2 Minute Read

You may have seen that we recently published a new website services page, Requests for Proposals, or RFPs. This is not a new service offering for us at Stouch Lighting, but its uptick in popularity, as far as generating and responding to RFPs, prompted us to create the page to provide customers and potential customers with the guidance they need to understand how we can help with RFPs. (This is similar to our new Value Engineering services page, which we also debuted in conjunction with this blog post defining the sometimes confusing term.)

We're pretty excited about the page's debut and wanted to officially announce it and provide some context on the topic. So, this post will define RFPs for you and explain why you would even want one when completing an LED lighting project.

What is an LED Lighting Request for Proposal (RFP):?

Let's define RFP:

A request for proposal (RFP) for lighting projects is a document that solicits a proposal, commonly through a bidding process, for a company or organization interested in the procurement of LED lighting products or services. This proposal document is sent to potential vendors, suppliers, or contractors to submit proposals responding to the RFP. 

Now, why should you consider using an RFP in conjunction with your LED lighting project? Maybe it's required by law, or you want to better organize your process. There could be several reasons.

In our view, creating and using an RFP does two important things.

  1. First, your LED lighting proposal educates the company and all involved in the project about LED lights and ensures everyone is on the same page about the priorities of the project. You will come to understand a lot about LED lighting as you select the project and product criteria you want to include in your RFP.
  2. Second, it forces LED lighting manufacturers and others answering your RFP to select lighting products that meet the standards you've set in your RFP, which means you won't end up with cheap products that don't live up to expectations. As we're always saying, LED lighting is not a commodity. Different manufacturers offer varying levels of product quality. An RFP allows you to control the conversation and stack each vendor up against one another for a fair analysis.

Need Help Creating an RFP?

Hopefully you're sold on needing an RFP. Are you wondering where to start? In addition to responding to your LED lighting project RFP (if you already have one, submit it here) we also help companies craft RFPs to distribute. Collaboratively, we will select project and product criteria and questions to include in your RFP to again receive only products that meet your and industry standards.

Navigating the LED lighting industry can be confusing because there are so many options. An RFP can help you narrow the field. Let Stouch Lighting help you generate an RFP, better yet, we'll design and implement your project for you to meet your standards with our manufacturer-neutral approach