PP Responding To RFPs

White Paper
Responding to RFPs
Practical Tips for PayPal Developers
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Introduction
Your prospective clients want to know what web development services you can deliver, when you can deliver them,
and how much everything will cost. They’ll often address these questions to you in the form of a request for proposal
(RFP).
Creating a proposal can be intimidating for people who don’t write for a living or have never responded to an RFP. But
the proposal process doesn’t have to be painful. This white paper will provide an easy-to-follow guide on how you can
use the proposal as a tool to differentiate yourself from other web developers and initiate a long-lasting relationship
with a client.
How to start getting RFPs

Potential clients won’t send you RFPs if they don’t know who you are and what you can do for them. You’re probably
already marketing your business in some way. Here are some inexpensive methods of getting your name out and in-
creasing your chances of being invited to bid on projects:
1. Become a PayPal Certified Developer. You become a PayPal Certified Developer by successfully completing an
online exam that tests your knowledge of PayPal payment technology. Once you’re certified, your name will appear
in the PayPal Certified Developer Directory online. That’s the first place many merchants go when they’re looking
for help. To learn more about certification, visit https://www.paypal.com/Certification/dc_index.html
2. Post your resume on Craigslist. This site has become a highly effective advertising and recruiting tool, and there’s
no cost to post. While you’re there, check out the job and gig listings.
3. Register at Guru.com. Geared towards freelancers, Guru.com bills itself as the world’s largest online service mar-
ketplace. Post your profile for free and search the job listings. You may even decide to bid on some jobs that don’t
require a formal proposal.
4. Take advantage of all free listings. Sites such as http://www.web-development.com let you post information
about your business for free. The more you get your name out to these sites, the greater the chance that you will
show up in a potential client’s search.
What to expect in an RFP

No two RFPs are exactly alike. But most of the RFPs you receive will probably include the following sections in some
form:
• Company background: Information about the merchant’s size and business.
• Website description and project objectives: An overview of what the project should accomplish.
• Target audience: A description of the target market and key characteristics (for example, 18-to-30-year-old males
who love sports).
• Project scope and guidelines: Technical and functional requirements such as navigation bars, and aesthetic re-
quirements such as color schemes and logos.
• Resources: The content, logos, and other graphics that are available.
• Timeline: How soon the client wants the site to be completed.
• Budget: How much the client expects to spend on the project.
• Client team: Who you’ll work with at the client’s company.
• Qualifications: The skills and experience the client expects from you. They may ask you to provide samples of
previous work, professional references, or a list of your technical capabilities.
Just visit www.paypal.com/developerlibrary to get white papers, case studies, and sales 2
and marketing materials that can help you build your development consulting business.
• Evaluation criteria: How the client will rate your proposal against others.
• Proposal requirements: Specific instructions on how to format and submit your proposal.
Stop and think

When you receive an RFP, take a few minutes to read it through carefully. Then ask yourself two questions:
1. Do I have enough information to write a proposal?

Not every RFP is exhaustively complete. According to website auditing firm Audit It:
“Many companies make the mistake of drawing up a site map and calling it a Request for Proposal. A hierarchy of Web
pages doesn’t provide a prospective vendor with nearly enough information to determine the project’s scope, and con-
sequently an accurate cost and delivery date.”1
If you receive an RFP that’s short on details, ask the client for clarification. You’ll avoid making assumptions that lead to
an inaccurate bid, and the client will know you’ve read the RFP carefully and are serious about the project.
2. Do I want this job?

