning bid responses in-house? Don’t worry, our Bid Consultants can help. We provide three bid and RFP writing support services.

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Our  RFP Writing  service is the perfect solution to ensure that you submit a high-quality bid, even when you’re busy. Our writers will break down the solicitation documents, allowing you to see what the bid and the contract involves. This will help to ensure that you have all the specified evidence and meet the requirements of the contracting authority.

Our  RFP Writers  will then craft persuasive, high-quality responses, attach supporting evidence and even submit the bid on your behalf.  Upload the solicitation documents  for a free quote.

Have you already written a bid but need a second pair of eyes to review your work? Our  RFP Mentor  service will do just that. Simply send over your bid responses and the solicitation documents.

Our writers will then assess your work, ensuring that your responses are in line with the specification. They will also check for any spelling or grammar errors. You can then submit your bid with confidence.  Upload your work  for a free quote.

Do you need help with preparing a bid proposal?  Proposal Ready  can help businesses that are new to tendering or those in need of rejuvenating their content. Our Bid Consultants will create:

• 3 designed and company branded case studies
• 5 company branded and professionally designed resumes for key personnel
• 1 company branded bid proposal credentials document that can be used to respond to future RFPs.

Find more helpful tips and advice in our blogs. We cover topics including:

• Working with RFP Writers
• Government bids
• Federal contract bids
• RFP cover letters
• Government RFPs
• Bid proposals
• Federal government RFPs
• RFP Consultants
• How technical Bid Writers can help your business
• And many more.

All information and data on this blog site are for informational purposes only. Hudson Outsourcing LLC makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, suitability, or validity, of any information. Hudson Outsourcing LLC will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided AS IS with no warranties and confers no rights.

Hudson Outsourcing LLC will not be responsible for any material that is found at the end of the links that may be posted on this blog site. 

Because the information on this blog is based on Hudson Outsourcing LLC’s own opinion and experience, it should not be considered professional financial investment advice. The ideas and bidding strategies should never be used without first assessing your own personal and financial situation, or without consulting a financial professional. Hudson Outsourcing LLC’s thoughts and opinions will also change from time to time as the market changes and as Hudson Outsourcing LLC develops.

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Emails for Proposal Submissions: 4 Methods With Samples

You’ve written all the essential sections for your proposal. The design looks great. Now…all you need to do is craft the perfect email to submit your proposal to your prospective client.

But, writer’s block is settling in. You’re not quite sure what to write in your proposal submission email.

Don’t fret. To help you cross this task off your to-do list, we’ve rounded up 4 unique methods for writing proposal submission emails . Plus, we’ve got email samples for each method.

All you have to do is copy and paste your favorite email sample and customize it to your needs. Let’s do this!

Why your proposal submission email matters

If you have experience writing proposals, you know that your executive summary is important. It sets the tone for the rest of your proposal and clarifies why the prospect should invest time reading it in detail.

But here’s the thing: the submission email comes first. 🤫Don’t tell your cover letter we told you so, but the email is the real first impression.

When prospective clients receive the submission email, it encourages them to view your proposal in its entirety.

To be effective, the email should be:

On brand - Every part of your client experience should be on brand, including this email. For different companies, that might mean using formal language, straight-to-the point messaging, or tons of emojis. Just make sure the email is true to your brand style.

Professional - Potential clients will judge the grammar, formatting, appearance, and language of your email to help them decide whether or not they trust you enough to do business with you, so now is not the time for sloppiness. Always proofread your emails.

Purposeful - Don’t stuff this email with unnecessary information or requests. Make sure that every line serves a purpose. If it doesn’t cut it. If your email is too long or complicated, it will be a big turn-off.

Keep these tips in mind when crafting your email, no matter which of the writing methods below you ultimately choose.

4 methods for writing proposal submission emails [with samples]

So how do you write an email to deliver your proposal?

Try one of these 4 unique email-writing methods:

Short and sweet

Full executive summary

Mini executive summary

Assume the sale

Use the one that best matches your company and industry. Then, add your unique brand style and prospect details, and hit that send button!

Method 1: Short and sweet

First up, let’s dive into the simplest of all our email-writing methods.

