Many years ago, a trend in IT Outsourcing was coined “my mess for less.” It was a simple arbitrage of moving functions to a 3rd party provider with lower fixed and variable costs.
In outsourcing businesses beyond IT (logistics & transportation, facility management, customer service, and back-office functions, to name a few), “my mess for less” procurement-led thinking drives much of the RFP (request for proposal) activity that sales teams respond to.
I worked in the facility and print management industry for a time. We used an Outsourcing Transformation Framework that product and sales teams successfully applied to nudge prospects to think differently about outsourcing.
Print management is where an organization outsources its print and copy machines, ink and toner, paper, and maintenance and repair service to a 3rd party provider.
The Outsourcing Transformation Framework enables the prospect or customer to shift from “my mess for less” mindset to a transformational mindset. Other industries can apply the framework to increase revenue, improve customer service, and increase productivity, among other things.
Your organization may not have the option to not respond to not respond to fewer RFPs. Your best hope is to reduce the number of RFPs you have to respond to.
Here’s the Bottom Line…
The best way to avoid “my mess for less” RFPs is to present the framework to the prospect or customer before issuing the RFP.
Account and territory plan development can accelerate the sales team’s ability to present the framework to the right person within the organization.
A discovery or introductory call is the ideal forum to present the framework!
The sooner a prospect or customer sees that your organization thinks differently, the sooner you’ll be able to avoid “my mess for less” RFPs.