Note: RFP Plus is a new RFP and procurement platform in partnership with Pilera Software.
As a board member of your HOA or condo association, one of your most important responsibilities is to solicit bids for a community project and hire the most appropriate vendor. This involves distributing a request for proposal (RFP) to potential vendors, evaluating their responses, and selecting a vendor that meets all of your requirements.
If you are working with a management company, they will oversee the process on the association’s behalf, while collaborating with you, keeping you updated, and helping you make a final decision. If you are self-managed, you’re likely managing the entire process independently. In either case, there may be challenges such as limited vendor participation or inconsistent internal communications, which can prevent your community from getting the best bids.
With a collaborative RFP system, you can overcome these challenges and get better bids for your community. Read on to learn how RFP Plus can help you to effectively manage your RFP, collaborate with other board members or managers, and improve vendor relationships so you can get the best bids for your community projects.
1) Collaborate with managers and other board members on RFP projects
Collaboration between managers and board members during the RFP process is essential to ensuring a smooth bidding experience for vendors and helping your community get more optimal bids. Through the new RFP management system, you can log in, see the latest updates, and communicate with managers.
- Approve RFPs – When managers create an RFP in the system, they can assign it to a board member for approval. You can then update the approve/reject status and add comments to give your managers more information.
- Document sharing – You can documents securely with vendors through the RFP platform.
- Communication – Board members can post questions or comments in an RFP for managers to see and respond to.
- Get email updates – When updating an RFP or leaving a comment, managers and board members can choose to notify each other, keeping everyone in the loop.
2) Easily vet vendors and manage information
Hiring the right vendor to work on a project for your community is vital to improving property values, reducing risk to liability, and keeping the community’s members safe. The new RFP management system empowers you to manage vendor information and easily vet vendors. Read on to learn how:
- Track vendor information – The vendor database helps you keep track of important information such as vendor contact information, staff members, and license expiration dates. You can also rate vendors and filter your RFPs by vendors so you know who to reach out to for your next RFPs.
- Keep your community safe – License expiration reminder notifications keep you informed about which vendors’ licenses are expiring soon or are already out of date.
- View vendor responses – Through the system, you can view all conversations with vendors. When vendors respond to an RFP with any attachments, it is tracked directly within the RFP itself and in a separate Message Inbox area.
3) See all HOA RFP activity in one place
In the past, HOA communities have often struggled with managing their RFPs, using lengthy email chains, cumbersome spreadsheets, or a variety of apps. These approaches lead to disorganization and hindered board collaboration. Our new HOA RFP system enables you to enjoy more streamlined workflows and the peace of mind that comes with having all your data in one place. RFP Plus makes data retention easy – you can keep all of your RFP activities, conversations, documents, and status updates in a central location. Read on to learn how:
- Real-time insight – View the progress of RFPs that your management team is working on in real-time. You can also see every conversation between managers, vendors, and other fellow board members in one place, within the RFP ticket itself and the Message Inbox.
- Improve budgeting – You can review past RFPs to better understand the scope of upcoming projects. The dashboard allows you to filter your RFPs by manager, vendor, or category.
- Smoother board member transitions – When new board members are elected to run the community, keeping a record of all RFPs in one place makes the transition and learning curve easier.
Conclusion
With a well-managed RFP process, your can help improve the property values of your community while getting the best services and value from your vendors. With collaborative RFP software, you can stay up to date with your community’s RFPs, communicate with managers, and easily vet vendors.
About RFP Plus & How to get started
RFP Plus is a collaborative request for proposal platform empowering your team to organize your RFPs, communicate with vendors, and compare bids to make the best decision for your clients.
As a brand new platform, RFP Plus is excited to offer free access until January 1, 2024! The free access program allows you to experience the ease of use with our RFP Platform while we gain valuable feedback to improve the product. Sign up for free now!
For Pilera customers
RFP Plus is offering free access to its RFP software through Pilera’s platform until January 1, 2024. As a Pilera customer, you can start using RFP Plus right away by navigating to the Tickets and clicking on Request for Proposal.