This email acknowledges the fact that your prospective client probably just wants to read your proposal , not a long, fluffy email. So, this email is kept short and sweet. It serves as a notification and a quick request for the reader’s attention. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sample email

Here’s an example email using this writing method:

Subject line: Partnership marketing proposal Hi Name, I enjoyed our conversation and I look forward to helping you grow your business through strategic, aligned partnerships with the right companies, associations, and influencers in your industry. I prepared a proposal based on your needs and our solution here: {link} Let’s schedule some time early next week to review any questions you might have and move this forward with next steps. Don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions in the meantime, {Your Signature}

Method 2: Full executive summary

Our next method is a lot more robust. Geoffrey James, a contributing editor for Inc., says every salesperson should master the proposal submission email.

He recommends this 7-point template to guide your writing:

Statement of gratitude (1 sentence)

Problem definition and financial impact (1-2 sentences)

Desired outcome (1-2 sentences)

Proposed solution (2-5 sentences)

Proposed price (1 sentence)

Risk reduction (1-2 sentences)

Next step (1 sentence)

With this method, you’re essentially re-purposing your cover letter for your submission email.

Here’s an example email using Geoffrey’s method:

Subject line: Software development proposal Hi Name, Thank you for giving me the opportunity to submit a proposal for your new startup. The school sports club management niche has not yet been digitized and you have the opportunity to be the first SaaS player in this space. If you don’t get to market quickly, you could lose out on this first-mover advantage. You need to take your product to market in under 6 months, and we expect to meet that deadline. I propose a small product team of two senior-level engineers, one product manager, one DevOps engineer, and one QA tester. My business team will provide strategic direction to ensure that this product team performs at a high level and stays on track with the product roadmap. The cost will be $30,000 per month, with a total expected investment of $180,000 (6 months) to develop your MVP and go to market. After this initial development, the ongoing monthly cost will be lower depending on how aggressively you want to add advanced features. To ensure that the MVP meets user needs, we will start by developing a prototype and conducting user testing with 10 target users. After product validation, we will begin development. Please read the proposal in its entirety. You can find it here: {link} If you’d like us to kickoff prototyping next month, I’ll need the signed proposal and a deposit of $30,000 by March 15th. Let’s speak later this week to go over any questions you might have and move this forward with next steps. I’ll send you an invite. {Your Signature}

Method 3: Mini executive summary

This method is inspired by Geoffrey’s 7-point template above—except that it’s a condensed version.

Instead of writing one or more sentences for all of his 7 points, you cover just 3 or 4 of those points.

The benefit of this email method is that it offers context and clarity, without being unnecessarily long.

After all, you probably don’t need to submit a super-long email with your proposal. You just need to encourage the prospect to give it a read.

We recommend you share your gratitude for being able to submit a proposal, describe their pain points or the desired outcome, and detail your proposed solution. However, you can mix and match any of the 7 points from Method 2 to craft an email that is contextualized, yet brief.

This type of proposal works well for financial aid appeal letters as these emails are not so short, and not so lengthy. Precise, to-the-point, and drives results.

For this example email, we’re including the following points: gratitude, desired outcome, proposed solution, and next step.

Subject line: Proposal ready for review Hi Name, Our team at Acme Architects is honored that you’ve given us the opportunity to submit a proposal for your dream cabin. We know how important it is that this cabin provides memories for your family to enjoy for decades to come. To achieve your goals, we’re proposing our standard package, which includes surveying, architectural renderings, design revisions, and streamlined collaboration with your engineer and building team. Please take a moment to review the proposal here: {link} Once the proposal is signed, our team will get to work immediately on the land survey. In the meantime, let's get some time on the calendar to review the proposal together and I can answer any questions. {Your Signature}

Method 4: Assume the sale

With this method, pretend like you’re writing to a new client who’s being onboarded—instead of trying to sell your services.

Most sellers know the “assume the sale” trick . Here’s how it works: you talk (or write) as if the prospect has already said yes. Your easy confidence in winning the deal helps convince them that you’re the one for the job.

This technique is frequently used on sales calls. A sales representative might say something like, “ Let’s make sure to set up a training session on this feature. Our head of education, Samantha, is really great. Your team is going to love her. What month would you like to schedule that ?” The seller is putting the prospective client in the mindset of having already said yes to the deal.

