Crafting responses to Requests for Proposals (RFPs) is a high-stakes yet tedious task for sales teams. For our client, a global sales department drowning in complex bids, the process was a nightmare. Each RFP demanded hours of manual labor: digging through decades of past proposals, recycling approved language, and ensuring compliance with ever-evolving client requirements. Inconsistencies crept in as team members inadvertently reused outdated or off-brand content, while new hires struggled to navigate the labyrinth of documents. The frustration was palpable—what should have been a strategic exercise became a race against the clock, with team morale sinking as deadlines loomed. The department needed a way to standardize responses, reduce repetitive work, and empower staff to focus on strategy rather than copy-pasting.
Our solution? A tailored Microsoft Copilot-powered RFP assistant trained exclusively on the client’s repository of past successful proposals. By uploading hundreds of historical RFP responses, we created a specialized knowledge base that mirrored the company’s brand voice, compliance standards, and technical terminology. When faced with a new RFP, sales teams now prompt the AI with questions like, “Answer using only the information in our uploaded documents.” The model generates precise, on-brand drafts by pulling relevant excerpts from vetted content, effectively eliminating guesswork and ensuring consistency. To maintain accuracy, we implemented guardrails that restrict the AI’s responses to the provided documents, drastically reducing “creative” hallucinations. The output—a clean, formatted Word draft—serves as a foundation for teams to refine, rather than rebuild. Unexpectedly, the system also highlighted gaps in their historical documentation, prompting teams to update boilerplate language and retire obsolete content. By automating the grind, the sales team now channels its energy into tailoring pitches and building client relationships—proof that even the most tedious workflows can evolve into strategic assets with the right AI partner.