The Challenge
For IMTC’s Fixed Income Platform specializing in cloud-based investment management solutions, responding to RFPs was a challenging process that drained executive time and created unnecessary stress. The entire C-suite, sales, marketing, and product leaders all worked on this fractured workflow that consumed a lot of resources.
The company’s RFP process was complex and time consuming at best. Excel-based RFPs required manual color-coding by team member, turning documents into visual challenges before work even began. “We often found ourselves working on different versions of the document, which added to the manual efforts,” explains Raphael Schmideg, COO at IMTC. This created a lot of hesitation amongst the team, particularly with questionnaires containing up to 900 questions.
The time investment was staggering — typically eight team members spending at least three to four hours each on initial drafts, a conservative estimate of 24–32 hours per submission. The process often extended into evenings, making potential sales opportunities more challenging to manage.
The Solution
IMTC evaluated several RFP response platforms, but many were too complex, expensive, or required maintaining extensive content libraries. They chose AutoRFP.ai for its intuitive interface, AI capabilities, and startup-friendly approach, implementing the solution within days for an urgent submission.
The most immediate impact came from AutoRFP.ai’s intelligent AI importer, which seamlessly handled Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, and PDFs. “When we loaded the RFP into the system, those of us who typically handle RFPs were amazed to see so many of the answers populate automatically. I recall everyone’s shock, realizing we were instantly 90% done with the first draft as the system pulled similar responses from previous RFPs,” recalled Sara Haas, Head of Marketing.
The AI RFP software’s response engine became a game-changer, automatically identifying relevant previous answers without requiring manual library maintenance. Beyond traditional RFPs, the team found additional value using the platform for award submissions and investor relations materials.
The Results
The transformation has been dramatic. What once consumed 24–32 hours of senior team members’ time now takes just a couple of hours to complete, representing an estimated 80% time savings on RFP responses. This efficiency gain has freed up valuable executive bandwidth for revenue-generating activities.
The psychological impact has been equally significant. With 90% of the initial draft automated, the majority of the team’s effort is now focused on fine-tuning and personalizing responses, rather than drafting. There are no more dedicated chat channels for troubleshooting RFP issues, no more late nights racing to meet deadlines, and no more hesitation at the RFP stage with potential clients.
