Since April of 2009, the RFP Central service offered by the Greater Memphis Chamber has been helping its members generate business more quickly and efficiently. The total revenue generated from bids by Chamber members using RFP Central has amounted to more than $24 million.

With an active paid membership in the Chamber, companies can register to receive a daily e-Newsletter with requests for proposals (RFPs) from government agencies and businesses representing disparate industries in the Memphis Metro Statistical Area (MSA). About 1,500 RFPs, powered by leading bid researcher Onvia Inc., are sent out each day. In addition to receiving RFPs, members seeking proposals can submit their own requests to Onvia for other companies to bid on. A free webinar is provided by the Chamber to train subscribers on the service.

“The feedback from members has been very positive,” said Angela Michaels, Manager of Member Services for the Chamber. The RFP Central amenity is offered to any individual company from Onvia, though the cost is over $900 and viable for only one specific industry. “The service we provide is for all industries and seems to be more user-friendly because of that,” Michaels said.

American Paper & Twine (AP&T) is a 90-year-old supplier of products including packaging supplies, cleaning equipment, restaurant consumables, safety apparel and office products and furniture. Its customers include “most any business you can think of,” said Brad Walker, General Manager of the Memphis branch of this Nashville-based company. AP&T has been using RFP Central since its inception and Walker says that subscribing to the service is “like having an additional sales person.” While he can’t specifically identify which bids he has won that he might not have without the aid of RFP Central, he can say for sure that “it’s helping our business.”

The ability to have RFPs come to the office via e-mail is a helpful time-saving tool for Walker and his five outside sales representatives. Without the service, they have to rely on mailed requests or in-person pick-up of RFPs from a central location, such as government offices. RFP Central, however, allows a sales manager to quickly and conveniently identify open opportunities in a specific industry without ever leaving their desks.

“I usually see about two to three requests a week that pertain to us,” Walker said.

The wide geographic reach of the Chamber’s MSA is also a benefit to subscribers, especially those like AP&T, whose sales region covers West Tennessee, Northeast Arkansas and the entire state of Mississippi. RFPs currently come in from eight counties around Memphis: Shelby, Tipton and Fayette, in Tennessee; Crittenden in Arkansas; and Desoto, Marshall, Tate and Tunica, in Mississippi.

The e-mails that come in each morning like clockwork also detail what companies have won specific bids, and this feedback helps a company like American Paper & Twine better prepare when that bid opportunity reappears in the future. “When there’s an award, you can better rank yourself,” Walker said. “You know what to work on the next time the bid comes around.”

Industry leads for bids include architecture and engineering, operations and maintenance, printing and mailing, vehicles, construction, heavy equipment, power generation utilities and many others.

Michaels places the RFP Central newsletter’s importance in member retention, and that “we’ve been able to gain some new members on just that service alone.”

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Learn more about the Chamber's RFP Central Program.