You can use this little sales trick in your proposal submission emails as well. You might hone in specifically on the next steps and not mention much else. Or you might include some details on the first few phases of the project.

Keep in mind that this trick can be effective for small businesses, but if your prospective client is a large organization, you might come across as clueless if you assume that decision-makers are already on board. So, use this method with caution. Find ways to mention onboarding and service details without being overly presumptuous.

Here’s a sample email using this method:

Subject line: Let’s get started! Hi Name, I’m looking forward to working together. You can find the proposal based on our conversation here: {link} Next week, we’ll kick things off with a 90-minute strategy session. I can’t wait for you to meet our chief brand strategist. She’s a gem and very excited about this project! Then we’ll dive straight into customer and market research, and your new brand will be ready for you by May 1st. Can’t wait! {Your Signature}

Must-have email templates when submitting proposals

When writing a professional email, it’s wise not to start from scratch. The proposal submission is an essential part of the sales process, and you want to get it right.

Before sending your sales proposal, consider using these great email templates. They’re available inside of Proposify , our platform designed for sending, tracking, and closing proposals.

Email template for sending the proposal

We’re big believers that for many companies and industries, sales emails should be kept simple.

This proposal email doesn’t include pain points or value propositions. It simply asks the prospective client to take a look at the proposal and let the sender know if they have any questions.

Let this template be a reminder: you don’t have to dress up your proposal with a complicated email. You can choose to let your proposal shine instead (and take pomp and circumstance out of the picture).

Automated follow-up email template to close the deal

Before you submit your proposal, you should set up at least one automated follow-up email . Not only will this save you time, but follow-up email automation also boosts proposal closing rates by 50% on average .

Use our reminder email template as an example. It kicks things off with a simple opening paragraph: “Do you have any questions on the proposal? I’m happy to adjust the terms to meet your needs.”

Automated thank-you email template

The thank-you email serves as one of the initial elements in your client experience.

You should use automation to send the thank-you email, because you want the client to feel good about their decision to work with you. If they sign the proposal while you’re away from your desk, automation ensures that you’re responding to their decision without delay.

You can use this email to cover important onboarding steps, such as filling out a questionnaire or booking a kickoff meeting. Or, you can simply deliver a copy of the signed proposal and let your client know you will be in touch with them as soon as possible to begin the onboarding process.

Proposify offers automated thank-you emails within our platform. This template uses simple, positive language like, “Thank you for accepting our proposal. We’re excited to get started and we’ll be in touch ASAP with next steps.”

With Proposify, you can edit any of our email templates or create your own templates for a variety of use cases.

Get proposal templates and automated emails with Proposify

To send beautiful proposals and submission emails in a snap, you need proposal software .

Proposify includes both proposal templates and email templates to save you time and create consistency for your sales team. Our software also offers analytics features so you can check which prospective clients have viewed your proposal and how often. This data will help you craft custom follow-up emails based on each client’s level of interest (or lack thereof). You can also track average viewing and closing rates to set goals for improving your sales stats.

And for the cherry on top, emails sent with Proposify enjoy an average open rate of 90.5% , so you can be sure that your emails are getting through to your prospects.

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6 RFP response email samples worth reusing

Why you need the ultimate library for your rfp responses.

Templates & guides

Updated: Jan 23rd, 2024

Between communication apps, social media, and text messaging, email seems almost quaint. Still, a well-written RFP response email adds a level of professionalism to business communications, especially when you want to impress a prospect.

The reality is that writing emails is a core part of the proposal process, whether responding after receiving an RFP or sending an email for a proposal submission.

After hours crafting the perfect proposal, the email might seem like the sprinkles on top of the icing on the cake, in that it might look nice, but doesn’t add much substance. That doesn’t mean your email should be an afterthought. Like the right suit or hairstyle, the email is the first impression that sets the tone before the prospect even opens your proposal.

