5 Essentials for a Great LMS RFP | Customer Ed Nugget 35

What Makes a Great LMS RFP Work?

As I’ve discussed previously, people often assume software vendors hate requests for proposal (RFPs). But that’s not really true. Trust me. As a long-time learning tech consultant and former sales professional, I’ve seen first-hand how a great LMS RFP improves the entire software selection process.

So, what’s the catch? Simple. High-quality results depend on a high-quality RFP.

Vendors respect a well-written requirements document because it paves the way for a better proposal, more accurate pricing, and a reasonable chance to win your business. At the same time, it helps buyers make a stronger choice.

But writing a great LMS RFP doesn’t come naturally. Schools typically don’t teach it as a skill. And most learning professionals will write an RFP only a few times during their career, if at all.

So, what exactly are the characteristics of a great LMS RFP? Join me as I walk through 5 fundamentals on this Customer Ed Nuggets mini podcast…

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Anatomy of a Great LMS RFP

To encourage strong RFP responses, develop your document with these factors in mind:

1. Lead With the Business Need, Not LMS Features

When helping organizations choose an LMS, I don’t start by talking about AI or gamification or content. Eventually, I do. But first, I define the core business need. Begin with these questions:

• Who is your audience and what do you want to achieve by educating these people?
  Do you want to attract more qualified leads, accelerate onboarding, reduce support calls, retain more customers, or something else?

• Which business metrics matter?
  How will you quantify success and measure progress?

Once you answer these foundational questions, everything else follows. This provides the context you’ll need to develop detailed use cases and specify essential features.

Don’t let other interesting LMS capabilities distract you. Chasing unnecessary features is time consuming and counterproductive.

Instead, focus on functionality that ties directly to your use cases. For most buyers, this means targeting 100-200 key features, rather than trying to research over 1000 possibilities from across the LMS marketplace.

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2. Don’t Just List Required Features, Prioritize Them

It’s tempting to think every feature you need is a must-have. But imagine a vendor trying to build a proposal that treats hundreds of requirements as if they’re mission-critical. That’s not a wise move for buyers or sellers.

So, no matter how many features you need, be sure to assign an appropriate level of importance to each one. This tells vendors what really matters to you, so they can structure their proposals accordingly.

Also, if a vendor doesn’t offer something important to you, they can flag it and discuss this with you. By setting the stage for realistic conversations early in evaluation process, you can avoid wasting time with vendors who can’t meet your most critical needs.

Want a better way to manage the business of learning? Find vendor profiles, reviews, case studies and more in our free Learning System Directory. START HERE →

3. Evaluate the Vendor, Not Just the Software

Any vendor you choose will need to install and configure your learning platform, migrate data and content, and ensure the solution is integrated with your SSO, your CRM, and other systems in your tech stack. So, in addition to evaluating a platform’s technical capabilities, you’ll also need to feel confident about working with the vendor’s team.

Often, what makes or breaks a solution isn’t the feature checklist. It’s how responsive the vendor is to requests for assistance, or whether the vendor keeps clients in the loop with progress as the platform evolves. So, be sure to ask about situations like these:

• Even the smoothest implementations hit speedbumps. When a problem arises, who can you count on to resolve those issues? What will that process look like?
• When new features are rolled out, what kind of communication and support will you receive before, during, and after that transition?
• If you request something that isn’t on the R&D roadmap, what type of response should you expect?

These interactions all happen outside the software experience. Yet, they each contribute to a successful long-term relationship.

So, ask every vendor on your shortlist about how they manage system configuration, data migration, integration, rollout, client adoption, and support. Then, to confirm their answers, request case studies and references from clients with similar needs.

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4. Include a Visible Rating System

The purpose of any RFP is to compare multiple vendors on an apples-to-apples basis. So, don’t wait to decide how you’ll evaluate responses. Instead, prepare in advance to make the process as simple and straightforward as possible.

Write the document in a way that lets you score answers head-to-head without a monumental effort. Also, because vendors expect their answers to be rated, build the assessment criteria directly into your template, so the logic is visible to all.

This way, it’s clear how you will weigh strengths and weaknesses, how you’ll determine what’s distinctive about each solution, and how you’ll choose the solution that best fits your requirements.

Buying or selling a customer-focused learning system? Get independent insights you can trust, with our in-depth analysis of 16 top solutions. Learn about our Customer LMS Buyer’s Guide →

5. Keep it Clear and Concise

A great RFP focuses on decision-making. It’s not about how big the document is. What matters is how precise the framework is. So, get to the point and stay on topic.

Be sure every question speaks to whether or not a vendor is a good fit for you. Forget any questions that aren’t important.

This sounds obvious. But I see many RFPs with all sorts of extraneous questions. Those questions are noise. They make it harder for vendors to draw a box around what’s really important to you and respond appropriately.

In other words, don’t write an encyclopedia. Specify the business objectives you want to accomplish. And then ask only about the features, functionality, services and support you require from a solution.

Find out how real-world companies achieve more with learning systems that create business value. Get inspired by dozens of success stories in our LMS Case Study Directory. CHECK IT OUT →

The Bottom Line on How to Write a Great LMS RFP

Using an RFP to solicit strong responses from qualified vendors can be easier than you think. Just be sure to build your document around these elements:

1. Lead With the Business Need
2. Prioritize Required Features
3. Evaluate the Vendor and the Software
4. Include a Visible Rating System
5. Keep the Structure Clear and Concise

By incorporating these 5 essentials into your framework, you’ll be much more likely to receive strong proposals from shortlisted vendors. If that happens, choosing the solution you like best will be tough. But that’s a good problem to have.

How to Get Started

What does it take to begin moving in the right direction? If you want guidance, we’re here for you. As an independent consultant, my mission is to help enterprise learning teams make better technology decisions. That’s why we offer resources like these:

• RFP Kickstart Tools
  Our free LMS RFP Starter Kit walks you step-by-step through the process of building an actionable requirements package. This kit isn’t slanted in any solution’s favor. It is a vendor-neutral framework that puts your needs first. So, no matter which vendors you target, you can expect strong RFP responses,

• Phone Assistance
  Schedule a free phone consultation with me anytime to discuss specific issues or questions you have about LMS selection.

Watch This Customer Ed Nuggets Episode

Want more details on how to write a great RFP? Watch the video version of this mini-podcast below…

Or, if you’d rather listen, tune in to the audio version right here at TalentedLearning.com.

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About Talented Learning Customer Ed Nuggets

Hosted by Talented Learning CEO John Leh, the Customer Ed Nuggets podcast is a trusted source of advice, guidance, and best practices for customer education professionals of all types. In this series of brief video and audio “nuggets” (each 10 minutes or less), we explore key topics with numerous guest experts.

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