RFP Questions: What to Ask Before, During and After an RFP

RFP questions are the questions a buyer works through before, during and after a request for proposal. The questions cover what the buyer's own team must settle first, what the RFP asks suppliers, and what suppliers ask back while preparing their bids. Good RFP questions draw answers you can compare and score side by side, rather than sales copy.

Below are the questions for each stage and why each one matters, then how to score the answers and adapt the list to what you're buying. For the steps of the process and how long each takes, see our RFP process timeline.

RFP questions at a glance

Questions to ask before you start an RFP

Settle these inside your organization before any supplier sees the RFP. A gap here shows up later as bids that can't be compared, or as a decision nobody can approve.

1. What is the problem?

Describe the problem in a few sentences: what isn't working, for whom, and what it costs. A contract about to expire is a date, not a problem. Name the actual trouble, whether that's price, service, quality, risk or a need the current contract doesn't cover. A clear problem statement shows you which suppliers propose a real solution and which simply propose what they sell.

2. What are your goals, and do they align with your organization's goals?

State what the new contract must achieve in terms you can check later, such as lower total cost, faster response or better reporting. Then check those goals against the organization's wider plans and policies. A conflict, such as a supplier change that breaks a data-security policy, needs resolving before the RFP goes out.

3. Do you need an RFP at all?

An RFP fits when you know the outcome you want but need suppliers to propose how to deliver it, and service matters as much as price. If you can specify exactly what you need and price decides, a request for quotation (RFQ) is quicker. Our guide to procurement methods compares the options.

If the current supplier serves you well and only the price has drifted, renegotiating with the incumbent is usually faster, where your rules allow it. If you don't know whether your pricing is out of line, benchmark it first.

4. What are your requirements?

List what a supplier must have or do to be considered, then split the list into must-haves and nice-to-haves. Must-haves rule suppliers out, and nice-to-haves earn points. Be specific about service levels, delivery areas, certifications, security standards and insurance. Decide which references you'll want, too, from organizations similar in size and scope to yours.

Write the requirements yourself, or with an adviser who won't bid. A supplier that drafts them can tilt the RFP toward its own offer. For most organizations spending federal awards, this is a rule. Contractors that develop or draft the specifications, requirements or statement of work "must be excluded from competing on those procurements" (2 CFR 200.319(b)).

5. What is the scope of the project?

Set out what's included and what isn't, the deliverables, what must happen first and how long each part should take. Say how scope changes will be handled once work starts. If the work comes in phases, ask suppliers to price the first phase on its own and to quote the rates for later phases. A low price for phase one means little if the rest is left open.

6. Does the new solution need to integrate with existing systems?

Tell suppliers whether they're providing something standalone or something that must work with what you already run, such as ordering, invoicing, reporting or building access. Describe those systems and who maintains them. Integration work is easy to underestimate, so ask suppliers to price it separately.

7. What is your budget?

A budget starts from what you pay today. Pull 12 months of invoices for the category, so you have a baseline to judge the bids against. Then research what similar organizations pay and what suppliers typically charge for work like yours.

Decide whether to share the budget. A range helps when suppliers must design a solution to fit it, as with many services. For goods priced item by item, keep the figure internal and let your pricing template and volumes do the work, so bids aren't anchored to your number.

8. What is your timeline?

Start from the date your current contract ends and work back. Set the dates suppliers need: when the RFP is issued, the deadline for their questions, the proposal due date and your "know-by" date, by which you expect to decide. Add the go-live date, so suppliers can confirm they have the capacity. Our RFP process timeline sets out each step with a sample schedule.

9. Who is the point person on the project?

Name one person to receive every supplier question and send every answer, and have everyone else refer suppliers to that person until the award. A single contact keeps answers consistent and stops any supplier from learning something the others don't know. Choose someone who knows the subject, and agree who they'll turn to for technical or legal answers.

10. Who are your key stakeholders, and who approves the award?

Involve the people who will use the product or service, the people who pay for it and anyone who must approve the contract. Agree early on how their views feed into the scoring, so the evaluation doesn't become a contest of preferences. Find out who must approve the award, and at what spending level. A board that meets monthly adds a month if you miss its meeting.

