On our team call last week, we discussed how Social Selling supports RFP-related work.

One robotics client actively participates in RFPs. When they weren’t on the invite list, our team reached out to procurement to check if the process was open (even though we already knew it was ) - and the client got invited to participate. We also help this client find potential partners on LinkedIn by checking who has bid on similar public RFPs and suggesting collaborations to strengthen proposals.

For another project in the automotive industry, the project manager noted, “our client doesn’t participate in RFPs. We asked several times.” We responded that asking sales reps is one perspective - the budget owner might see things differently. With AI, we can pull open RFPs in that industry in about ten minutes and provide real examples instead of just debating it.

Another client in retail automation chose not to participate in RFPs at all, since the process could last a year with no guarantee - and they don’t have the resources for that.

So yes, it’s a choice - participate or not, invest or not. But if you do choose to participate, procurement and sourcing should be part of your Social Selling plan. Published RFPs are usually just the last visible step.

Wishing everyone success in Social Selling!