Earlier this week I had a relationship review with a client who is new to the IMPAX Process as of January, 2016. I delivered a presentation reviewing the relationship and we spent most of our time in a very interactive and action-oriented roundtable discussion.

I heard something so refreshing that I wanted to share it here. At one point, one of the leaders nonchalantly mentioned that they had received a number of RFPs recently, where the customer was simply looking for a benchmark solution and price. He went on to say that they gently turned the requests around. When I asked what he meant, he said that in each case, they positioned the fact that the RFP process doesn't allow them to make productive use of their time or their customer's time, and they would recommend a different way to work together (doing efficient research and presenting the fit).

I asked how the customer reacted, and his reaction was equally nonchalant, "It made sense to them, and that's what we are doing".

No panic, no hand wringing, no drama, just a simple request and a positive reaction. It won't be long and that will be cultural to them. It will be how they routinely turn RFPs into legitimate sales opportunities.