11. How will you score the answers?

Agree on the evaluation criteria and their weights before the RFP goes out, and publish them in it. Then write each question so its answer feeds one of the criteria. A question you won't score is a question you don't need to ask. The scoring section below shows how.

Questions to ask vendors in the RFP

Ask for evidence, not adjectives. "Describe how you would..." draws a more useful answer than a yes-or-no question, and price belongs in your pricing template rather than in prose. Group the questions by the criterion they feed, so evaluators can score one section at a time.

1. Why should we choose your company over your competitors?

Asking why you should choose them lets suppliers say what sets them apart and cover anything the RFP missed. Ask for proof with the claim: results for clients like you, the people who would serve your account, and its plan for the first months.

2. Can you provide references from organizations like ours?

Ask for references of similar size and scope, with a named contact at each. When you call, ask how the switchover went, whether service held up after the first few months and whether invoices matched the contract.

3. Do you deliver the work yourselves, or through subcontractors or brokers?

Find out how much of the work the supplier does itself. Ask who owns and services the equipment, which parts are subcontracted and to whom, and who answers to you when a subcontractor fails. A broker can be a good choice, but you should know when you're dealing with one.

4. How long does your company take to respond to issues?

Ask for response and fix times by severity, in writing, and the credits that apply when they're missed. Find out whether support is on site or travels in, whether it covers nights and weekends, and who handles and pays for repairs.

5. How will you monitor progress and performance on the account?

Ask which measures the supplier will report, how often, and who will review them with you. Monthly scorecards and quarterly business reviews are a common rhythm for important suppliers. Write the measures into the contract.

6. How does your company correct discrepancies between what was ordered and what was delivered?

Short shipments, wrong items, damaged goods and missed services all happen. Ask how the supplier finds and fixes them, how quickly, and how credits appear on your invoices.

7. Can you provide a detailed implementation plan, including a timeline for startup and transition?

Ask each supplier how it would start: the steps, dates, people and what it needs from you. The plan can change the decision. As an illustration, Vendor A charges less but needs six months to go live, while Vendor B charges more and needs half the time. If the wait costs more than the price difference, Vendor B is the better buy.

8. What will we pay in total?

Give suppliers a pricing template that lists your items or services with your annual volumes, and require every bid to use it. Ask them to list every charge that could appear on an invoice:

• freight, fuel or delivery surcharges
• minimum-order and small-order fees
• setup, installation or onboarding fees
• fees for changes, cancellations or after-hours service

Ask how rebates are earned, calculated and paid, and which payment terms come with the price. Then compare bids on total cost at your volumes, not on headline rates. Payment terms are part of the price too; see our guide to negotiating payment terms with suppliers.

9. What are your policies on price volatility?

Prices change, especially over a contract of several years, so ask how and when each supplier's prices can move:

• Which prices are fixed, and for how long?
• What triggers a change, and how much notice will we get?
• Is there a cap on increases?
• Do prices come down when costs fall?

Ask suppliers to tie any adjustment to something you can check. The Federal Acquisition Regulation describes three general types of economic price adjustment, based on changes in:

• published or otherwise established prices
• the labor or material costs the contractor actually pays
• labor or material cost indexes named in the contract

Each type works "upward and downward" (FAR 16.203-1). A named index is usually the easiest of the three to verify.

10. Can you suggest effective alternatives that cost less?

Suppliers who know the market can often meet a requirement more cheaply, with an equivalent product, a different service schedule or a standard item in place of a custom one. Invite these ideas as a separate, priced option, so the main bids stay comparable, and ask what changes in quality or service.

11. What usage and billing reports will you provide?

Ask for item-level usage reports showing what was bought, by whom, in what quantity and at what price, in a format you can analyze. Ask for the right to audit invoices against the contract. Reports and audit rights are how you confirm that the prices you scored are the prices you're charged, which is what a contract compliance audit checks.

12. Will you accept our contract terms?

Put your main contract terms, or the draft contract, in the RFP and ask each supplier to list its exceptions with the proposal. Objections to liability, insurance, termination or price protection then surface before you pick a winner. Our post on common contract issues covers clauses worth a second look.

13. Does your company have any pending acquisitions, and how would they change your business?

A supplier that's being bought or merged can change its products, people, prices or service partway through a contract. Ask about any pending ownership change and what it would mean for your account. A change-of-control clause can give you a way out if the new owner changes what you bought.

14. Does your company have any legal issues that could affect its performance?

Ask suppliers to disclose litigation, regulatory actions or financial problems that could affect delivery, and whether they're suspended or debarred from government contracts.

If a federal grant or other federal award pays for the contract, that check is required. A contract under a federal award is generally covered when it's expected to reach $25,000 or more (2 CFR 180.220). Before entering a covered contract, the buyer must verify that the supplier isn't excluded or disqualified. The rule allows three ways: checking SAM.gov exclusions, collecting a certification from the supplier or adding a clause to the contract (2 CFR 180.300).

15. Is your company a certified small, woman-, minority- or veteran-owned business?

If your organization tracks spending with small and diverse businesses, or credits them in scoring, ask for the certification and who issued it. Ask whether the supplier subcontracts to diverse businesses as well.

Organizations spending federal awards have a specific standard. When possible, they should ensure that "small businesses, minority businesses, women's business enterprises, veteran-owned businesses, and labor surplus area firms" are considered. That includes putting these businesses on solicitation lists and soliciting them whenever they're eligible (2 CFR 200.321).

16. How will you protect our data and connect to our systems?

Any supplier that handles your data or connects to your systems should answer data and systems questions, not only software vendors. Ask which security controls and independent audit reports it has, who can access your data and where it's stored. Ask how quickly it will report a breach, and how you get your data back when the contract ends. Then ask how it connects to your ordering, invoicing and reporting systems, and who pays for that work.

Questions vendors will ask you

Suppliers send their own questions once the RFP is out. Set a deadline, answer in writing and send every answer to every bidder as an addendum, so no one gains an advantage. Answering the common questions in the RFP itself means fewer questions and better proposals.

Federal agencies work this way by rule. After a solicitation is released, the contracting officer "must be the focal point of any exchange with potential offerors". Information one bidder receives that is needed to prepare a proposal must be made public as soon as practicable. The exception is an answer that would reveal the asking bidder's confidential business strategy (FAR 15.201(f)).

Expect the questions below, and decide your answers before the RFP goes out.

1. Do you have a scale or grading tool to evaluate proposals?

Publish your scoring tool in the RFP: the criteria, their weights and how price will be scored. Suppliers write better proposals when they know what counts. For most organizations spending federal awards, it's a requirement: in a request for proposals, "all evaluation factors and their relative importance must be identified" (2 CFR 200.320(b)(2)).

2. Why did you choose our company?

Suppliers want to know why they were invited and what you already know about them. Because every answer goes to every bidder, keep the reply short and general. Explain how you built the invite list, and don't signal a favorite.

3. What happens to proposals once they are submitted?

Publish the schedule after the due date: opening, shortlist, finalist presentations and decision. Say how suppliers will hear about each stage, and tell those who don't make the shortlist promptly.

4. Who reviews proposals, and how?

Suppliers ask who will review proposals because it shapes the detail they include. Say which functions sit on the evaluation committee and whether anyone outside your organization will evaluate. Say too whether evaluators see supplier names, and whether price is scored separately.

5. Can we see current pricing or volumes?

Share your volumes, because suppliers can't price accurately without them, and put them in the pricing template. Don't volunteer what the incumbent charges. You want each supplier's own best price, not a number to undercut by a small margin.

6. Can we have a debrief?

Offer a debrief to every supplier that loses. A short call that explains its own scores, its weaknesses and why the winner won helps it bid better next time. For a supplier that lost, a debrief is the most useful question to ask.

Federal agencies must debrief an offeror that asks in writing within three days of being notified of the award. At a minimum, the debriefing covers any significant weaknesses or deficiencies in its proposal and the rationale for the award. It also gives the overall evaluated price of the winner and of the debriefed offeror, but no point-by-point comparison with other offerors' proposals (FAR 15.506). A private buyer can follow the same pattern without disclosing the winner's prices.

How to score RFP answers

RFP evaluation criteria are the factors, with their weights, that a buyer uses to score proposals. Score every proposal against the criteria and weights you published. Criteria usually fall into a few groups: how well the proposal meets your requirements, total cost, service and implementation, and the supplier's stability and references.

The weights are an illustration, not a standard. Set your own for each purchase. A few rules keep RFP scoring fair:

• Ask each evaluator to score alone first, then discuss where the scores differ.
• Score each answer on a fixed scale, such as 0 to 5, with a short description of what earns each score.
• Score price as total cost from the pricing template at your volumes. One common method gives the lowest total cost full marks and the others marks in proportion.
• Write down why the winner won.

Weighting changes outcomes. With requirements weighted above price, a supplier with the lowest price but weak answers on requirements can rank below one that charges more and meets them well. The federal rule for most organizations spending federal awards works the same way. The contract goes to the responsible offeror "whose proposal is most advantageous to the recipient or subrecipient considering price and other factors" (2 CFR 200.320(b)(2)).

RFP questions by category

The RFP questions in this guide work for most purchases, and each category adds its own. Some examples:

Banks have a longer list. The federal banking agencies' 2023 guidance on third-party relationships names the factors a bank "typically considers" in due diligence, scaled to the risk and complexity of the relationship. They include the supplier's legal and regulatory compliance, financial condition, information security, operational resilience, reliance on subcontractors and insurance coverage (interagency guidance, June 2023).

In September 2026 the agencies proposed rescinding and replacing that guidance (proposed guidance), so check which version applies. See how we work with financial services organizations.

RFP questions in universities and other public institutions

Public universities, hospitals and agencies ask the same questions inside a stricter process. Formal RFPs are posted publicly, supplier questions come in writing by a deadline, and every answer goes to every bidder.

When a federal award pays for the purchase, most organizations follow the federal standards cited above. Those include published criteria and weights, no bidding by contractors that drafted the requirements, and consideration of small and diverse businesses when possible. States follow their own procurement policies instead, and so may public universities that state law treats as state agencies. States must still apply the small and diverse business standard (2 CFR 200.317).

State law and institutional policy add posting periods, bid thresholds, protest procedures and approvals. Ask your purchasing office which rules apply to the money you're spending. See how we work with higher education and the public sector.

Common questions

What questions should be in an RFP?

An RFP should ask suppliers how they will meet your requirements, who will do the work and which service levels they commit to. It should also ask what they will charge in total, how prices can change, which contract terms they won't accept and what risks they carry. Each RFP question should feed one of the evaluation criteria published in the RFP.

What is an RFP questionnaire?

An RFP questionnaire is the part of a request for proposal where suppliers answer a fixed set of questions in a set format. Many buyers use a spreadsheet with one row per question. A questionnaire makes proposals easier to compare, because every supplier answers the same questions in the same order.

What is an RFP checklist?

An RFP checklist lists what a request for proposal should contain before it's issued. The core items are background on your organization, the scope of work and requirements, and a pricing template with your volumes. Add the evaluation criteria and weights, the main contract terms, the schedule with the question deadline and due date, submission instructions and one named contact.

What is the difference between an RFP and an RFQ?

An RFQ (request for quotation) asks suppliers to price something you can specify exactly, so the lowest compliant price usually wins. An RFP (request for proposal) asks suppliers to propose how they would meet a need, and the buyer compares service, capability and total cost as well as price.

Getting help with an RFP

Dryden Group is a procurement consulting firm that runs RFPs for buyers, not suppliers. Our RFP management service covers one category or a few. We agree the requirements with your team, write the RFP, pricing template and scoring model, and act as the single point of contact for supplier questions. Then we compare the proposals on total cost, negotiate the award and check invoices against the new pricing after go-live.

Related service: RFP Management →