How to Automate RFP Responses: The Modern Guide for Agencies
Stop copying and pasting from old spreadsheets. Discover the modern workflow that high-growth agencies use to win 10x more deals with 90% less effort.
The "Request for Proposal" (RFP) is a necessary evil in enterprise sales. It represents a massive opportunity—usually a six or seven-figure contract—but it demands a grueling investment of time.
For most agencies, the process looks like this:
- Receive a 100-question Excel sheet or Word doc.
- Panic.
- Email subject matter experts (who are busy billing clients).
- Copy-paste answers from the last proposal (hoping they aren't outdated).
- Stay up until 2 AM formatting the document.
This "Chaos Method" is unscalable. In 2026, the competitive advantage belongs to teams that embrace AI Automation.
Why Automate? (The Math is Simple)
The average RFP takes 20-40 hours of focused work. If you win 20% of them, you are spending 100-200 hours per win. That is expensive.
Tools like Velocibid reduce this time by 80-90%. Instead of writing from scratch, you curate.
The AI Advantage
- Instant First Drafts: AI reads the question and finds the best answer from your library.
- Consistent Brand Voice: No more Frankenstein documents with different writing styles.
- Fresh Content: Automatically flag outdated answers.
Step 1: Centralize Your Knowledge
You cannot automate chaos. The first step is to get out of localized Word docs and into a structured database.
Action Item: Export your last 5 best proposals. Break them down into Question/Answer pairs. This is your "Golden Dataset".
Step 2: Security Questionnaires (The Low Hanging Fruit)
Security questionnaires (SOC2, ISO 27001) are repetitive. "Do you encrypt data at rest?" The answer is always the same.
Use a tool that supports "Exact Matching". When the AI sees "Encryption at Rest", it shouldn't be creative—it should paste your verified CISO-approved answer.
Step 3: The "Human in the Loop" Workflow
AI gets you 80% of the way there. The remaining 20% is where you win.
- The AI's Job: Fill in the technical specs, security details, and company history.
- Your Job: Write the Executive Summary and customize the solution strategy.
By freeing p your brain from the repetitive 80%, you can spend double the time on the creative 20% that actually persuades the buyer.
Best Practices for 2026
- Audit Quarterly: Set a recurring calendar invite to review your Knowledge Library. Archive anything older than 6 months.
- Tag Everything: Tag answers by Industry (Healthcare, Fintech) or Persona (CTO, CMO) so the AI knows which version to use.
