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The Myth of the “Full Stack Developer”
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How to “Do More With Less” with Microsoft
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Here’s why customers should pay for more for customizations!
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Finding The Limits of Low-Code
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Dynamics 365 Business Central and RapidStart CRM UPDATE!
In my last post, I announced that we (Forceworks) were developing an addon for our RapidStart CRM to connect to Microsoft's wildly popular Dynamics 365 Business Central. I wanted to update you on our progress. BTW, I did not record audio for this post because it has...
A Better CRM for Business Central?
At a recent event, Microsoft executives told me that Dynamics 365 Business Central was flying off the shelves. Over the years, I had occasionally peeked over the fence at Business Central, mostly out of curiosity. But "flying off the shelves" is a reason for me to...
Steve has a Chat with Vahe Torossian
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I had the pleasure of having a chat with a Power Platform industry leader, Jukka Niiranen. Listen or Watch below. Enjoy! [podcast...
The New Weapon – Cost Predictability
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The Works Services-as-a-Subscription Model Update
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Power Platform Blind Spots
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The Microsoft Partner Dilemma
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Let’s Talk About Funnels
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It’s Time for a New Services Model for Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform
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The Myth of Single Version of the Truth
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Are you over-paying for Dynamics 365?
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Pay as you Go, Go, Go
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Hit 50K Users? Get ready for the knock-offs.
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Your organization (tenant) is over capacity
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“Even after everything, we still have adoption problems”
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We Upgraded from Dynamics 365 to RapidStart CRM
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How to Write a Modern RFP for CRM Implementation

I was talking to a prospective customer the other day who shared that they had created an extensive RFP for CRM implementation services and sent it out to multiple service providers, and not a single one responded. Not a peep! I thought this was worth exploring further.
The RFP Legacy
RFPs have been around for a very long time and have not changed much in all that time. It starts with wrong assumptions on all sides. The assumption by the RFP creator is that all vendors desperately want their business. The receivers assume that the lowest price is the only “real” criterion to win the job.
The RFP Game
There are many sectors where RFPs are the norm, government, for example. The vendors in that arena have no option but to respond, and they have been responding for years. Step one: find every possible loophole that can be exploited in a response. The slightest vagueness, or even a misplaced comma, creates an opportunity to respond in such a way that almost guarantees future change orders.
And once you are under contract, your leverage in negotiating change orders is very weak. Am I saying responders will be dishonest? I’m saying that you set the rules when you sent off the RPF, and you have to live with them. Your RFP says to the recipients that there is competition, and competition brings out the ugliest side of any business.
Your respondents will absolutely have way more experience responding to RFPs than you have in writing them. For CRM, for example, your responders also know a hell of a lot more about CRM than you do, this likely being the first CRM RPF you have ever written.
With CRM in particular, we have all heard the nightmare stories of implementations gone wrong, most of which started with an RFP for services.
RFPs for CRM
CRM systems have always been unwieldy beasts that morph left and right over time. CRM Providers, like Microsoft, Salesforce, etc., have been in a never-ending competitive battle, and their weapon of choice is the feature cannon. Microsoft, in particular, has lined up an array of feature cannons firing as fast as they can reload. How can you even know what to ask for in an RFP in this environment?
There are over 600 thousand Microsoft partners, and only a tiny fraction of those even offer CRM Implementation Services and of those, an even smaller number have been watching the feature cannons closely and are up-to-speed. How do you plan to find these people to send your RFP to? This sub-subset of partners is also highly sought after and would likely not even respond to your RFP. So who would? Desperate partners who are not very good.
So, how do you write an RFP and not get screwed?
First, don’t call it an RFP. Call it something like “Seeking Expressions of Interest” or something like that. At least it won’t get immediately deleted. Most of the RFPs I have seen in my long career were loaded with legal jargon; an RFP is not a contract. In fact, most RFPs include legalese saying precisely that! Delete all of it. You will end up negotiating an agreement with whoever you move forward with, and that will actually govern the relationship. When an RFP is full of legal terms, it says to the recipient, “we will be a pain in the ass”, and goes in the circular file.
Don’t write about “how” to do anything because you don’t know how anything is done. Don’t require this feature or that extension because, again, you don’t know what those are. Instead, describe the business challenges you are trying to solve. This you should know very well!
Don’t ask for prices! Pricing is irrelevant at this point and will be a guess anyway. Prices will be all over the place from people hoping to lowball their way into a conversation and later adjusting the price as they learned “details” that were not mentioned, or they will be crazy high because they have been padded for the unknown.
Competition
Competition is an excellent way to shop for a car. The model and features are known, so you shop the dealers and buy from the one who gives you the best price… the outcome will be an identical car. I’m glad your service department is so much better; I’ll buy it from the other dealer and bring it here for service. Car dealers are used to competition and have no choice. CRM partners, particularly in that sub-subset you really want to work with, do not like competing. If your project is a real “unicorn,” they might still pursue it, but regardless of what you might think, your project is most likely “garden-variety”.
In most of our projects, we were the only partner the customer talked to… or were we? I know I am persuasive and knowledgeable, but to move forward with me with no concept of whether the costs I tossed out were crazy high? It would be safe to assume that at least one other partner was talked to, and I would prefer that as your confidence in me will be better grounded.
