RFPs and vendor onboarding

Requests for proposals and vendor onboarding are where many small event businesses lose corporate and public-sector work before anyone reads their ideas. Learn to tell the main bid types apart, decide which to pursue with a scorecard, read a bid document properly and get through onboarding quickly.

Read the transcript

RFPs and vendor onboarding.

The first time a hospital foundation or a large company sends you a 40-page request for proposals, it is tempting to start writing immediately.

Most bids are lost before the writing starts: by a vendor who missed a mandatory requirement, misread the deadline or chased a contract they could never win.

Know what you are being asked.

Organizations use several kinds of request, and each wants something different from you.

An RFI is worth answering even though nothing is awarded, because it often decides who is invited to the RFP.

Decide before you write: the go or no-go scorecard.

A proper RFP response can take 15 to 40 hours.

Score every opportunity before you commit.

Read the bid document properly.

Read the whole document twice before writing a word, once for understanding and once with a highlighter.

Then build a one-page summary:

Vendor onboarding.

Winning the contract is not the same as being able to invoice it.

Before a purchase order is issued, most organizations set you up in their systems, and every missing document adds days.

After the decision.

Win or lose, ask for a debrief.

A short call with the buyer explaining how your bid scored is the cheapest consulting you will ever get.

That is the lesson. The worksheet and the quiz are just below this video.

What you will be able to do

• Distinguish an RFI, RFQ, RFP and invitational quote, and know what each asks of you
• Score an opportunity with a go or no-go scorecard before you spend time on it
• Prepare an onboarding file that gets you set up as a vendor within days, not weeks

The first time a hospital foundation or a large company sends you a 40-page request for proposals, it is tempting to start writing immediately. Resist. Most bids are lost before the writing starts: by a vendor who missed a mandatory requirement, misread the deadline or chased a contract they could never win. And the ones that are won can still stall for weeks in vendor onboarding. Both problems are avoidable.

Know what you are being asked

Organizations use several kinds of request, and each wants something different from you.

An RFI is worth answering even though nothing is awarded, because it often decides who is invited to the RFP. An RFQ is a price contest, so answer it only if you can be competitive on price for that exact specification.

Decide before you write: the go or no-go scorecard

A proper RFP response can take 15 to 40 hours. Score every opportunity before you commit. Rate each factor from 0 to 5, multiply by its weight, and add up the results.

The maximum is 75. A worked example from Lantern & Lane, the illustrative west-end Toronto studio. A professional association issued an RFP for its 350-guest annual awards dinner. Marco scored it: fit 4 (12), relationship 1 (3), proof 4 (8), value 4 (8), capacity 3 (6), compliance 5 (15), for 52 out of 75. A second RFP, a 2,000-person multi-day conference, scored fit 1 (3), relationship 0 (0), proof 1 (2), value 5 (10), capacity 1 (2), compliance 2 (6), for 23. Lantern & Lane uses 45 as its threshold. It bid on the awards dinner and passed on the conference, saving about 35 hours for a bid it was very unlikely to win.

Notice the weight on relationship. Contracts are often won by vendors the buyer already knows, because they helped the buyer understand what to ask for. A bid that arrives from nowhere starts behind.

Read the bid document properly

Read the whole document twice before writing a word, once for understanding and once with a highlighter. Then build a one-page summary:

1. Deadlines: the closing date and time, the deadline for questions, and any mandatory site visit or briefing.
2. Submission rules: format, page limits, file types, the portal or address, and the number of copies.
3. Mandatory requirements: the items that must be met for a bid to be considered at all, such as insurance limits, years in business, references, signed forms or a site visit.
4. Evaluation criteria: what is scored, and how many points each criterion is worth.
5. Pricing format: the price form you must use, what must be included, and how price is scored.
6. Contract terms: payment terms, cancellation, liability and insurance clauses you will be bound by.

Use the question period. If something is unclear, ask in writing before the deadline. Answers are usually shared with all bidders, so a good question also shows the buyer you read carefully. Submit a day early. Portals slow down in the final hour, and a bid that arrives one minute late is normally rejected without being opened.

