Responsive, provider of the Responsive Platform for strategic response management, has today revealed results from its 2023 Strategic Response Management Maturity Report: Habits of Leaders vs Laggards. The survey shares insights into the views of executives and response managers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia to provide advice and concrete recommendations for companies looking to improve their strategic response management function.
Responsive commissioned Callan Consulting to survey 718 executives responsible for strategic responses at their organisations to examine response management practices, establish a maturity matrix for the SRM category and understand how the habits of leaders differed from laggards.
The study found that companies with the most mature response management practices had four consistent habits that set them apart from laggards: higher skill levels of the response management team, greater efficiency and effectiveness of response management process, a deeper level of C-level executive engagement, and greater investment in an SRM platform, tools and technologies. “Our vision at Responsive is to transform the way organisations exchange information,” said Ganesh Shankar, CEO at Responsive. “This report validates what we know from experience – executives that embrace strategic response management make a marked difference in their company’s business outcomes.
The Responsive Strategic Response Management Platform has helped customers work more than $400 billion in business opportunities, and with the range of information requests and immense opportunity for revenue growth, it is more critical than ever to enable organisations to respond quickly and effectively.”
The survey categorised respondents into four groups based on maturity: leaders, achievers, strivers, and laggards. Results showed that mature response management practices help companies grow faster, improve risk management, boost the accuracy of responses, maintain brand consistency, and strengthen employee sentiment.
Leaders in India Recognise the Value of Strategic Responses Of respondents in India, 89% say that RFPs are extremely or very much viewed as a direct contributor to revenue. Specifically, 45% say half or more of their revenue is generated by responding to RFPs and other complex information requests, demonstrating the need for efficient SRM practices to grow the business.
Organisations invest time and headcount in creating strategic responses, with 57% responding to complex information requests multiple times a week, and an additional 20% responding every single day. Additionally, 64% say they have more than 10 employees working on each complex information request. Response leaders showed a strong willingness to invest in people, processes, and technology to maximise the effectiveness and efficiency of their responses and as a result saw higher revenues at lower risk with better employee experiences.
Global SRM leaders see significant wins and revenue gains compared to peers
Failure to implement mature SRM practices is a business risk. Laggards lose out on 34% of
revenue generated from strategic responses as shown by the percent change of laggards (41%) vs leaders (55%). A full 100% of leaders view SRM to be a direct contributor to their company’s revenue, compared to 56% of laggards. Additionally, leaders have a win rate of 58% for RFPs and other types of strategic responses compared to 50% among laggards, demonstrating a 16 percent change in win rate.
Responses go far beyond RFPs
Global data shows that RFPs are the most common strategic response handled by organisations, making up 68% of inquiries, but information exchange encompasses more than a single category. Respondents who work on RFPs also reported handling RFIs (54%), RFQs (41%), DEI Questionnaires (37%), and more. The sheer scope of information inquiries is a forcing function for organisations to realise the value of a single platform for the entire response process.
“This global survey clearly shows that executives who are strategic response management leaders win more RFPs and generate more revenue through RFPs than laggards,” said Ed Callan, CEO at Callan Consulting. “Enterprises are leaving revenue on the table if they are not engaging in strategic response management best practices.”
SRM laggards face challenges defining roles and responsibilities, creating a standardised process for responses, and engaging leadership. However, if they can adopt best practices for investing in team skills, demonstrating value to C-level executives, and collaborating cross-functionally, they will be rewarded with a sustainable response process that drives increased win rates, revenue, and efficiency. Further, regardless of the level of maturity of an organisation, whether achievers, strivers, or laggards, this study showed that positive business outcomes can be achieved by taking the next step.
