Full RFP Evaluations: A Complete, Documented Search You Can Defend
A fully managed, independent provider search — evaluation criteria set before a single proposal is read, your incumbent competing on the same footing as the field, and a complete decision file your organization retains. Most full RFPs are started and completed within 100 days.
Request for proposal (RFP)
When a Provider Decision Is Ever Questioned, the Review Starts With How It Was Made
Committees are rarely challenged on which provider they chose. They're challenged on how: What criteria were used? Were they set before or after the favorites emerged? Was every candidate compared the same way? Where is it written down?
A full RFP is how those questions get good answers. Most organizations that reach this stage have already determined a change may be needed — either up front, or through benchmarking or an RFI that pointed here. What they need from the RFP is a result they can act on and a record that holds up. That's what the process below is built to produce.
Scoping and criteria — set with your committee before any proposal is reviewed, so the standards can't drift toward a favorite
Candidate identification — typically 5 firms that fit your size, location, and service needs, plus your incumbent
RFP development — 50 to 100 questions depending on the service being evaluated, built to surface real differences
Evaluation management — all candidate communication handled by us, every response scored against the same criteria
Findings presentation — results summarized and presented to your committee, with weekly status updates throughout the engagement
Finalist presentations — coordinated, structured, and comparable
Reference checks — managed by us, reported to you
Fee negotiation support — with the selected firm, grounded in its disclosed fees and the competing proposalsA vast majority of clients elect to move forward with the full RFP process. They have determined either up front that they want to make a change in a service provider or want an additional level of detail to potentially make a change.
Many times clients elect to move forward to the RFP process after completing an RFI.
Usually the candidate pool is around 3-5 vendors plus the incumbent. An RFP will have between 50-100 questions depending on the requested service evaluation.
The Numbers: 3–5 Candidates Plus Your Incumbent, 50–100 Questions, About 90 Days
Retention Is a Valid Outcome — When It's Earned and Documented
The incumbent is included in the candidate pool and answers the same questions against the same criteria as every other firm. That does two things. It keeps the process honest — no one can say the search was designed around a predetermined outcome. And it means retention, if that's where the evaluation lands, is a documented decision rather than inertia: your committee can show exactly why staying was the right call.
Either result — retain or change — leaves you in the same position: a decision made on defined criteria, in writing, that you can explain to anyone who ever asks.
What You Keep: The Complete Record of How the Decision Was Made
Every engagement ends with a decision file your organization retains: the evaluation criteria and when they were set, the candidate pool and why those firms, every response scored on a consistent basis, the finalist comparison, reference findings, and the written rationale for the outcome.
This is the document that answers a committee member's question years from now, a new board member's question at onboarding, counsel's question during a review, or a regulator's question during an investigation — without anyone having to reconstruct what happened from memory and old emails.
“the committee and staff were extremely pleased with the guidance and resources provided and the results of the project as a whole”
— Manager of Benefits
Our References Are Our Clients — All of Them
Our clients engage us for independent evaluations at sensitive moments — often at the direction of counsel — so we don't publish named testimonials or case studies. Discretion is part of the engagement.
What we offer instead is stronger: 100% of Culpepper RFP clients can act as a reference, a standard we've maintained since the firm began. When you're seriously evaluating whether to work with us, we'll connect you directly with organizations similar to yours in size, plan type, and situation — and you can ask them anything.
Not sure a full RFP is the right level? See how benchmarking, RFI, and RFP evaluations compare → /services
Questions Plan Sponsors Ask About Full RFPs
-
Typically 4 candidates plus your incumbent. An RFP goes deep — 50 to 100 questions, finalist presentations, reference checks — so the pool is deliberately narrower than an RFI's. Casting wide is the RFI's job; the RFP's job is a rigorous comparison among firms that genuinely fit, with every one held to the same standard.
-
Yes — the incumbent is included in the pool if requested by the sponsor and evaluated on the same criteria as everyone else. If they win, your relationship is validated in writing rather than assumed. If they don't, your committee has a documented basis for the change. Either way, no one on your team has to be the critic — the criteria do that work.
-
Then be honest about that before the process starts — because an RFP staged to ratify a predetermined choice is worse than no RFP at all if it's ever examined. If your preferred firm is genuinely the right one, a real process will confirm it on the merits and hand you the documentation. If the process doesn't confirm it, that's information you needed before signing, not after.
-
Most full RFPs are started and completed within 90 days, with exceptions in both directions depending on complexity. Your committee's involvement concentrates at three points: the criteria-setting session at the start, a findings review, and finalist presentations at the end — where the decision is yours. The drafting, distribution, communication, scoring, and documentation between those points are our job.
-
We support the final fee negotiation with the selected firm, grounded in its disclosed fees and the competing proposals — candidates price differently when they know the comparison is real. You retain the complete decision file, and we recommend a monitoring and benchmarking cadence so the decision you just documented stays defensible over time. Culpepper RFP organizes a transition meeting with the sponsor and selected service provider.
-
Yes — every client we've ever worked with. 100% of Culpepper RFP clients can act as a reference. Once you're seriously evaluating an engagement, we'll connect you with organizations similar to yours, and what you ask them is up to you.
If Your Last Provider Decision Were Questioned Tomorrow, What Would You Point To?
If the answer is a folder of old emails, schedule a call with Jay. You'll leave knowing whether a full RFP fits your situation, what the process would look like, and what you'd have in hand when it's done.