How to respond to an RFP as a small agency

To respond to an RFP as a small agency, first decide whether to bid at all, then turn every requirement into a line in a compliance matrix, ask your clarification questions early, and answer in the buyer's own order and numbering. Write the price and the scope in their format, pick cases that match their problem, and have someone who did not write it check it before you submit. Below: a scored example and templates to copy.

Decide first: bid or no bid

A request for proposal (RFP) is a buyer asking several suppliers the same questions so they can compare the answers. For a small agency, the cost is the time: every hour on a response is an hour not spent on paid work or on a lead that came to you directly. So the first step is deciding whether this one is worth your hours.

Score the RFP on six questions, each from 1 to 5:

Give each question a weight, multiply each score by its weight, add up the points, and set your line before you read the next RFP, not after. The worked example below shows the sums. If you had a conversation before the RFP arrived, the answers from your discovery call questions fill in half of this scorecard on their own; if you had none, that is already a low score on the second line.

A "no" is a valid answer. A short, polite reply that you are not bidding this time keeps the door open for the next request; there is a template for it further down.

Read it twice and build a compliance matrix

Read the whole document once for the story: what the buyer is trying to fix, and why now. Then read it again with a pen and copy every requirement into a table. This is the compliance matrix. Each row is one thing the buyer asked for, quoted in their words, with a reference number, whether it is mandatory, where in your response you answer it, and who on your team owns it.

The matrix does three jobs. It shows you the real size of the work before you commit. It stops you missing a mandatory item, such as a signed form or a page limit, that can rule a response out before anyone reads your ideas. And on the last day it becomes your checklist.

Look out for the rules about the response itself: page or word limits, file formats, the order of sections, whether prices go in a separate document, and how and when to submit. If the buyer is a public body, read its instructions to bidders as carefully as the brief, and treat every format rule and deadline in them as fixed.

Ask clarification questions early

If the RFP gives a window for questions and a date by which the answers are shared, use it. A good question can raise your scope-clarity score, and the answers sent to all bidders tell you what the others are worried about.

Ask about what changes your price or your plan: the number of pages or users, who supplies content, which systems you must integrate with, how the evaluation is weighted, and whether you may offer an alternative alongside the requested solution. Ask in writing, number your questions, and refer to the section of the RFP each one is about. There is a template below.

Write the response in the buyer's order

The people scoring your response compare it with the others, question by question, against the criteria in the document. Make that easy.

1. Use their structure. If they number their questions, number your answers the same way and repeat the question above each answer. If they ask for a specific template, use it, even if your own proposal looks better.
2. Open with their problem. In the cover letter and the summary, name the RFP's title and reference, then say in two or three sentences what the buyer is trying to fix and what will be different when it is done. I start with the client's problem, not with a presentation of my company; who you are comes later, in the section that asks for it.
3. Answer the question that was asked. Lead each answer with the direct answer, then the evidence. A requirement answered with "yes, see section 4" is weaker than "yes: we do this in the build phase, and here is how".
4. Pick cases that match. Choose the two or three projects closest to this buyer's problem, size or sector. I pick different cases for every proposal, and in an RFP the evaluation criteria decide which.
5. Use your own structure where they leave it open. Where the RFP does not prescribe a structure for a section, use the sections a full agency proposal needs: challenge, approach, scope, timeline, team, cases, pricing and terms.

Scope, price and terms

Price exactly in the format the RFP asks for: per phase, per role, per year, or in their spreadsheet. If they ask for a fixed price for a scope you cannot count, price the part you can scope, and list the assumptions behind the number.

Write the scope as a list of countable deliverables with an out-of-scope list next to it. The client should feel nothing is missing, and that only works when the proposal says plainly what is in and what is not. The guide to writing a scope of work shows how to turn a vague brief into lines a third party could check.

Every RFP price needs three more lines:

• Costs after go-live. Hosting, licences, support and maintenance belong in the response, not in an email after you have won.
• Your rate for extra work. Change requests will come. State your hourly or day rate for anything outside the scope, so the price of a change is agreed before the first one.
• An alternative, if allowed. I don't guess the client's budget: I offer the premium option and let them opt in. In an RFP, answer the requested solution first, then add the stronger option as a clearly labelled alternative, but only if the instructions allow variants. How to build those levels is in the guide to good, better and best pricing options.

