Never Miss a Deadline Again: Mastering Your RFP Schedule for Timely Submissions

Do you ever feel like you’re juggling flaming torches when a new batch of RFPs lands in your inbox?

Yesterday, I looked at how to setup a document control system for your RFP responses. Let’s look at the next step: scheduling your bid. 

Each one has its own deadline, unique requirements, and specific contact person. What I often see in smaller firms is a reliance on scattered sticky notes, individual calendar reminders, or just plain memory to track those critical submission dates.

Frankly, this approach is a recipe for disaster, risking rushed, low-quality proposals or, even worse, completely missing the deadline for a game-changing opportunity.

Risks & Issues

Missing an RFP deadline is usually an immediate disqualification – no appeals, no second chances. It’s a harsh reality of this business. Even submitting right at the last second can send a negative signal about your planning capabilities to the client.

Moreover, without a centralized view of upcoming deadlines, I’ve found that firms struggle to effectively allocate their proposal resources, prioritize the right opportunities, or give their teams the breathing room needed to produce truly compelling, customer-centric proposals. This reactive scramble leads to unnecessary stress, potential burnout, and ultimately, lost revenue. You absolutely need a system to manage the flow of these opportunities.

Solution: Create a Schedule

The key is to implement and diligently maintain an RFP Schedule.

Think of this as your command center for tracking all potential and active proposal efforts. Just like the Document Control system we discussed previously (and you can find a helpful checklist for document controls here), this schedule can be managed effectively using a simple spreadsheet. Here’s how to set it up:

1. Create Your RFP Schedule Log: Start a new spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets) dedicated solely to tracking RFPs. Keep it focused.

2. Identify Essential Tracking Points: Include columns for the critical information you need at a glance:

   • RFP Title/Number
   • Client Name
   • Date Received
   • Submission Deadline (Date & Time & Time Zone!) – This is non-negotiable.
   • Clarification Deadline
   • Assigned Bid Manager/Lead
   • Status (e.g., Received, Evaluating, Go/No-Go, In Progress, Submitted, Awarded, Lost)
   • Link to RFP Documents (in your central repository)
   • Estimated Value (Helps with prioritization)
   • Key Client Contact

3. Centralize Intake: Establish a rule: All potential RFPs must be logged here immediately upon identification or receipt. Designate someone to monitor intake channels and ensure timely logging.

4. Regular Reviews: Something I’ve found very helpful is to make this schedule a standing item in weekly team meetings. Reviewing it regularly keeps everyone aligned on priorities, workload, and upcoming crunch times.

5. Visualize Deadlines: Use spreadsheet features like conditional formatting to make deadlines pop. Highlight RFPs due within the next week in yellow, and those due in the next few days in red. Sorting by submission date instantly shows what’s most urgent. Many useful tools, including schedule templates, can be found in comprehensive resource packs like the Proposal Templates suite from Klariti.

Maintaining this schedule provides essential visibility and control. It lets you proactively manage your pipeline, make smarter decisions about resource allocation, and ensure every deadline is met with a well-prepared submission.

While tools like AI can assist in drafting content faster (consider exploring how AI can help write business proposals or even using ChatGPT specifically for RFP responses), they don’t replace the fundamental need for disciplined scheduling and process management supported by solid procurement templates and tools.

Next Steps

You’ve now got systems emerging for managing your proposal documents (Document Control) and tracking the deadlines for opportunities (RFP Schedule).

But just because an RFP lands on your schedule doesn’t automatically mean you should pour resources into pursuing it. How do you make the critical decision on which opportunities are truly worth your team’s valuable time and effort?

In our next article, we’ll tackle this head-on by introducing the Bid-No Bid Log, a crucial tool for strategically evaluating RFPs and focusing your energy where you have the best chance to win.