The request for proposal (RFP) process can be time consuming and overwhelming for teams of any size. This is especially true of those teams that are not prepared for the process in advance.

If you or your team find that you’ve been tasked with this process, you will want to take the time required to develop the components necessary to make the time spent efficient and valuable for your company as a whole.

Since our team has been asked to complete RFPs a time or two, we’ve compiled a few recommendations to consider while putting together RFPs from 3PLs.

Know the project objectives
Is your company planning to use this RFP for a one-off project? Are you looking to outsource a specific segment of your shipping initiatives? Or, are you looking to replace a current 3PL? Knowing the answers to these questions and sharing them in your RFP will give 3PLs an idea of where you’re starting, what your goals are and how they can tailor their services to fit your company’s needs.

Provide business visibility
There should always be a two-way confidentiality agreement in place throughout the RFP process, so teams can provide valuable information. That said, many companies still leave a lot to be desired when submitting RFP’s, which may lead to agreement terms that don’t meet expectations.

To ensure your RFP’s lead to valuable 3PL contracts, it’s important to provide full visibility into your products, services, company structure and other key areas. This can be achieved by providing a thorough introduction of your company. Give an idea of who your company is, what are you looking to improve upon and how this process will be valuable for your team. The more information you provide, the better.

Standardize the process
Most 3PLs will create a custom solution fit to how they can best service the needs of your company. When creating the RFP, the goals and objectives should be spelled out clearly. This will increase the likelihood of being able to compare apples to apples amongst many different companies, as they’ll be responding to your terms.

Above all else, be selective
When submitting RFPs the best way to show 3PLs that you’re serious is to be selective with the companies you’re submitting them to. Let them know that you’re looking for a partner and they’ll be more likely to treat your company the same.

At King Solutions, we’re striving to lead the way for our industry. Let us know what questions you have about submitting RFPs, we’re happy to be a resource and would love to assist in any way we can.

We hope you’ll consider our company for a RFP when you’re ready. Until then, you can learn more about what makes us tick here: