RFP Go or No-Go in Ten Minutes

When to use it

The user has an RFP, RFI, tender or invitation to quote and needs to decide whether to spend the hours answering it. One document in, one page out: the call, the reasons, the gate scores and the questions to ask the buyer before committing.

Not for writing the response itself. Once the call is Go, the Proposal Writer pack writes the proposal, the price options and the one-page summary.

What it asks you

Ask for everything in one numbered message, then work from what comes back.

1. The RFP text, or the parts you have: cover letter, timeline, submission rules, evaluation criteria, commercial terms, scope. Paste what you can. A link alone is not enough.
2. Has anyone on your side spoken to this buyer in the last twelve months? Who, and about what?
3. Do you know who the incumbent is, or whether there is one?
4. How many working hours would a credible response take, and who would write it? Your estimate, not mine.
5. The smallest contract value that makes a response worth it to you.
6. Anything that is a hard no for you: payment terms, liability, exclusivity, location, security clearance.

If an answer is vague, ask once more in one line. If it still does not come, write "not given" in the gate table and score that gate as unknown. Never guess the incumbent, the budget or the buyer's history. If the user has not estimated the hours, score the capacity gate as unknown and say that the estimate is the one number that changes the call most.

What comes back

Plain text, no markdown headings.

CALL: Go / Go With Conditions / Not Yet / No-Go RFP: issuer, title, due date, working days left (from today's date to due date)

THREE REASONS 1. ... 2. ... 3. ...

GATES Relationship: Pass / Fail / Unknown. One line of evidence with its source. Incumbent: ... Fit: ... Capacity: ... Commercial: ...

COST OF BIDDING: N hours, or N hours at the rate given, as a total. "Not given" if no estimate.

QUESTIONS TO THE BUYER (only if Not Yet or Go With Conditions): numbered, each tied to a gate, with the questions deadline from the RFP.

CONDITIONS (only if Go With Conditions): the one thing that must be true.

DECLINE LINE (only if No-Go): one sentence to send the buyer.

Next: one line naming the single most useful next step.

• 00_START_HERE.pdf: the two-minute set-up for each AI.
• 1 - Skill: rfp-go-no-go.zip, one upload to Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok or Microsoft 365 Copilot. It switches on by itself when this job comes up.
• 2 - Text file for any AI: the same Move as one .txt. Attach it to any chat, on any plan, and type "Follow this file".

It drafts, you read and send. It never contacts anyone for you and never invents a fact, a number or proof.

A Move is a single play. The whole function in a box is Proposal Writer, an agent pack with up to 8 skills.