Why Green Proposals

Just a few reasons why Green Proposals is the right choice:

For Government Agencies:

• Have you been looking for an easy way to prepare and conduct pre-bid meetings without any added expense or work on your part?
  By utilizing Green Proposals’ webinar option - free of charge for the Public Entity -you will realize a great way to conduct pre-bid meetings without having to spend hours putting together a PowerPoint Presentation, securing the use of a conference room, dealing with conflicting schedules, sending out notification of the meeting, dealing with handwritten sign- in sheets, providing hard copy handouts and requiring many people to travel in order to participate in a meeting to gather information. Everything related to the webinar, including notification, recording attendance, and doing any follow-up contact is done for you by Green Proposals. Your entity need only use one of our pre-bid meeting templates or use your own Powerpoint presentation and we will do the rest.
• Would you like to have access to “service specific” RFP and pre-bid meeting templates?
  Once you have decided to make use the services offered by Green Proposals – free of charge to Public Entities, you will have access to pre-bid conference templates to facilitate the preparation of thee webinar. Everything regarding the actual set-up of the webinar – at your convenience – will be handled by Green Proposals.
• Is your pre-bid meeting attendee sign-up sheet not completely legible?
  By allowing Green Proposals to assist with your pre-bid meeting, you will be assured of obtaining accurate information about all participants. In addition we will prepare an electronic meeting invitation to a list of vendors prepared by you. As a result, prior to the meeting you will know who has registered and shown their interest.
• Would you like to make a difference in saving valuable natural resources?
  In September of 2008, State Bill 1279, which facilitates the California Department of Insurance’s transition to an environmentally friendly, cost effective and efficient department, was signed by Governor Schwarznegger. This bill promotes our taking direct actions to both reduce time and effort spent on various business practices, but also reduction of impact on the environment. You plan to release an RFP and recognize the benefits of conducting a pre-bid conference. In some cases attendance is optional, in others mandatory, for the vendor to bid. Typically vendor representatives travel and assemble in a room so they can participate in your presentation. Sometimes the vendor representatives are local and their trip requires nothing more than a short trip via automobile. In other cases the rep is located somewhere else in the country and the requirements associated with attendance might include travel by air, car rental, hotel. By utilizing the pre-bid webinars facilitated by Green Proposals, you have the opportunity to have a profound impact on the carbon footprint that’s involved with a traditional pre-bid conference. We will manage the invitations, provide you with a list of interested parties as responses are received, send out reminder notices and even provide you with PowerPoint templates for added convenience. All you need do is give us the date and time you’d like to hold the meeting and we will arrange for the rest. A demonstration webinar is available on our website.
• Are you seeking alternatives to the repetitive phone calls and e-mails you receive?
  You’ve released an RFP. You may or may not hold a pre-bid meeting. All of a sudden, you receive 15 phone calls and e-mails from 15 from 15 different vendors all asking for clarification about possible service fees or your definition of a particular word, or about any number or minor-or-major items. Green Proposals can manage this inquiry process for your thus eliminating the repetition and allowing you to have more time to concentrate on other things. Why not receive points for clarification in a consolidated format and have the information returned through us knowing it will be disseminated to all interested parties, same information sent simultaneously, for you? Let us keep your vendors up to date on the proposal process, thus eliminating inquiries regarding minor items such as “When will the decision be made: or “Will you be meeting the timeline included in the RFP?”
• Would you like to have a direct impact on your carbon footprint?
  In September of 2008, State Bill 1279 was signed by the California Governor Arnold Schwarzneggar. This Bill facilitates the California Department of Insurance’s transition to an environmentally friendly, cost effective and efficient department. This bill promotes our taking direct actions to both reduce time and effort spent on various business practices, but also reduction of impact on the environment. Green Proposals is dedicated to resources and solutions for environmentally responsible proposals. By utilizing our dedicated services you will automatically play a role in reducing the carbon footprint left by proposals submitted in hardcopy and without unnecessary travel there is no consumption of fossil fuels.
• Have you ever given thought to optional electronic proposal scoring?
  The team of professionals who play an integral part in the development and growth of Green Proposals is responsible for initiatives that will not only save our natural resources but also realize opportunities to make the entire system more efficient and effective for all involved. Accordingly, we will offer an optional electronic component to score proposals. Our intent is to make the often laborious task easier and more uniform amongst the reviewers. This collaborative process will avoid “second guessing” and cut back on protests.
• How often have you wondered what can be done to cut down on the number of postponements often associated with the RFP process?
  Reasons for delays in the RFP process can fall into many categories; maybe there has been a breakdown in communications amongst the collaborative reviewers, perhaps it’s because the way vendors presented specific information is not consistent and you’re unable to compare “apples to oranges”, or possibly there is such a vast discrepancy in service fees it’s necessary to take another look at the way you’ve asked the vendors to respond. All of these - and more - can cause delays which might even bring about a postponement in the program inception. All of these - and more - are taken into consideration when you allow Green Proposals to facilitate the RFP process. Taking advantage of Green Proposals’ tools will not only have a considerable impact on our environment but will also bring you resources and solutions to manage the RFP process with the least amount of disruptions to your projected timeline. Applying one of the RFP templates, utilizing our webinars, or working with our web portal are just a few of the ways you can avoid unnecessary postponements.
• Do you really need hard copies of all of those proposals?
  In September of 2008, State Bill 1279 was signed by the California Governor Arnold Schwarzneggar. This Bill facilitates the California Department of Insurance’s transition to an environmentally friendly, cost effective and efficient department. This bill promotes our taking direct actions to both reduce time and effort spent on various business practices, but also reduction of impact on the environment. At Green Proposals we believe that hard copies are not only unnecessary, but also costly, inefficient, and environmentally unfriendly. Green Proposals has worked hard to develop secure alternatives to those hard copy proposals you’re accustomed to receiving. Vendors will submit their proposals electronically in a safe, pass-through process. All of the information you are interested in seeing and maybe more than you typically requested in the past will now be available without the use of hundreds of pages of paper. Each submitted proposal will be date and time stamped to insure the vendor has met your submission requirements. The signature will comply with the applicable state code. In California it is Government Code Section 16.5.

