RFP glossary

26 terms from RFP and proposal management, defined in plain language — including the four acronyms buyers most often mix up.

26 termsUpdated for 2026Plain language, no jargon

RFP vs RFI vs RFQ vs DDQ

RFP — "Solve our problem." A full solution and pricing pitch, often 50 to 500+ questions.
RFI — "Who's out there?" Early-stage vendor discovery, lighter and non-binding.
RFQ — "What's the price?" Requirements are fixed; it comes down to cost and terms.
DDQ — "Prove you're safe." Deep security and compliance vetting: SOC 2, GDPR, ISO.

Addendum: A formal amendment issued by the buyer after an RFP is released. Addenda change requirements or deadlines and are binding — missing one is a common disqualification.
Answer library: The curated store of approved responses a proposal team reuses across RFPs, RFIs and questionnaires. Its quality sets the ceiling on what any RFP tool can do.
AI-native: Software architected so that drafting and retrieval sit at the core of the product, rather than added on top of a manual content library. See AI proposal tools.

Bid/no-bid: The decision on whether to respond at all. A disciplined bid/no-bid process is the cheapest win-rate improvement most teams can make.
BAFO: Best and Final Offer. A final pricing round after shortlisting, usually with a short turnaround.
Boilerplate: Standard reusable copy. Useful for structure, dangerous when it replaces a specific answer to a specific question.

Compliance matrix: A table mapping every buyer requirement to where it is addressed in your response. Evaluators score against it, so it should mirror their numbering exactly.
Content decay: The gradual staleness of an answer library as products, certifications and claims change. Managed with owners and expiry dates rather than good intentions.

DDQ: Due Diligence Questionnaire. Deep security, financial and compliance vetting — SOC 2, GDPR, ISO. Factual rather than persuasive, and usually reviewed by a different audience than the RFP itself.
Deal desk: The internal function that reviews pricing and terms before a proposal is submitted.

Evaluation criteria: The published rubric a buyer scores against. When it exists, mirroring it is worth more than any amount of polish.
Executive summary: The opening section that frames the buyer's problem and your outcome. Written last, read first, and often the only section a decision-maker reads in full.

Governance: Roles, approval chains and audit trails inside an RFP platform. The criterion that most often decides enterprise selections and most often gets over-bought by small teams.

Incumbent: The supplier currently holding the contract. Their presence changes the real odds of a competitive process considerably.

Proposal manager: The owner of the response: scope, contributors, deadlines and final voice.
Pursuit: A tracked opportunity being actively worked, usually with an assigned team and a qualification decision behind it.

RFP: Request for Proposal. "Solve our problem." A full solution and pricing pitch, often running from 50 to 500+ questions.
RFI: Request for Information. "Who's out there?" Early-stage vendor discovery — lighter, non-binding, and usually a precursor to an RFP.
RFQ: Request for Quote. "What's the price?" Requirements are already fixed, so the decision comes down to cost and terms.
Redline: A marked-up contract or response showing proposed changes.
Retrieval: The step where a tool finds the right source content to answer a question. Retrieval quality, not model choice, is what usually separates good AI RFP tools from bad ones.

SME: Subject-matter expert. The engineer, lawyer or security lead who owns the answer no one else can write.
SOC 2: An audited report on security, availability and confidentiality controls. Type II covers a period of operation rather than a point in time, and buyers increasingly require it.
Scoring sheet: The internal rubric evaluators use to rate each response. See our vendor scoring sheet for the software-selection equivalent.

Win rate: Proposals won as a share of proposals submitted. Meaningful only alongside bid/no-bid discipline — a high win rate on few bids can mean you are being too cautious.
Win/loss debrief: A structured post-decision review with the buyer. Requesting one in writing, win or lose, is the cheapest research available to a proposal team.