Why Your RFQ or RFP Might Be Setting Your Change Project Up to Fail

fionapatterson
Jul 7
3 min read

Why do well-planned change initiatives stumble - even when the technology is sound, the business case is solid, and the supplier is seasoned?

After 27 years of wading knee-deep in change and transformation programmes, I’ve found the most common root cause isn’t technical or financial.

It’s human.

More specifically: stakeholders weren’t engaged early enough, or deeply enough.

When it comes to delivering organisational change, success doesn’t just hinge on systems or suppliers. It hinges on people. Your stakeholders.

And the most effective time to bring them in?

Before you begin your RFQ (Request For Quote) or RFP (Request For Proposal) process.

Why Early Stakeholder Engagement Is Your Secret Weapon

Business leaders often underestimate just how powerful it is to engage internal stakeholders prior to and during the RFQ or RFP stage. But doing so isn’t just a nice-to-have - it’s one of the smartest strategic moves you can make to avoid costly missteps down the line.

Here’s why:

1. You Expand the Scope to Reflect Reality - Not Just Assumptions

No matter how well you know your business, the full breadth of operational needs often lives in the minds of those on the ground—your frontline teams, end users, and functional leads.

Early engagement helps you:

Identify pain points and inefficiencies that senior leaders might not see
Capture operational nuances that need to be factored into the solution
Define a realistic and complete scope that prevents rework or renegotiation later

⚠️“If you don’t ask, you don’t know. And if you don’t know, you can’t plan.”

2. You Capture the Requirements That Actually Matter

How often do we see a new system or process rolled out, only to discover that it doesn’t meet some of the most critical day-to-day requirements?

This happens when the RFP is built on a partial picture—usually provided by a small team under time pressure.

Engaging stakeholders early enables you to:

Gather rich, detailed requirements from across the business
Avoid costly surprises after contracts are signed
Ensure solution design is fit for your purpose, not just what’s available off-the-shelf

⚠️The most expensive requirement is the one you discover too late to do anything about.

3. You Build Buy-In Before the Project Even Begins

Engaging stakeholders before the ink is dry on a supplier contract sends a powerful message:

“Your voice matters. You’re part of this decision, not just expected to live with the outcome.”

That sense of ownership changes everything.

Early engagement helps:

Reduce resistance during implementation
Foster advocates and champions for change
Create a shared understanding of trade-offs, priorities, and goals

⚠️People support what they help create.

The Leadership Advantage: Moving From Compliance to Commitment

When stakeholders are excluded from the early stages, even the best solutions can land flat. Employees feel like change is being done to them rather than done with them—and that mindset can lead to disengagement, quiet resistance, or outright pushback.

But when they’re invited in early, something shifts.

They don’t just comply - they commit.

They don’t just respond - they contribute.

And they don’t just adopt the change - they own it.

How to Put It into Practice: Three Tips for Leaders

Map Your Stakeholders Early
- Identify who will be impacted, directly or indirectly.
- Don’t forget quiet voices—admin teams, frontline staff, IT support, middle managers.
Engage Ahead of RFQ/RFP
- Hold discovery workshops.
- Invite feedback through surveys, interviews, or informal check-ins.
- Use what you learn to shape the scope and selection criteria.
Be Transparent About Constraints
- You don’t need to promise the moon—just show that their input is genuinely shaping the direction of travel.
- Share updates along the way to keep trust high.