Worked example: scoring an RFP and costing the response

The agency, the buyer, the scores, the hours and the amounts below are fictional: replace them with your own.

Example

The RFP. Northlight Studio, a five-person web agency, receives an RFP from Fairhaven Heritage Trust for a new website with online ticketing. Stated budget: €40,000 to €50,000 excluding VAT. 38 questions. Responses due in 15 working days. Questions accepted until day 5. Four suppliers invited, including the agency that built the current site.

The scorecard. Weights reflect what matters to Northlight; scores are 1 to 5. The highest possible total is 100.

Question	Weight	Score	Points
Work we do well (museum and ticketing sites)	5	4	20
Spoke to them before the RFP	4	2	8
Budget stated and realistic	4	4	16
Scope clear enough to price	3	3	9
Time to do it well	2	4	8
Chance against the field (an incumbent is bidding)	2	2	4
Total	20		65

Northlight's line: bid at 60 or more, ask questions first and re-score at 45 to 59, decline below 45. At 65 it bids. Two clarification questions (the number of exhibition pages, and which ticketing system the trust already uses) could raise the scope score from 3 to 4, which adds 3 points.

The cost of the response, at Northlight's internal cost of €65 an hour.

Task	Hours	Amount
Read twice, build the matrix, send questions	4	€260
Draft the 38 answers	16	€1,040
Scope, price and assumptions	5	€325
Choose and write up two matching cases	4	€260
Review by someone who did not write it, then submit	3	€195
Total	32	€2,080

The decision in one line. €2,080 of time to compete for a project of €40,000 to €50,000 with four bidders and an incumbent: worth it at this score, and not worth it if the questions reveal a scope twice the size of the budget.

The scorecard does not make the decision for you. It makes you write down why you are bidding, before the sunk hours make it hard to stop.

Templates to copy

Template

Compliance matrix

Ref	Requirement (quote the RFP)	Mandatory?	Our answer is in	Owner	Status
[3.1]	"[Exact wording]"	[Yes / No]	[Section, page]	[Name]	[To do / Drafted / Reviewed]
[3.2]	"[Exact wording]"	[Yes / No]	[Section, page]	[Name]	[To do / Drafted / Reviewed]
[Form A]	"[Signed declaration]"	Yes	[Appendix]	[Name]	[To do]

Template

Clarification questions email

Subject: [RFP title], ref. [number]: clarification questions from [your agency]

Dear [name],

Thank you for inviting [your agency] to respond to [RFP title]. Before the question deadline of [date], we would like to ask:

1. Section [x]: [question, for example "How many content pages should the new site launch with?"]
2. Section [y]: [question, for example "Which ticketing system do you use today, and should the new site connect to it?"]
3. Section [z]: [question, for example "May we offer an alternative option alongside the requested solution?"]

We understand the answers may be shared with all bidders.

Kind regards, [Name, role, agency, phone]

Template

No-bid reply

Subject: [RFP title], ref. [number]: [your agency] will not respond this time

Dear [name],

Thank you for sending us [RFP title]. After reading it carefully, we have decided not to submit a response this time: [one honest reason, for example "the timeline overlaps with work we have already committed to" or "the scope sits outside what we do best"].

We would be glad to hear from you for future projects in [your field], and we are happy to talk if your plans change.

Kind regards, [Name, role, agency]

Before you submit

Give the response to someone who did not write it, with the matrix and the evaluation criteria. They check that every mandatory row is answered, that each answer responds to its question, and that the price matches the scope. Then submit before the deadline, in the format asked, and keep a copy of exactly what you sent.

If you win, the scope and the price you submitted become the starting point of the contract; if you lose, ask for feedback on your scores. Either way, after the decision date the follow-up schedule and emails for any proposal apply here too.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. For your situation, ask a lawyer or accountant.

How Propozit helps

An RFP response reuses a lot: cases, team pages, your approach and your terms. In Propozit's library you keep cases with a tagline, numbers and a client quote, and saved slides you insert into any proposal, so you pick the cases that match this buyer instead of rewriting them; see reuse your work: cases and saved slides. The deck editor has 20 slide types beside a live preview, fitted to the page; see the slide types for your decks.

If the buyer reviews your response as a link, you can attach PDFs to the proposal, such as a signed declaration or a spec sheet, for them to download. If the buyer prescribes its own template or portal, use that: a deck is no help when the format is fixed.

Propozit is in early access and free to start.