It’s tempting to apply for every opportunity that comes along—especially if you’re just starting your business. But some-
times, the best decision you can make is to decline to bid on a project, leaving you with more time to devote to your
current clients. Take a few minutes to evaluate your current workload, gauge the amount of work the new client expects,
and make a decision on whether the new job is really worth pursuing.
Writing your proposal

1. Choose a proposal format
Once you’ve decided to bid on a job, there are two ways you can construct the proposal document. Choose the format
that makes it easiest for you to address the topics outlined in the RFP.
A shorter proposal often works best in the form of a letter proposal – simply a long letter with several sections. You can
include bulleted lists and tables as needed.
If you need to create a longer proposal, it’s best to use a formal proposal format. A formal proposal typically includes a
short cover letter followed by a main document that reads like a detailed white paper. It can also include sub-documents
such as pricing charts, customer testimonials, and references.
2. Gather the right information

What should you put in your proposal? Use the RFP as a blueprint for what information to include. Answer all questions
the client asks in the RFP, and add assurances that you can meet the project timeline and budget. Be sure to mention
specific skills and experience with similar projects to illustrate your ability to fulfill the client’s technical and aesthetic
requirements.
1 www.auditit.com/articles/writing_request_for_proposal.php
3. Structure your proposal

Next, there’s the question of structuring the information. Unless the RFP gave specific instructions about the sections your
proposal must include, there are no hard-and-fast rules to follow. One approach is to adopt a persuasive paradigm that
consists of four steps:
• State the customer’s needs
• Outline desired outcomes
• Recommend a solution
• Prove you can do it2
An alternate approach is to structure your proposal using the following steps:

• Show that you really understand the client’s problem.
• Give ideas for solving their problem (hold back enough so they can’t do it themselves).
• Explain how they’ll benefit from your solution.
• Tell them what it will cost.
• Give them a contract to sign.3
After studying the requirements of the RFP and considering these suggested outlines, develop an outline that will work for
you. Put the outline on paper, leaving space under each heading.
4. Brainstorm
Next, use your outline to guide you through an efficient brainstorming process. Follow these steps:
1. List ideas under each heading.
2. When you have finished, weed out ideas that won’t help you get the business.
3. Reorganize the remaining ideas into a logical order in each section.
Now that you have a concise list of ideas for each area of your proposal, it’s time to flesh them out into full sentences and
paragraphs.
5. Write
The words you choose will set the tone for your relationship with the prospective client. As you write, aim for a natural, direct
tone – pretend you are having a conversation with the client about the project. You can remove any unnecessary words
later.
By keeping your reader in mind at all times, you’ll avoid jargon and address the client’s concerns. Here are some examples
of how you can stay client focused:
2 Tom Sant, Persuasive Business Proposals: Writing to Win More Customers, Clients, and Contracts (New York: AMACOM, 2004), 31-32.
3 Kitta Reeds, The Zen of Proposal Writing (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2002), 42.
Change your thinking from: To:

“What do I want to say?” “What does the client want to hear?”
“Can I actually write this?” “How can I target my idea to this specific
client?”
“What’s the best way for me to say it?” “How will the client understand it best?”
“What do I mean to say here?” “What does this client need to hear at this
point to be convinced?”4
The moment you lose this focus on the client’s needs and simply start trying to fill the page, you risk losing the contract.
Clients are likely to overlook proposals filled with buzzwords but that lack concrete ideas tailored to their needs.54
6. Edit
Look over the first draft of your proposal as if you were the client. As the client, are your questions answered? Are your fears
eased? Does the text engage you, or are you becoming bored halfway through the first page?
Now, go back and edit. Cut away unnecessary words and phrases. Look for opportunities to make sentences shorter, cut
sentences from paragraphs, and use short words in place of long ones. The goal is to make the job of reading easier for
your prospect.
If you’re composing your proposal in Microsoft Word, there’s an easy way to check the quality of your writing as you work:
1. Make sure Word is configured to Show readability statistics. For specific instructions, refer to the documentation for
your version of Word.
2. Highlight the section of text you want to check.
3. Press F7 on your keyboard. A message will appear:
4. Click No. Your readability statistics will appear:
4 Reeds, pg. 20.

