Trusted Advisors vs RFPs: Why Traditional Procurement Is Broken

The Problem with Traditional Procurement

Vic Pepe spent 20 years as a CIO at companies like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and JP Morgan Chase. His experience inspired a controversial book: "The RFP is Dead."

The core insight? Traditional procurement processes are fundamentally mismatched with the speed of modern technology innovation.

"I saw a process that didn't give me the ability to impact the change that the business needed at the speed the market was moving."

The Speed Problem

One real-world example: A CIO identified the perfect solution, did all the work—stakeholder alignment, impact assessment, business case development. Then he was forced through a legacy procurement process.

• He said upfront: "This is gonna take nine months. I don't want it to."
• It took exactly nine months
• By month nine, the market had completely changed
• They missed their opportunity

The force multiplier making this worse: AI.

Development cycles are shorter. AI implementations are coming rapidly. Delivery time to market is decreasing. But procurement processes haven't adapted.

"The companies that are able to get through this process and around it, or beyond it or streamline it... are gonna be the ones that win."

The Dirty Little Secret

Many companies run RFPs just for process sake:

1. People fear choosing the wrong platform (stakes = job, career)
2. Everyone falls in line, creates spreadsheets, demos platforms
3. Beautiful RFP responses come back ("We can do everything!")
4. Scoring becomes subjective ("Andrew likes blue, so they get a 10")
5. Often, the solution has already been selected—the RFP is just CYA

At its best, the RFP is still limited.

It asks: "Here's my current environment. Here's a checklist. Can you meet these requirements?"

It doesn't ask:

• What if my requirements are wrong?
• What if there's a totally different way to look at this?
• What possibilities am I missing?

"In order for that to work, you have to believe the most creative people with the broadest perspective in the entire universe work in your company creating that RFP."

The Three Legs of Technology Selection

Vic identifies three critical evaluation criteria:

1. Product Capability: Can it achieve what it's supposed to do? What's the lifecycle for survivability?
2. Implementation: Can the team execute on time, on budget, with precision?
3. Support: Once in production, will you get the response times and support you need?

The RFP does great at #1. Numbers 2 and 3? It's a skim. You won't know until you're in the belly of the beast.

Trusted advisors have been in that belly—numerous times with multiple providers.

The Solution: RFD (Request for Demonstration)

D&M Enterprise developed a new process: the Request for Demonstration.

How it works:

1. Deep discovery: What do you want? What could the future look like? Get all the stats and improvement goals.
2. Give AND invite color: Share context, but also ask "What are we missing?"
3. Targeted demonstration: Instead of generic demos, tell vendors "Here's the problem you need to solve. Demonstrate that you can do this."
4. Invite creativity: Ask vendors to bring ideas to the table

The first company that received an RFD fell out of their chairs:

"Oh my God, this is unbelievable. This is exactly what we need."

When the demo shows up, it hits. And if it doesn't hit hard, you know you have the wrong product, the wrong team, or potentially the wrong partner.

The Role of Trusted Technology Advisors

Key distinctions:

• No quotas: Unlike direct sales forces, advisors don't need to push specific products
• Agnostic conversations: Start with "What are your biggest business challenges?" not "Buy my toolkit"
• Ecosystem access: Bring 400+ providers to your front door
• Battle-tested knowledge: They've seen how vendors actually perform in implementation and support

"We wear your jersey. We are the consummate client advocate."

The compensation model: Advisors are typically compensated by the selected provider as an offset to their direct sales expense—making their services free to the buyer.

The Industry Comfort Trap

Another limiting belief: "What other healthcare companies do they have?"

While industry experience has value, this thinking can cause you to miss:

• Revolutionary approaches from manufacturing that could transform healthcare
• Cross-industry innovations that competitors don't see
• First-mover advantages

Poll Results from the Session

How are you procuring technology today?

• Combination of RFPs and Technology Advisors: Clear majority
• RFPs only: Smaller segment
• Technology Advisors only: Few responses
• Neither: 8% ("Good luck," Vic noted)

The Bottom Line

For buyers:

• Business has accelerated. Competition has accelerated. The process hasn't.
• Consider the RFD approach for faster, more targeted vendor evaluation
• Fail fast—don't spend nine months to discover a mismatch

For technology advisors:

• Read the book. Consider the thought.
• Sharpen your consultative skills
• Step up to provide real value, not just broker deals

"If you're gonna step up and win and you wanna bring value to your organization—whether you're a seller or a buyer or a provider—being able to demonstrate value quickly is paramount."

This session was part of the AI for CX Virtual Summit, presented by AmplifAI.