TS Today - Creating a Vision for the Future of Vacation Ownership Issue #142, Jul/Aug 2015 | Page 37

TimeSharing Today

Page 37

component in the RFP process. The RFP
must establish minimum criteria and prioritize desirable features that exceed the
minimum standards. This could include
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experience, and anything else the procurers consider to be essential. Sharing the
minimum requirements in the RFP should
eliminate providers who can’t meet the
minimum requirements.
Beyond the minimum criteria and desirable features, ask suppliers to explain
unique features of their offerings, such as
patents or licenses to provide features that
other suppliers can’t.
Also include your requirements for
receiving the RFP. When is it due, to
whom should it be submitted, in what
medium (on paper, on CDs, or via email),
and in what format, such as a Microsoft
Word document or Portable Document
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Your RFP consultant’s services may
include writing the RFP, or you may want
to hire a freelance professional business
writer. Whoever drafts the text, expect
several meetings to discuss and revise it
before the board of directors approves the
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Circulating the RFP
Once the RFP is prepared, the procurer
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A single-page letter, postcard, or email to as
many potential suppliers as possible can direct interested parties to the RFP. One strategy for managing this process is to offer the
RFP for download from a Web site.
Ask potential suppliers to provide
basic contact information to obtain the
RFP documents. This strategy offers the
EHQH¿WRINQRZLQJKRZWRUHDFKDQ\SRtential bidder if the RFP needs a change
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Further, such information might
be desirable to follow up with potenti [