For Vendors:

• How often do you skip an “optional” pre-bid meeting because you are in doubt of your potential success and may not be sure you can justify the associated expense?
  Pre bid meetings can prove to aid you in obtaining information that might have been inadvertently omitted from the RFP. They can also help in that you see who else is interested in bidding and all interested parties hear the same information about the prospect and the services and / or products being requested. However, pre-bid meetings are not a marketing opportunity because you are sitting in a room with your competition. Additionally, it’s likely the questions you have after reviewing the RFP are the same questions had by all. Further, utilizing the services offered by Green Proposals allows you to get everything you want from a pre-bid meeting and much more. You are provided with the chance to work more efficiently and effectively while limiting your impact on our natural resources. You will not have to drive and / or fly anywhere. You will not have to spend valuable time and money assessing an opportunity that may or may not fit your criteria. You will still be able to see which companies are also interested without leaving your office. In the event there is an opportunity for partnering with another entity you’re aware of their interest in this RFP. You will have access to a transcript of the webinar and associated power point presentation eliminating the need for taking notes. Everything you acquire from the webinar can be safely stored in your portal for easy access to support the collaborative process.
• Have you received notice of an RFP from your satellite office, it’s due almost immediately, and there may be invaluable information missing but you cannot be sure?
  You just received notice of an RFP and the process includes a pr- bid gathering of all potential bidders. The last time this went out to bid they did not make a change. It crosses your mind that maybe this is not a viable opportunity yet you still have the requirement to attend. How great would it be to attend without having a significant impact on your sales budget and at the same time not require you to lose a day (or 2) out of the office? Green Proposals offers you a way to not only participate without time and travel but at a significant savings overall. In addition, you will be making a statement about your commitment to limiting your impact on your carbon footprint.
• Are your confident you will be notified of addendums?
  As a subscriber to Green Proposals you will automatically be notified of all addendums for every one of your identified projects. Furthermore, you will no longer have to worry about losing the addendum information because it will be stored in your portal for your convenience as long as the project remains active.
• Do you have specific questions about the service fee section of the RFP?
  The Service fees section of an RFP is often the most confusing section. Green Proposals has reviewed hundreds of RFP’s and in each of our RFP templates we have included a service fees section that is very straight forward and easily completed. What is most important in the service fees section of a particular RFP is uniformity. Our templates encourage vendors to present their fees in a straightforward manner with as few exceptions as possible. We at Green Proposals understand, first-hand, the investment of time and effort for both the buyer and the seller, and our goal is to make this entire process efficient and effective for all.
• Wouldn’t you like to have one place to go for collaboration as you prepare the proposal?
  Green Proposals is dedicated to enhancing the RFP process while at the same time limiting your impact on our natural resources. As a subscriber to Green Proposals you will have access to a private portal which will contribute to an enhanced RFP process. We understand that responding to an RFP usually requires input from various individuals in your organization. We’ve designed a strategic process to limit the time and effort required on everyone’s part as you move towards writing a winning proposal. You will no longer need to write individual e-mails to each person who has information to contribute. Green Proposals will provide all contributors in your organization one place for everyone to go to provide their input for your proposal. Green Proposals will provide a form for use by all contributors in your organization in order to provide one, uniform reference.
• How often have you been in the process of printing the proposal and found a significant error that requires you to repaginate and waste hundreds of sheets of paper?
  In September of 2008, State Bill 1279 was signed by the California Governor Arnold Schwarzneggar. This Bill facilitates the California Department of Insurance’s transition to an environmentally friendly, cost effective and efficient department. This bill promotes our taking direct actions to both reduce time and effort spent on various business practices, but also reduction of impact on the environment.
  
  You are reviewing your proposal for the last time before it goes out in hardcopy via an overnight carrier. You’ve found an error that will require you to cut ¾ of a page out of a section. This will require you to reprint several pages out of each of the 12 copies you have prepared for this proposal. This small revision to your proposal will require you to waste over 100 sheets of paper. Utilizing the secure services available to Green Proposals’ subscribers will allow you to make adjustments to your proposals up to the last minute without concern for your impact on the environment. Of note, one of the many other services offered to our subscribers is the secure electronic submission of Proposals.
• When the RFP process is over and the contract has been awarded, would you like to have a source for getting copies of all of the proposals submitted?
  Whether or not you were awarded the contract, the Freedom of Information Act allows you the ability to get copies of all proposals submitted to a Public Entity. Even if proprietary information is omitted there is still a lot that can be learned from how others viewed the opportunity and the strategy they used in their response. In the past you may have contacted the Public Entity after the contract was awarded and asked them what is necessary in order for you to get copies of proposals. It’s likely you encountered a less than enthusiastic response to your request. It can be a very time consuming task for the Public Entity and not one where they have allocated resources. If some of the respondents did not utilize the services offered by Green Proposals the Public Entity might have some hardcopies of proposals that would require someone to make a photocopy of those proposals and then send it out to you. As a subscriber to Green Proposals we will take care of this entire process and you will have access to copies of all proposals submitted electronically. Public Entities will only have to deal with Green Proposals and not various entities requesting copies of proposals. This will be an efficient and effective process for all involved and will have a significant impact on the carbon footprint left by the Public Entity.

Ideas won’t keep; something must be done with them. - Alfred North Whitehead

» Writing an Effective RFP (pdf)