At Responsive, the last thing we want to do is put more work on your plate. So here are six of the most successful emails our proposal writers use. Feel free to copy and paste and use them as you see fit:

Request for proposal email sample: Send after receiving RFP

Hi [First Name] –

I am honored that [Vendor] has been selected to respond for [Prospect]’s business through an RFP. We look forward to showing [Prospect] and the whole evaluation team why [Vendor] would be a strategic solution to address the current and future challenges that [Prospect] is facing in their RFP process.

Based on the current status in the request, I will show how [Vendor] will help to: create a more consistent process across international regions, save individuals time to focus on other initiatives, and provide insights into all RFP analytics across your organization.

I will follow up within the next week with any questions we have about the RFP.

Thanks again for the opportunity!

ProTip: Provide three specific pain points you will solve to show you are the right partner.

RFP toolkit

Download the RFP toolkit to get the templates.

Request for proposal email sample: Send to clarify RFP project

It is apparent that [name(s)] spent a lot of time putting this request together. Thanks for sending us such an organized RFP outline…they aren’t always delivered this way!

At this time we are still reviewing, and the requirements are aligning well with [Vendor]’s offerings. We have outlined a few comments and questions. We would like to schedule a one-hour review session with your team to cover everything.

Is your team available at [11:30 a.m. PST] on [Friday] for this review session? Please confirm and I’ll send over a calendar invite.

Thanks and talk soon!

ProTip: A positive tone is always key with clarification requests.

Request for proposal email sample: Use for proposal submission

I trust you are well and busy as you receive and review multiple RFP responses. Attached, you will find the following files and folders to accompany the RFP response from [Vendor]:

• [Relevant File / Folder]

Our team would be honored to earn [Prospect]’s trust and business as a result of this RFP submission. The connection we have with [anecdotal personal point, story, business fact, mutual customers, relevant content identified in the sales process] makes the potential of our doing business together that much more exciting.

We look forward to the next steps to come as we continue this process together. I will be standing by for any follow-up questions from your review.

ProTip: Bring in a personal touch to avoid a bland RFP submission.

Request for proposal email sample: Send to follow-up on proposal submission

Follow-Up #1 – When you haven’t heard from the prospect, and the deadline has not passed.

I trust this finds you well and in the throes of the RFP review. As we approach your review timeline of [August 1], I wanted to check in proactively on [Vendor]’s submission.

Are there any follow-up questions or clarification points needed from [Vendor]? I would be happy to hop on a quick call or share a sample of our work to clarify any other functional requirements you might have.

Speak to you soon,

Follow-Up #2 – When you still haven’t heard from the prospect, and the deadline has passed.

I’m reaching out to see if I can get an update on [Vendor]’s recent RFP submission. We passed our deadline of [August 1], and I haven’t heard from anyone at [Prospect] yet.

Perhaps the project is hung up due to competing priorities, the project is taking a different direction, or another vendor has been decided? Whatever the case may be, any updates would be greatly appreciated.

ProTip: Keep your first follow-up message brief and polite. On the second follow-up, gently back away to see if that draws them in.

Request for proposal email sample: Send after winning proposal

I was thrilled to learn that [Vendor] moved forward in the selection process. I speak for the entire team when I say that we appreciate the opportunity to earn your business.

Per the outline of the RFP process, the next step is an onsite presentation for the last week of [August]. I am available [Mon-Wed] in the [afternoons]…do any of these times work for your team?

Very excited, thanks!

ProTip: Show your enthusiasm and keep the momentum going to move the project forward.

Request for proposal email sample: Send after losing proposal

Thank you for the update. I am surprised by this result as I remember specifically how well the demo went with your team, and the excellent fit between [Prospect] and [Vendor].

I absolutely respect your decision, and I only ask for some additional feedback so I can understand how [Vendor] can continue to improve. Let’s schedule a few minutes to chat, so I can better understand the specifics you were looking for. Any feedback I can glean in this scenario is very valuable.

Thank you very much,

ProTip: Lose gracefully, but demonstrate complete confidence in your solution until the end. You never know…they may be back!

The formula for creating winning RFP responses

Want to stand out in the RFP process? Our guide can teach you how to write a winning RFP response.

Respond fast. Save time. Win more.

Add RFP software to your sales tech stack for response automation with a human touch, content governance that establishes trust, and outcomes that will only improve over time.  Learn more about Responsive .

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