What is RFP Response?
Definition
Complete vendor submission addressing all RFP requirements, questions, and evaluation criteria. RFP responses typically include executive summary, solution overview, detailed question responses, pricing, implementation plan, security documentation, customer references, and proposed contract terms. Response quality directly impacts vendor scores and shortlist inclusion. Organizations should provide response templates, question numbering, and submission format requirements to facilitate comparison.
Why This Matters
Complete, well-organized responses demonstrate vendor professionalism and product understanding. Response completeness—addressing all questions, providing requested documentation, following submission format—directly correlates with implementation success. Organizations should reject incomplete responses or penalize them significantly during scoring. Response quality is the first indicator of vendor reliability and attention to detail.
Related Terms
Showing semantically related terms from our RFP knowledge graph. Priority connections are highlighted.
Essential Connections
RFP Submission
RFP Fundamentals
The act of vendors delivering completed proposals by the specified deadline in the required format (PDF, Word, online portal).
RFP Answer
RFP Fundamentals
Vendor's specific response to individual RFP questions addressing requirements, capabilities, and approach.
Request for Proposal
RFP Fundamentals
RFP stands for Request for Proposal—a formal business document used to solicit vendor proposals for products or services.
Vendor Evaluation
Vendor Management & Evaluation
Comprehensive assessment of software vendors across product fit, security compliance, implementation capabilities, company qualifications, and total cost of ownership.
Evaluation Criteria
Vendor Management & Evaluation
Standardized requirements used to assess and compare software vendors including product capabilities, security certifications, implementation methodology, support SLAs, and pricing structure.
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Related RFP Templates
Explore our top RFP templates - all 75 templates include questions about rfp response