STEPS to a Successful RFP Strategy

Looking for a new global payroll vendor?  Planning an RFP?  It’s not a difficult task, but it can be time-consuming and if you throw yourself in without creating an effective strategy, your search may not get you the information, and in turn the vendor you need. We’ve outlined below some of the basic steps to help you get started successfully:

Step 1: Before you start writing question or drafting your RFP, you need to map out an internal strategy. By mapping out your strategy at the very beginning, you can tailor your RFP to your specific goals, needs, and requirements as well as create a more efficient process that minimizes delays.

Step 2:  Take a look at where you want to be and what you hope to gain from your new vendor.  Starting at the end, or the future state, will help you identify the vendors that can meet your needs and align with your company needs. Make sure you have a good grasp of the current situation including any issues or pain points that you want to solve. 

Step 3:  Get the right people involved and use those resources wisely. Through sharing your initial strategy with your key internal stakeholders, you will be able to build out your strategy to ensure it covers all areas required and how your new global payroll solution will help with your business growth.

Step 4: Set up the parameters for how you want to run your RFP process. Some things you will want to consider include:

• What is our timing for the RFP process?  Again, working backward can be helpful – start with when you need your payroll live, consider time for contracting, and then how long you will accept proposals and how long you will need to review them.
• What information do we need from the vendors to evaluate their capabilities?  What else do we need to know about their company?
• What is most important to us?  What are our top criteria and how will we weigh the responses against that criteria?
• What are our primary drivers for this project? Are there current issues that we need to resolve? (complexities, security, resourcing, consolidation, customer service, etc.)
• Do we have the budget?  How important is cost?  Will we be willing to sacrifice an outstanding solution over cost is the investment in the future more important?

Now that you have a team together and built out your strategy, you’re ready to set about putting your RFP together.  The information you have gathered and objectives you have set needs to be shared with your vendor prospects. Be upfront with potential vendors about your selection process. Your transparency will help the vendors to provide a better, more focused proposal and will foster a good partnership with your selected vendor.  By thinking strategically when it comes to your RFP, you’ll set yourself up for success when it comes to choosing a suitable vendor. 

Consider that your RFP is the start of a conversation and a potential relationship with a vendor that will handle your payroll for your employees. 

You want to set the right tone and ensure that the potential vendors have a clear understanding of your business, and your project objects – the clearer their understanding, the more likely you are to succeed in getting the solution you and your organization need.

In order to expedite your process, iiPay has gathered together questions that we often see within RFPs we receive.  We have included questions regarding each area of emphasis, such as implementation, service, data security, etc.  You’ll be able to keep the questions you need and delete any that are not relevant for you. 

Download our Excel template and get started on your Global Payroll RFP today!