5 Sant, pg. 76.
Keep an eye on a few key statistics:

• Words per Sentence: Aim for 17 or fewer.
• Flesch Reading Ease: To raise your score, use fewer words per sentence and fewer syllables per word. This score goes
up to 100, but for a document that involves technical language, anything over 50 is good.
• Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: Since this number represents the years of education someone would need to understand
your writing, shoot for a lower score. Writing at a grade-8 level is not juvenile – it simply assures that you are straight to
the point and clear.
When you’ve finished writing, put your proposal aside for a few hours or a day before proofreading it. To catch all mistakes,
read it aloud and follow the lines with your finger. Even better, have a friend or colleague take a look.
7. Follow up
Once you’ve sent your proposal, plan to follow up with the client. If you don’t hear anything for a few days, send an email
asking them to confirm receipt. If you receive a confirmation, plan to follow up within a week or two, asking them if they have
any questions or need more time to make a decision.
Track any feedback you receive. If the client rejects your proposal, try to find out why. You can apply these lessons to make
your next proposal better. It’s possible that you bid too high, couldn’t promise fast enough delivery, or included too much or
too little information in your proposal. It’s also possible that the client isn’t a good fit. By knowing this now, you can avoid
bidding on similar projects in the future.
8. Next time
Now that you’ve used this process to create and send a proposal, you’ll have a template to use the next time you need to
respond to an RFP. The easiest way to get started with your next proposal is to open your most recent proposal and save
it with a new filename. From there:
• Use Ctrl+F to search for all instances of the previous client’s name. Then replace it with the name of the client you’re
addressing in the new proposal.
• Tailor the introduction of the proposal to focus on the specific needs your new prospect mentions in the RFP. If your
introduction doesn’t need much editing, it may be a sign that it is too generic.
If you need further assistance with winning new business, visit PayPal Developer Central. We’re here to help.
Sample formal proposal

Cover letter
[date]
Mr. John Smith

Owner
XYZ.com
3535 Commerce Way
Anytown, US 12345
Dear [name],
The enclosed proposal responds to your RFP #XYZ-123, dated January 1, 2008, for the development of an eCommerce
website. This proposal includes the following sections:
• XYZ’s business challenges
• Proposed solution
• My capabilities
• Project estimate
[The following paragraph summarizes the merchant’s business challenges.]

To sell your custom stereo equipment online, you need to attract a wide variety of website visitors in the free-spending 18-35
age range. These visitors demand fast page downloads, easy navigation, and short, concise product descriptions. But to
keep them coming back week after week, you’ll also need to provide them with bold, cool graphics and an overall look and
feel that’s constantly changing.
[The following paragraph summarizes what you can offer the merchant.]
As you’ll see in the enclosed proposal, I can help you meet these challenges. Over the past three years, I have developed
25 websites that offer consumer products aimed at the 18-35 age range. By combining my rich graphic arts skills with an
extensive background in HTML, XML, ColdFusion, Java, and Perl, I provide my clients with engaging, highly functional
websites that easily scale to accommodate a growing customer base.
[End with a call-to-action. Be enthusiastic and confident but not cocky.]

