<html><head><style type='text/css'>p { margin: 0; }</style></head><body><div style='font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000'>Sam,<br><br>That is no doubt excellent. I think the point is winning RFP business is hard and takes a lot of work to win it. If you win 1 in 10 you spent a lot of time going after those 9 to win one. I have a company and we don't go after all the RFP work. it is time consuming. You don't get to interact with the customer in a traditional sales role. it is tough to differentiate yourself with a document. The firms who dedicate a resource have full time people working to win the RFP.<br><br>In a lot of cases they want you to spec the whole thing our for free, quote it and hope for the best. We don't spec for free unless it is a small site we can work with the custom in a sales engagement.<br><br>My advice is figure out how to go after business quickly and don't spend a lot of time on the RFP. <br><br>----- "Sam Polenta" <sam.polenta@gmail.com> wrote:
<br>> On Sat, May 29, 2010 at 11:56 PM, Matt Chapman wrote:<br>> > Easier said than done, which is why RFPs are usually a waste of time<br>> > until you're large enough to support a dedicated sales person, and can<br>> > make ends meet if s/he works for 3 months without bringing in a single<br>> > project. I have yet to meet a freelancer who wants to sign up for that<br>> > game.<br>> <br>> Dude, I was number 2 for this gig. Seems I have a pretty good chance<br>> of getting work this way. No?<br>> <br>> On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 4:17 PM, Christian Pearce wrote:<br>> > I only read one reason there. They got scared. What was the second reason?<br>> <br>> He said a couple of their directors have had trouble with freelance<br>> developers in the past, including one who mysteriously disappeared<br>> right before a major deadline. This has nothing at all to do with me,<br>> of course, he even noted. But he said it did influence a few key<br>> directors, who felt strongly that it was important to avoid the<br>> possibility of something similar happening with this project.<br>> <br>> > All you freelancers do you subcontract to handle excess workload? If so why<br>> > not start a loose firm of a couple people?<br>> <br>> Most / many freelancers prefer to be left alone. :)<br>> <br>> Not to mention that a "loose firm of a couple people" will soon become<br>> "just another" dev shop with overhead and politics etc. etc.<br>> <br>> Sam<br>> _______________________________________________<br>> consulting mailing list<br>> consulting@drupal.org<br>> http://lists.drupal.org/mailman/listinfo/consulting<br>> <br>> <br><br>-- <br><div><div><div><font style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif;" size="5"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">xforty technologies</span></font><br style="background-color: rgb(255, 0, 0); color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Christian Pearce<br>888-231-9331 x1119<br><a href="http://xforty.com">http://xforty.com</a></div></div></div><br></div></body></html>