One of our biggest frustrations is losing an RFP to an incumbent and looking back to realize the customer was never going to make a change. They were determined from the start to stay with their current supplier. If this was the case, why did they go to the effort to administer the RFP process? There are several possible reasons - to keep their current supplier honest, to drive down the supplier's price, to justify their decision internally... Maybe they were just kicking the tires, trying to see if there was anything new out there.

For whatever reason, the outcome is that we put in a lot of time and lost. We may even be mad at ourselves for not seeing the reality sooner and qualifying more effectively. What can we do in the future to try to avoid this pitfall? Here are a few ideas to consider:

Conduct a qualifying call. Reach out to the sponsoring executive or RFP administrator and ask some questions to validate the effort (see A Qualifying Call, February 2009 for more ideas and specific questions to ask).

Assess the RFP. In your opinion, are they asking the right questions and looking for the information needed to make a serious decision? Are they giving you the access to information and people you need in order to submit a compelling response? Do you see the opportunity to be creative and innovative, or are you stuck inside the vendor trap?

Do your research. Work to understand the buying process and the roles of the key players. The involvement or exclusion of certain key players in the organization can be clues as to the validity of the effort.

Ask a coach. Do your research with a coach (or coaches) to gain some insight to the process and the people involved, the past performance of the incumbent, the level of satisfaction with the incumbent's solution and account management efforts and the direction of the company to assess the situation and qualify effectively.

With these items as input, we should be able to more effectively qualify opportunities and spend our time where we have the best opportunity for success.