Receiving a Request for Proposal (RFP) that you were not aware of, while it was in the making can be challenging. Here are some key aspects you might be missing in this situation:

1. Background Information: Without prior knowledge, you may lack the necessary background information about the project, the client’s specific needs, preferences, or the context in which the RFP was issued.
2. Preparation Time: Being unaware of the RFP during its development phase means you missed out on the opportunity to prepare in advance, gather necessary resources, or align your proposal strategy with the client’s expectations. Eventually, as luck would have it, you will have to make do with a stop-gap arrangement of whoever you can manage to pull out to support you in the RFP response process. You will lack big time in your ability to offer any differentiation that you would have otherwise have enough time to curate and make that impact to win.
3. Stakeholder Engagement: Not knowing about the RFP beforehand prevents you from engaging with the stakeholders or decision-makers early in the process, which could affect your understanding of their priorities and concerns. Also it’s a clear RED flag that you were not invited to the table when preliminary discussions were held with “Consultants” in the process, and seeking ideas. As sad as it may sound, you are not welcome and you know why. You haven’t just invested enough of your time in trying to understand the customer stakeholder(s) challenges. Someone else did. Now, its payback time and one shall reap what one shall sow. Isnt that saying so apt, in this case?
4. Competitive Insight: If you were unaware of the RFP’s development, you might also lack insight into who your competitors are, what they might be offering, and how to differentiate your proposal effectively from how they are going to differentiate themselves and their solution. Oh yes. You read that right. NO matter what you think, there are other competitors out there who are equally trying to gain mindshare and they have some differentiation to offer to the customer too….
5. Tailored Solutions: The lack of early involvement means you might not have the detailed insights needed to tailor your proposal to the client’s specific needs and challenges, reducing the chances of your proposal standing out.
6. Clarifications and Questions: Missing the initial phases of the RFP process can lead to a lack of clarity on certain aspects of the proposal, and you might miss the chance to ask pertinent questions that could improve the quality of your submission. For eg. You will never know specific nuances like in the case of GCC services : what is the customers Continent/Country/City of preference where they would like to build their presence. Inversely, in the case of Top 5% Salespeople, they engage early on with the customer stakeholders and are able to take the time to position a particular location of choice and engage in a validation after examining the Pros and Cons. This is something you can never get to, when you are in a passive reactive “RFP Response” mode. Remember the blind men and the elephant?
7. Strategic Alliances: Not knowing about the RFP in advance might prevent you from forming strategic alliances or partnerships that could enhance your proposal’s strength and appeal. Too late, too sad.
8. Budget and Resource Allocation: Being late to know about the RFP could affect your ability to allocate the right budget and resources effectively, potentially impacting the feasibility and competitiveness of your proposal.