Call Center QA Featured Article
February 01, 2010
BPA Discusses Benefits of Request for Proposals (Part 3)
Editor’s Note: Requests for proposals, or “RFP,” or a request for a quote, or “RFQ,” is a process companies implement to put out outsourced work for bid amongst competing providers. In many industries, including the telecommunications industry, these requests are used to organize the process of selecting service providers for various duties within a company. Craig Antonucci, 3rd party remote call monitoring provider BPA International’s director of Client Strategies, breaks apart the process, weighs in on the pros and cons of the systems and offers insight as to how these strategies work.
Over the past few weeks, I have broken apart an interview with 3rd party remote call monitoring provider BPA International’s director of Client Strategies, Craig Antonucci, on the “why” and “home” of requests for proposals, or “RFP,” or a request for a quote, or “RFQ.”
In wrapping up the final piece of the puzzle, Antonucci discusses with me BPA’s outlook on RFP’s as a source of potential business.
According to him, in the recent pasts, RFP’s were very difficult to win.
“At the end of the process, the winning bidder typically had the lowest price,” Antonucci said. “At that time, we were competing against vendors who primarily off shored their work at extremely low prices, and were losing those RFP’s on cost alone.”
But now, with the evolution of communications, the process has changed.
“While price is still important, the overall package, the level and quality of service, and the total return on the investment are driving the RFP decisions,” he said.
And for BPA, the RFP evolution has resulted in the implementation of new business processes for the company.
“We are currently participating in an average of three RFP’s per month recently, and are seeing great success with them as a result of our comprehensive partnership approach in our responses,” Antonucci said, adding that the company has formed strategic partnerships to strengthen its product offering.
Additionally, with the use of RFP’s, BPA has found itself at a cost competitive and service advantage compared to other companies in the same market sector.
“We have been able to use our over 20 years experience and expertise to help our clients achieve their goals and deliver new, fresh and exciting ways of running their business,” Antonucci said. “We call it the BPA Effect, and our programs not only look great in an RFP response, but we deliver results every time.”
Kelly McGuire is a TMCnet Web editor, covering CRM and workforce technologies, and anchor of its daily TMC Newsroom video broadcast. Kelly also writes about eco-friendly "green" technologies and smart grids, compiling TMCnet's weekly e-Newsletters on those topics, as well as the cable industry. To read more of Kelly's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Kelly McGuire