I’m already envisioning the kind of website I could build for you, and I’m eager to get started. Once you’ve finished reviewing
the proposal, let’s set up a time to talk.
Yours sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your company name]
Main proposal
XYZ.com’s business challenges
[Write a thorough overview of the merchant’s business challenges as you have discussed them with the merchant.]
When 18-35-year-old shoppers need stereo equipment, the first place they look is the internet. Shoppers from this genera-
tion grew up with computers, are extremely web-savvy, and appreciate the breadth of choices available online.
However, young adults also have high standards for websites. They are typically impatient with slow page loads and clunky
navigation. They skim rather than reading, and want to be presented with information in the form of bullets and short para-
graphs. They appreciate visual interest, and will not be satisfied with the same look and feel week after week.
Some of the most successful stereo equipment websites today include:
http://www.crutchfield.com
This website clearly states its value proposition up front: “34 years of helping people choose, use, and enjoy electronics.”
Visitors can use easy-to-use tabs to navigate to sections such as Shop, Learn, Support, and Forums and Blogs. Links to
other prominent sections of the site are laid out below the tabs. Crutchfield also calls attention to Top Picks and Weekly
Specials on the front page.
Although Crutchfield’s front page provides a wealth of information, it may also overwhelm some visitors and frustrate those
who are looking for a specific piece of stereo equipment.
http://www.bose.com
This website presents the visitor with a well-organized grid of products. The overall tone is professional and straightforward,
and it is unlikely that anyone would visit this site and not find what they are looking for. However, the site uses gray exten-
sively, leading to a look that is probably too boring to lure the demographic you’re looking for.
To compete with merchants like these, XYZ.com will need to present young adults with an intuitive web interface, easy
checkout process, and fresh, modern look.
Proposed solution
[Describe the website you propose to build.]
XYZ.com’s new website should include a front page that lets viewers know about the breadth of the company’s product
offerings, yet avoids clutter. Company logo and tagline should appear at the top of the page. Underneath these elements,
I recommend adding a block that highlights a featured product—one that has sold exceptionally well over the past month
or so.
Left sidebar navigation should be clean and simple, leading the visitor to four main areas: Speakers, Consoles, Services,
and Fees. To avoid clutter, links to other areas of the site should appear at the bottom of the page.
Each of these site areas will feature an overview page linked to short description pages for each product. Each product
page will feature Add to Cart and Buy Now buttons, which link the shopper to an intuitive PayPal checkout process for
maximum conversion rates. To minimize shopping cart abandonment—which I realize is a concern for sellers of high-cost
stereo equipment—I recommend integrating PayPal Website Payments Pro. This solution will provide you with:
• An all-in-one payment solution that accepts credit cards as well as PayPal.
• Ease of integration with all major shopping carts.
• Low monthly fees and transactional charges.
• Industry-leading fraud protection services.
• The flexibility to decide whether your customers pay on your website or on secure, hosted PayPal pages.
The color scheme should use the bright orange and ocean blue from your company’s logo as accent colors. Used sparingly,
they will give all pages an exciting, vivid feel without making the site hard to read.
My capabilities
[Expand on your skills and track record. Be as specific as possible.]
Since launching my business in 2000, I have developed more than 100 websites. I’ve spent the past three years focusing
on websites that target young adults—the age range that XYZ hopes to capture. Out of the 25 websites I have developed
in this time, eight of them focused on selling electronic products.
Here are some examples:
Client URL Technologies Results

ABC Electronics http://www.url.com HTML 10,000 monthly visitors.
ColdFusion $1.2 million in sales in 2007.
Perl
PayPal integration
ZAP Products http://www.url.com HTML 8,500 monthly visitors.
XML 3,000 sales.
Perl 1,500 downloads.
PayPal integration
BAM Stereos http://www.url.com HTML 11,000 monthly visitors.
Java 4,000 registered users.
Perl Catalog of 250 products.
PayPal integration
Project estimate
[Make estimates on the time and fees the project will involve.]
My fee for the entire project would be $XXXX.
If I receive all content and graphics from you by February 1, 2008, I can deliver the website on the following schedule:
Milestone Deadline
First round of page comps as PDF February 15, 2008
Client feedback due February 29, 2008
Second round of page comps as PDF March 14, 2008
Client feedback due March 28, 2008
Website live on test server April 7, 2008
Client feedback due April 14, 2008
Final website live on XYZ.com April 28, 2008
2211 North First Street

San Jose, CA 95131
tel: 408.967.1000
fax: 408.967.9912
https://www.paypal.com/developer

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White Paper

How to start getting RFPs

What to expect in an RFP

Stop and think

1. Do I have enough information to write a proposal?

2. Do I want this job?

Writing your proposal

2. Gather the right information

3. Structure your proposal

An alternate approach is to structure your proposal using the following steps:

Change your thinking from: To:

4. Click No. Your readability statistics will appear:

4 Reeds, pg. 20.

Keep an eye on a few key statistics:

Sample formal proposal

Mr. John Smith

[The following paragraph summarizes the merchant’s business challenges.]

[End with a call-to-action. Be enthusiastic and confident but not cocky.]

Some of the most successful stereo equipment websites today include:

Here are some examples:

Client URL Technologies Results

My fee for the entire project would be $XXXX.

2211 North First Street

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