About OpenGov

OpenGov is the leader in modern cloud ERP software for our nation’s cities, counties, and state agencies. On a mission to power more effective and accountable government, OpenGov serves more than 1,000 agencies across the U.S. Built exclusively for the unique budgeting, procurement, financial management, and citizen services needs of the public sector, the OpenGov ERP Cloud makes organizations more collaborative, digitizes mission-critical processes, and enables best-in-class communication with stakeholders.

OpenGov Partners with Patri to Bolster Its RFP Program

OpenGov, a leading provider of software services for America’s cities, counties, and state agencies, was growing quickly, adding customers and multiplying revenue. But as their product offering grew and their target market expanded, the RFP team struggled to keep up with growing demand. Inundated with solicitations, the proposal team spread themselves thin, responding to as many RFPs as they could. With attention focused more on compliance than customization, the proposal win rate began to drop. The proposals team asked for more resources, but without a high win percentage, the executive team was hesitant to invest more resources in the program.

But when OpenGov partnered with Patri to formalize its RFP qualification process, the results were quick and substantial. OpenGov more than tripled its win rate and revenue, saved hundreds of hours by qualifying out low-probability opportunities, and significantly improved team satisfaction. Since partnering with Patri, OpenGov has decided to increase its investment in its RFP program, transforming it from a liability into an organizational strength. Learn more about how OpenGov used Patri to turn around its RFP program below.

Customer Results

• Improved Win Rate by More Than 3x

• Increased Revenue via Proposals by More Than 3x

• Saved 1,247 Hours via Improved Qualification

• Saved $108k via Improved Qualification

• Streamlined Qualification Process Improves Team Satisfaction and Reduces Stress

OpenGov’s RFP Program on the Brink

Founded in 2012 and focused entirely on providing solutions to governments, OpenGov had to learn quickly how to navigate the difficulties inherent in selling to the Public Sector. While OpenGov was largely successful, acquiring customers and market share rapidly, its proposal team struggled to keep up. With an expanded portfolio and a growing target market, the company was flooded with solicitations. Focused on compliance and submission to as many opportunities as possible, the tailoring of proposals fell behind, and so too did the win rate.

According to David Jones, OpenGov’s RFP Program Manager, OpenGov’s RFP program was on the brink. The qualification process was porous and based more on perceived momentum than objective criteria. This caused the company to pursue too many poor-fit proposals, consuming key staff’s time and attention in low-probability, time-intensive responses.

Contributors were getting pulled into fire-drill responses, distracting them from their key initiatives. Deadlines were rushed, preventing high-quality responses. The win rate was low. Tensions were building. The proposals team asked for more resources, but without a high win percentage, the executive team was hesitant to invest more resources in the program. Something needed to change.

Formalizing Qualification with Patri Score

When David Jones was hired to take over OpenGov’s proposal function, he was tasked with proving that the proposals team could be profitable and valuable. As part of his drive for efficiency and profitability, David championed implementing Patri Score to formalize and improve OpenGov’s qualification process.

As David explains, “That was a critical moment for us looking back because if we didn’t show results, show that we can win RFPs and communicate our value, if we couldn’t do that, it [the RFP program] wasn’t a product we could invest in. Patri did wonders for us because it showed that it makes sense to pursue RFPs as long as we’re strategic about it.”

OpenGov formalized its process by routing all proposal qualification through Patri Score. Account Executives now fill out detailed Patri Score Assessments to receive a score that informs them how well their proposals fit into OpenGov’s proposal strategy. Above a certain score, OpenGov will pursue the proposal. Below it, they will either qualify out the proposal opportunity or require executive approval to pursue.

Patri Score Helps OpenGov Improve Win Percentage, Reduce Stress, and Capture Revenue

Since implementing Patri Score, OpenGov’s proposal qualification and operations have improved substantially. Win rates have more than tripled. Revenue has followed suit. Says David, “ARR [Annually Recurring Revenue] generated from RFPs was pretty low, and since adopting Patri, ARR has gone way up because we’re smarter and more focused around a singular strategy and cutting out the noise.”

By standardizing formal qualification criteria, it’s easier for employees across the organization to understand what makes a good proposal opportunity and what doesn’t and to understand why the proposal team might choose to pass on an opportunity. David explains, “Salespeople began to understand what makes a good proposal and not. They began to internalize the process. We could show the win rate improving and how Patri’s process helped us get there.”

Moreover, Patri Score helps the proposal team establish trust that when they do pursue a proposal, it will be worth contributors’ time and investment. David notes, “The opportunity to respond to hundreds of RFPs is there. We could spend our time responding to RFPs released every day. Patri lets us see whether that investment is actually worth it for us. Allows us to be more strategic and considerate when we respond because we don’t want to waste anybody’s time, money, or resources on an RFP that we’re not in a good position to win.”

Strengthening Capture with Patri Opportunity Debrief 

After realizing significant gains with Patri Score, OpenGov sought to further improve their capture efforts with Patri Opportunity Debrief, a tech-enabled analysis service that dissects past opportunities for competitive insights. Patri’s experienced team of proposal and sales professionals reviewed a sample of OpenGov’s past opportunities to identify key recommendations to improve capture strategy and handoff, proposal content, and competitive differentiation.

Detailing how Patri Opportunity Debrief helped OpenGov improve their internal processes and better position against competition, David explains, “Investing in Patri’s Opportunity Debrief has provided us with incredible value in understanding the true reasons behind an RFP loss, which is something that is usually difficult to determine without thorough investigation and research. Our team is not only learning from the areas that detracted from our overall scoring, but we are also incorporating Patri’s strategic recommendations directly into our internal processes to improve the way we collaborate on and develop proposals within our company.”

OpenGov Chooses to Expand its RFP Program

With significant increases in win percentage, revenue captured, and team satisfaction, David Jones successfully proved the value of the RFP function for OpenGov. Now, OpenGov is investing additional resources into the program to ensure they can provide a high level of customization, care, and solution architecture to each prospective customer.

Explaining how Patri supports OpenGov’s mission, David comments, “For OpenGov specifically, we’re a mission-driven company so anything that allows us to execute on our mission to power more effective and accountable government is big, Patri allows us to do that because we take the time we need to qualify RFP opportunities. If we don’t see a real alignment between the government and what we offer, then we’re not able to deliver on our mission. If we do identify RFPs that have a forward-thinking mentality, want to modernize their digital infrastructure, and the RFP lends itself to that mentality, we’re able to identify this is a fit for us.”

Win Smarter with Patri

Dedicated to empowering companies of all industries to win smarter through data-powered qualification solutions, expert services, and continued learning, Patri enables companies to pursue the right opportunities while avoiding the wrong ones.

Patri Score is a data-backed qualification tool that enables companies to understand the quality of their bid and proposal opportunities, decide on opportunity pursuit, and communicate it to their team. With Patri Score, every potential proposal opportunity is evaluated by data science-powered qualification assessments to determine the relative strength of an opportunity and provide a recommendation for pursuit.

Patri Opportunity Debrief is a tech-enabled analysis service that dissects past opportunities for competitive insights. Patri’s experienced team of proposal and sales professionals will help you understand the strengths and weaknesses in your proposal and capture efforts. Choose informative opportunities to analyze, and Patri will deliver recommendations to improve your qualification process, proposal quality, design, content, and competitive differentiation.

Patri helps companies improve their win percentage, collaborate on qualification, and waste fewer resources on low-probability opportunities. Patri has already helped companies save over 35,000 hours and $34M by enabling them to win smarter through pursuing the right opportunities in complex industries.

Interested in strengthening your qualification process with data? Schedule a demo of Patri’s offerings.