Beyond the RFP: Navigating the Expanding Demands of Modern Buyers

I think this goes without saying, traditional RFPs (Request for Proposals) are a thing of the past. Buyers are increasingly seeking more information, far beyond your generic cut and paste answer. As a fundamental component in securing business, RFPs remain a primary type of assessment that companies must address, with nearly 50% of organizations indicating they respond to these often lengthy, highly technical requests at least once or more per week. Iris not only acknowledges this, but is hitting it head on.

This is not only a concern I’m hearing from prospective clients, but also a pain I have felt myself. This is what attracted me to Iris early on as both a representative and an end user.

The landscape of information requests is broadening and growing in complexity. Organizations now frequently encounter RFIs and RFQs in addition to the RFP workload. Additionally, questionnaires such as DDQs, VRAs, ESGs, DEIs, and whatever three-letter acronym for a tedious project you can think of are becoming more prevalent.

The variety of questionnaires, assessments, and inquiries an organization must manage when partnering with potential collaborators is extensive. Each one demands tailored information to fit the audience, which is where Iris comes into play.

Iris excels in gathering, shaping, and personalizing this information to ensure that the company's knowledge is efficiently shared. Through a fluid process, Iris brings together subject matter experts and stakeholders to deliver information that is current, compelling, and compliant.

In terms of managing strategic responses, almost 100% of organizations deem the following competencies as critical, which Iris excels at providing:

• Aligning stakeholders on the response process

• Facilitating collaboration and alignment across the organization

• Ensuring a consistent brand voice and style

• Producing detailed, accurate, and compliant responses

• Providing a single source of truth for responses

• Personalizing responses

• Trending historical data

• Using key reports to measure the impact of responses

• Enabling access to self-service and automation tools

Instead of clicking a button to spin up a proposal from a bank of canned responses, Iris is actually focusing on the meat of the process. Making every rep or SME infinity more autonomous, and enabling them to be an expert on your company knowledge.

The way people are thinking about RFPs is evolving, shouldn’t you have a platform that is evolving as well?

Iris serves as your internal AI deal desk by empowering enablement, tailoring content for various audiences, and providing collaboration tools to make the RFP process more efficient.