How to write an RFP for Fleet Accident Management
If your fleet is looking to outsource accident management services, providing the right information to potential suppliers is crucial for soliciting strong, bespoke commercial proposals. The answer lies in producing a comprehensive Request for Proposal (RFP), complete with a background of your business, its commercial goals, vehicle makeup, incident history, and any relevant operational challenges/opportunities.
sopp+sopp are specialists in delivering technology-driven fleet accident management solutions, working with some of the UK’s best-known fleets and brokers since our conception in 2003. We understand the importance of a strong RFP; it’s what allows us to tailor proposals for potential customers, and demonstrate the value and support our services can bring to their unique business.
With this in mind, we’ve produced a 7-step fleet RFP guide, to help fleet managers produce and deliver business-specific, detailed tenders - and receive high-quality, bespoke responses from potential suppliers.
In this article, we run through some of the key things fleet managers should include in their RFP document.
You can download our full guide, ‘7 Steps to a Best Practice Fleet Accident Management Tender’ by clicking below:
What is an ‘RFP’ document in Fleet Management?
A Request for Proposal (RFP) is used by fleet managers to request commercial proposals from potential suppliers, like accident management, repair, or technology partners.
An RFP usually contains details on the services required, background on the fleet, its commercial makeup, vehicle types, and specific challenges relating to the service they wish to outsource.
It also contains instructions for suppliers on what to include in their proposal, and gives specific prompts & questions to guide their response.
The fleet manager will usually send the document to a group of potential suppliers, in order to assess their strength and compatibility, and inform their choice of partner.
What to include in your fleet accident management RFP
Your accident management RFP should provide comprehensive background on your business, its commercial makeup, vehicle types, repair policies, and the specific services it requires, to guide potential suppliers in their proposals.
It should also contain specific prompts and questions to guide their response, and ensure they provide supporting evidence of their service, its assurances, and values.
Here are 7 key things you’ll need to include in your accident management RFP:
1 - The specific fleet services you’re looking for, and any value-adds
The first thing to include in any RFP is an outline of the opportunity for the supplier. What specific services is your fleet looking to outsource, and at what level will the supplier be providing the service? Will they be servicing your fleet in addition to your internal resource, in partnership with other suppliers, or as a full end-to-end solution provider?
In addition, be sure to list any value-add services your fleet may be looking for in the supplier’s remit, aside from its immediate requirement. This might include things like supporting software solutions, ad-hoc claims management services, or onwards partnerships with manufacturers or insights/data providers.
2 - An overview of your current processes, and their challenges
To give suppliers sufficient context to tailor their proposal, it’s important to provide an overview of your fleet’s current processes, and any challenges faced within them. How does the service area you’re looking to outsource currently function, and what are its most prominent challenges, and equally, its benefits.
This will guide suppliers to tailor their proposal to your fleet’s unique requirements, and its challenges, ensuring they demonstrate any specific solutions they could offer to help you overcome them.
3 - A breakdown of your fleet’s vehicle makeup
Your fleet’s vehicle makeup is vital information for suppliers involved in the accident management process. Suppliers may have different abilities and processes to service different types of vehicles, such as large commercial vehicles, or EVs & Hybrids. It’s therefore important to give a detailed breakdown of the types of vehicles you operate, and any unique repair or recovery requirements.
Critically, be sure to make suppliers aware if your fleet is transitioning to EVs or AFVs, or plans to in the near future. If this is the case, they’ll need to be closely involved in the process to ensure their services and solutions align with your requirements as they shift.
4 - Your average incident reporting/repair volumes
To give suppliers an idea of the volume they’ll be servicing, it’s important to include a background of your fleet’s historic incident, claims, and repair volumes. Make sure to include the split between fault/non-fault if relevant to the supplier’s remit, as it’s important for them to factor in third party claims and/or repairs.
If it’s relevant to the service you’re looking for, you should also map out the historic costs of these claims/repairs, and how long they took on average. This will enable suppliers to compare with their own internal data for similar fleets, and demonstrate any efficiencies they may be able to deliver.
5 - Any third party suppliers or software in place
Be sure to outline any software, internal or third party supplier solutions you use to support your current accident management process, and whether you’re looking to retain these going forward. This important context will help you gauge suppliers’ ability to integrate with your existing systems and processes, or whether any adjustments would need to be made.
It’s vital that any new suppliers are embedded effectively within your existing processes and supply chains, to ensure seamless implementation of their solutions or services.
6 - Your ESG policies & environmental commitments
It’s essential that your fleet’s suppliers can mirror your company’s ESG commitments and policies, such as those around carbon output and workplace inclusivity. Make sure to outline the values most central to your company’s social strategy, and the policies & processes you rely upon to uphold these.
Ask specific questions to ensure suppliers evidence their own policies and approaches, and highlight any solutions they can offer to help you to achieve your ESG objectives.
7 - Instructions & service-level questions for suppliers
The final and most crucial elements to include in your RFP are instructions for suppliers on what to include in their proposal, and any specific service-level questions you’d like them to answer.
Consider your technical requirements, and the key SLAs you need suppliers to meet in their service delivery. Ask specific questions on the processes, policies, and solutions they have in place to ensure they can meet your standards, and solve any existing challenges you may be facing. Where necessary, prompt suppliers to provide evidence or documentation to support their answers, and provide clear instructions for how this should be attached & submitted.
Ask suppliers to demonstrate how they intend to deliver & manage the service on an operational level. Will they provide a ringfenced account team, and can they exemplify how this has worked worked with similar fleets in the past? Prompt them to illustrate the fleet-specific specialisms they harbour in-house, and how these are upheld and supported by their internal expertise and dedicated personnel.
As well as service-specific questions, it’s important to ask suppliers about their wider company, its history, ethos, experience, market share, and employee training practices. This will help drastically when comparing suppliers’ capabilities and commercial reputations.
Additionally, be sure to ask about the technology/software solutions they currently have in place, and how these can be tailored & integrated with your existing systems and processes.
