If you want your manufacturing business to succeed, then you’re going to need to nail your RFQ (Request For Quote) responses.
If you receive an RFQ, then you already have one foot in the door and are on your way to winning their business. Whoever took the time to fill out the request template on your website already has a strong opinion of your capabilities.
However, to get them to sign on the dotted line, your response to their RFQ is key.
To help you win the deal, here are 5 tips for responding to an RFQ to get it right every time.
Decide if it’s Worth Your Time
First and foremost, you have to decide if it is worth your time to respond to the RFQ.
Are the needs the requestor something you can actually fulfill? Do you have the current capacity to meet their expectations? In addition to whether or not you can fulfill their needs, you need to look at how profitable an agreement would be on your end.
If you don’t already, you need to set up a formalized system for qualifying these responses.
Otherwise, you may be wasting your time trying to respond to someone who a partnership with isn’t feasible, or that won’t be very financially beneficial for you.
Be Timely in Your Response
Not only will having a clear and well-outlined qualifying process help ensure that you’re only going after requests that will be mutually beneficial, but it can also help you
You can see whether or not the request checks off all the boxes and then get started on your response immediately.
This is huge because being the first to respond is essential. It shows that you’re eager and interested to work together. On top of that, it also indicates that you are well organized and efficient.
That being said, you want to make sure that your response still reflects the quality of your manufacturing business.
And here is how to do just that.
Avoid ‘Copy Paste’ Techniques
While being timely with your response is important, if you are just copying and pasting pasts responses to a new one, you’re not going to have much success.
The requestor is bound to tell the difference between a response that is actually authentic vs. one that is scripted and boring.
Make sure to take the time to craft a well-written response that addresses the actual needs of the requestor.
Otherwise, they’ll know that you don’t care about their needs and are just interested in trying to make more money.
Be Descriptive
Being descriptive is also essential to a strong response. In addition to mentioning the pricing, quality level, and contract length, the following should also be prevalent within your response:
- Unit price
- Number of hours per product/assembly
- Hourly rate
- Material cost
- Material margin
- Material handling fee (if applicable)
- Standard lead-time
- Details of any non-recurring engineering costs
- Component/material liabilities
A thorough response once again shows that you’re serious about working with them, as well as professional and well-run.
Pitch Yourself Effectively
Finally, you have to make sure that you are pitching you and your company effectively.
Within the response, you should relay the fact that you are capable of the following when it comes to meeting their requirements:
- That you have the capacity, ability, and skills to deliver what they are asking for.
- That you have the knowledge to handle their specific needs, as well as experience in handling similar needs.
- That you have a history of delivering results on-time and are within the budget.
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