How many vendors should get an RFP?

Three to five. Enough to compare, few enough that you read every answer.

How long should an RFP be for a small business?

A few pages per job. If it runs longer than that, the job needs to be split.

Should I tell vendors who else is bidding?

No. Tell them how many are bidding and how you will score.

What if every proposal comes back over budget?

Check whether the scope is too big for the money. Cut the job to the part that matters most and send it again.

Can you write our RFPs and evaluate the vendors?

Yes. It is part of a fractional seat, or a fixed-scope job if you only need the selection.

How do I turn a strategy into vendor RFPs?

Break the strategy into jobs, write each job as a problem with a measurable result instead of a feature list, add your must-haves (data, ownership, security, budget range, timeline), and send it to three to five vendors. Score the answers against the same list. A good RFP fits on a few pages and makes the bad vendors drop out on their own.

A strategy deck is not something a vendor can bid on. Here is how to turn it into something they can.

What are the steps?

Split the strategy into jobs. "Modernize our customer experience" is not something a vendor can price. "Customers can book and pay online without calling" is.
Write each job as a problem and a result. Describe what happens today, what should happen instead, and how you will measure it.
List the must-haves. Who owns the data, where it is stored, what it connects to, who supports it, the budget range, and the deadline.
Say what you are not asking for. Vendors pad proposals with things you did not want.
Pick three to five vendors. Fewer and you have no comparison. More and nobody reads the answers carefully.
Score every answer on the same sheet. Same questions, same weights, decided before the proposals arrive.

Why write problems instead of features?

A feature list picks the solution before the vendor can propose a better one, and every vendor says yes to every feature. "Must integrate with our CRM" gets a yes from everyone. "When a quote is signed, the order appears in the warehouse system within the hour, with no retyping" gets real answers.

If you have mapped the process first, the problem statements come straight off the map. Custom AI versus off-the-shelf tools helps decide which jobs need a vendor at all.

Should I put a budget in the RFP?

Yes, as a range. Without one you get proposals priced for a company twice your size, or for half the scope you need. With one, vendors propose the best they can do for that money, and you skip a round of back and forth.

How do I compare the proposals?

On the scoring sheet you wrote first. Then call references for the top two and ask what went wrong on their project. Then ask each finalist to run a short demo on your data, not theirs. The red flags in an AI vendor lists what to watch for in the demo and the contract.

Who should write the RFPs?

Someone who understands the strategy and the technology and does not work for any of the vendors. In a small company, that is often the owner with help. Turning a strategy into vendor selection and then managing the winners is part of a fractional CTO or Chief AI Officer seat.

What should I not do?

Do not send a vendor's own template back to them as your RFP. Do not let one vendor help you write it. And do not award the contract to the best presentation. Award it to the best score, then negotiate.

If you have a strategy and no RFPs yet, a one-hour second opinion, $150, is enough to see how many jobs are in it. Send it through the start form.

Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.