Tips and Templates for Constituent Relationship Management RFPs

Writing a CRM RFP? We can help!

Procuring anything as a government entity can be difficult, especially once you hear the phrase “Request for Proposal” or “RFP.” The concept of an RFP might even be enough to make you and your team want to give up on purchasing constituent relationship management (CRM) software, especially if you have purchasing thresholds.

There are plenty of ways to fast-track procurement (and perhaps even avoid an RFP), but if you do go the RFP route, it doesn’t need to be difficult. An RFP is often a great way to justify your purchase to constituents and ensure you appropriately evaluate the companies you’ll be working with. Before you take the step of drafting your RFP, we recommend these 5 best practices for CRM procurement that will ensure you are procuring the best CRM platform to support your goals.

Here are three tips that will help you, your team, and your purchasing department to write an effective RFP for your CRM.

1. Highlight Your Goals

You and your team may have spoken to potential vendors and others might stumble upon your procurement. The goal is to get the best solution to meet your needs, and vendors you haven’t yet spoken with may have novel approaches you hadn’t yet considered.

Take space at the beginning of your RFP to outline your unique challenges, pain points, and desired outcomes, but be careful not to outline a solution that is too specific. By making clear your desired high-level outcomes, you give potential vendors the space to bring unique approaches to the table. Allowing space for your vendors to fully articulate their potential solutions gives you the opportunity to evaluate a more robust and varied set of solutions.

2. Use A Capability Matrix

To ensure your team can accurately and effectively compare potential CRM products, a capability matrix requires all potential vendors to answer business requirements with a clear response code, explaining if a capability is standard, configurable, customizable, planned, possible via third-party, or not available. This matrix response can easily be compared across products and potential vendors. (Hint: Get an example of a capability matrix by downloading our RFP template.)

3. Include Sections Important to Your Team

Is your team curious about how they’ll be trained by the potential vendor? Does your security team have questions? Are your staff constantly curious and asking questions that might require additional support? Keep these qualities in mind as you draft your RFP — potential vendors should be able to meet all of your needs and requirements, not only black-and-white capabilities.

Here at Indigov we’ve collected requirements and questions for your teams to get started. It’s time to get excited about procurement and look forward to RFPs!