Vendor onboarding

Winning the contract is not the same as being able to invoice it. Before a purchase order is issued, most organizations set you up in their systems, and every missing document adds days. Keep an onboarding file ready, in one folder, with each item as a separate, clearly named file:

• A completed supplier information form template with your legal name, operating name, business number, HST number and addresses
• A void cheque or bank letter for direct deposit, sent only through the client’s secure process
• Your certificate of insurance, and your broker’s contact for adding the client as an additional insured
• A WSIB clearance certificate if you have coverage, or a short statement of your status
• Your accessibility customer service policy, privacy policy and health and safety policy
• Signed acknowledgement forms the client requires, such as a supplier code of conduct
• Your invoicing details and the name of the person who handles accounts receivable

When onboarding begins, ask three questions: Who is my contact in procurement or accounts payable? How do I submit invoices, through a portal or by email? What purchase order number must appear on every invoice? Write the answers down. An invoice without the right purchase order number is one of the most common reasons event vendors wait months to be paid.

After the decision

Win or lose, ask for a debrief. A short call with the buyer explaining how your bid scored is the cheapest consulting you will ever get. Ask where you lost points, what the winning bid did better and whether you would be invited to bid next time. Thank the buyer whatever the result. Record the answers beside your scorecard, so your next go or no-go decision is better informed.

In Canada and the GTA

The broader public sector in Ontario. Designated broader public sector organizations, which include hospitals, school boards, universities and colleges, must follow the Province’s Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. The version in effect since January 1, 2024 recommends an invitational competitive process with at least three suppliers for mid-sized purchases of goods and services, and requires an open competitive process above a set dollar threshold, which is adjusted over time, so check the current figure in the directive. For those larger open procurements, organizations must tell unsuccessful suppliers that they are entitled to a debriefing and must allow them 60 calendar days after the contract award notification to request one. Use that right. Read the Broader Public Sector Procurement Directive. Municipalities and the federal government have their own procurement rules and bid portals, so read each buyer’s own policy.

What this means for small vendors. Public-sector event work, such as a hospital foundation gala, a university convocation reception or a school board’s staff recognition night, is rarely awarded to a vendor because somebody liked them. The organization has to follow a process. That cuts both ways. A small business without connections can win on merit, but no amount of networking will get you the work if your bid misses a mandatory requirement. Register on the bid portals of the organizations you want to serve, set up alerts for event, catering, audio-visual and hospitality categories, and answer smaller invitational quotes to build a track record.

Paperwork buyers commonly ask for. Ontario’s AODA requires every organization with one or more employees to have accessible customer service policies, train staff and volunteers, and provide information in accessible formats on request. Organizations with 50 or more employees must also document their policies and keep training records. Public-sector buyers routinely ask suppliers to confirm accessibility training, so a written policy and training records save time. See Ontario’s accessibility rules for businesses. Expect privacy questions too: if you will handle attendee lists or dietary and accessibility information, PIPEDA’s principles of limiting collection, safeguards and limited retention apply, and buyers may ask you to describe your safeguards. If a breach happens, businesses must keep records of all breaches for 24 months and report those that pose a real risk of significant harm.

One point of contact. Many public-sector and corporate bid documents name a single contact person and say that bidders must not contact anyone else at the organization about the bid while it is open. Take that literally. A friendly call to the foundation’s events manager during the bid period, however innocent, can get your submission disqualified. Send every question to the named contact, in writing, and save your relationship-building for before the bid is issued and after the award.

Invoices and HST. Ontario’s HST rate is 13%. For invoices of $500 or more, include your GST/HST registration number, the buyer’s name, a brief description and the payment terms, and show the total 13% rate. Put the purchase order number on every invoice. This is general information, not legal advice.

Local practice

In the GTA, large corporations often run supplier onboarding through online portals that ask for the same documents as a public-sector bid: insurance, banking, tax numbers, policies and sometimes a cybersecurity or privacy questionnaire. Turnaround from award to first purchase order can take several weeks, longer in December and over the summer. If your event is close, tell procurement the date on day one and ask what can be expedited. Many buyers also require that no work begins and no deposit is invoiced until a purchase order exists, so build onboarding time into your production schedule from the moment you are told you have won.

Worksheet

Download the worksheet and complete it for your own business, using Lantern & Lane as the model where it helps. Keep it with your marketing plan. It takes about 10 minutes.

Download the worksheet (PDF)