But don’t tell me about it. Again, this isn’t a car, and telling me that you are also talking to so-and-so telegraphs that you are trying to manipulate me to change my price or something. And, unless you are a unicorn, and you’re not, more than likely, I will disengage and move on to the next customer. It’s not arrogance; it’s efficiency.
My Recommendations
My best recommendation for a successful CRM implementation is first to find that sub-subset that actually knows the product best. You don’t want to be the client that someone “learns” on. How you do that is up to you, you might start with MVPs, but that is not a guarantee. Then, go to their websites and check them out. Is CRM a focus or a sideline?
Identify appropriate-sized firms; if you have less than 200 users, the big firms will not have much interest, and if you have more than 10,000 users, the smaller firms may not have the capacity. Identify 3 or 4 firms; more than that is just extra work.
Next, even though I suggested “Seeking Expressions of Interest” as an alternative to RFP, I would not even do that. Instead, I would write an individual personal email: “We are looking for a CRM Implementation partner and found your firm in our research. We would like to schedule some time to talk with you about our needs“. I would respond to that! There is no need for these firms to know that you are speaking with anybody else; it’s none of their business unless you bring it up.
Before the call, send them a list of your challenges and the current solutions you use to address them. This list should also be in the body of an individually addressed email (not an attachment).
On the actual call, let them talk! I have been on initial customer calls where I only got to say three words. Get past the bragging section quickly and onto “what are your thoughts about our challenges“. Again, let them talk! Your goal is not to be heard but to hear what they say. Do they seem like they understand your challenges? Do they seem like they know what they are talking about? Do they seem like they would be enjoyable to work with? Later, when the project is underway, you will appreciate that these three things were the only ones that mattered.
In four calls of no more than an hour each, you should be able to narrow it down to no more than two. Ask these two to send you a proposal for what they suggest as the best path. Pick the one you feel gives you the best chance of success, even if they are not the “cheapest” one. Hiring a CRM Implementation partner on price is a false economy that will come back and bite you every time. If the cost is beyond your budget, get more budget, or cancel the plan entirely. This last sentence is the most valuable statement in this entire post.
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A Mountain of Shitty Little Apps
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Dynamics 365 Business Central and RapidStart CRM UPDATE!
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- 42 – Podcast – Preparing for the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Fall 2018 release wave
- 41 – Benefits and process to building ISV solutions with Microsoft PowerApps, Microsoft Flow & AppSource
- 40 – Four MVPs in a Room
- 39 – Dynamics 365 Saturday Atlanta
- 38 – Mary Jo Foley on (Not) keeping up with Dynamics 365
- 37 – Early reaction as Dynamics 365 for Marketing, Sales Professional reach the market
- 36 – So you want to be an Independent Consultant?
- 35 – Dynamics Marketing with Kishan Chetan and Steve Mordue
- 34 – 2018 Dynamics 365 Predictions
- 33 – Unexpected Curves Crash Microsoft's Dynamics 365 Roadmap
- 32 – MSDW Podcast: Talking Microsoft Dynamics platform plays and eclipses with Steve Mordue
- 31 – Microsoft waffles regarding what's next for Dynamics 365 for SMBs
- 30 – Business Edition vs Enterprise Edition: what you need to know (Webinar)
- 29 – Azure App Service Isolated caters to enterprise security concerns
- 28 – Steve Mordue on Microsoft’s sales shakeup, SMB commitment, and partner survival
- 27 – Tip #896: Don’t get blacklisted by blasting emails from Dynamics 365
- 26 – Microsoft FastTrack: Partner Friend or Foe?
- 25 – Tip #856: Modifying disabled users
- 24 – How Can Microsoft (and Its Partners) Leverage LinkedIn?
- 23 – IT Community Champ
- 22 – Microsoft Dynamics CRM SMB Apps
- 21 – Dynamics 365 Pitch Must Reach Channel
- 20 – Dynamics 365 Needs more Cowbell
- 19 – Can Microsoft Make Dynamics 365 Work?
- 18 – Whiteboarding Microsoft Dynamics 365
- 17 – Timing Microsoft Dynamics 365: CRM partners lament 'fuzzy' pre-launch license planning
- 16 – Microsoft Dynamics 365 to start rolling out November 1
- 15 – Dynamics CRM at a crossroads
- 14 – The Reinvention of the Microsoft ISV
- 13 – Microsoft Dynamics 365: New roadmap, licensing details revealed
- 12 – Dynamics Introspective: What Is Microsoft’s Next Big Bet On Dynamics CRM Success?
- 11 – IP assets: Channel companies seek differentiation
- 10 – Add new business offerings for long-term sustainability
- 09 – The gamification platform: Cool toy or CRM partner opportunity?
- 08 – How one of Microsoft's top CRM partners uprooted its business
- 07 – Cloud channel partners, vendors grapple with metrics
- 06 – Building a successful sales team to maximize profitability
- 05 – Cloud Partner Strategy 2.0 – Going Vertical
- 04 – It just works better: Why we made the move to Microsoft
- 03 – Microsoft Dynamics Partner Roundup
- 02 – Escape from Salesforce: Beware lock-in risks when migrating to Microsoft Dynamics CRM, says one partner
- 01 – Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2013: More favorite features from the field
Hello Steve, I absolutely loved this! It nearly brought a tear to my eye 😉
I was wondering if you would be comfortable with Myself and/or my Firm Solutions Metrix (CRM partner and Microsoft Partner) sharing your post on Linkedin?