You’re unlikely to get everything you want.
That’s a good thing,
because wants are part of what define us.
It’s entirely possible
that you’ll get most of what you need, though.
It seems a bit new-agey, no? All self-validation and positivity?
The trick is in being clear
about what you put into each category.
As usual, Seth is headed down a practical track, and here’s where this post touches down in Proposal Land.
Even with all the money in the world, a client can’t have everything they want. And no client *has* all the money in the world. So this post is for people developing RFPs, not for those responding to them, or only incidentally.
Before letting the technical customer specify everything under the sun as a requirement (or worse, as a mandatory requirement), procurement specialists should look at that lovely pile of capabilities and deliverables and features to see whether some wants have snuck into the list of needs.
It’s OK to want things. It’s even OK to ask for them in an RFP. But you’ll get a more-creative solution and a better price if you distinguish the musts from the optionals and let the suppliers figure out how to do the best they can for you, after meeting all your true, no-kidding needs.