Answering a request for proposal

When a buyer invites your venue or hotel to a request for proposal, or RFP, you receive an email with a link. You do not need a HAPR account. The link opens your own response, where you answer the buyer's questions, enter your rates and send your proposal. The questions, dates and room types all come from the buyer's setup, so your form may show fewer or more sections than this page describes.

Sign in with your invitation#

1. 1
   Open the invitation email and press the link.
2. 2
   Type the email address the invitation was sent to and press Send my code.
3. 3
   Open the email from HAPR and copy the six-digit code.
4. 4
   Type it under Access code and press Continue.

The link only tells HAPR which programme you are answering. It never signs you in on its own, so a forwarded invitation is no use to anyone else. If you arrived from the link, the address is already filled in and partly hidden.

After you sign in, HAPR takes you to the right place.

• If the invitation covers one property, you go straight to its response form.
• If you look after several properties, you go to the portfolio.

You stay signed in for 12 hours. After that, sign in again with a new code. Your answers are saved.

Find your response again#

Links stay valid for 60 days. If you lost the invitation, the link stopped working or your email app cut it short, you can still get back in.

1. 1
   Go to the Find your RFP response page, or press Sign in with your email address on the expired link page.
2. 2
   Type the email address the invitation was sent to.
3. 3
   Press Email me my responses.
4. 4
   Open the email. It has a link for each programme that address was invited to.

app.thehapr.com/rfp

1. 1The email address the invitation was sent to.

Understand the portfolio#

The portfolio is your starting point when you look after several properties. At the top you see the programme name, the reference, the date the response is due and the buyer's indicative volumes. Under Your properties in scope you see one row for each property, with the count of properties you have started.

For each property the table shows the following.

• the property name, which opens its property profile
• the progress of your answers, or the date you sent them
• the RFP round, such as R1 or R2
• the status
• an action button and, where it applies, Decline

The status can be Not started, In progress, Submitted, Revised rates requested, Revised rates submitted, Accepted, Offer declined, Declined to participate, Withdrawn or Expired.

The action button reads Start response for a new property, Continue while you are answering or when revised rates are requested, and View for anything you have already sent or that is closed.

On the right you find the buyer's background, the indicative volumes by city (spend rounded and room nights shown as a range, not a guarantee), and a short How this RFP works note. Along the bottom you find Key dates, Files attached and Need help? with the buyer's contacts. A hotel programme also shows the buyer's current spend and room nights per city.

If your address is no longer attached to any property, you see No properties are attached to this address any more. Your client may have changed the contact. Get in touch with them to be invited again.

Fill in a hotel response#

Hotels answer a questionnaire and a rate sheet. Open a property with Start response or Continue. The page has these parts.

• This client asks. The left list shows the buyer's sections, each with a count such as 4/12 and a tick marked Done when the section is complete. On a phone these are tabs along the top.
• From your property profile. Sections that come from your property profile are listed below. They fill in on their own.
• Rate sheet. The section with the rates, described below.
• Saved. Everything saves as you type. The header shows Saves as you type, then Saved.

Required questions are marked with a red star. Questions the buyer marked as must-haves are pass or fail. A blank answer can remove the property from consideration whatever your rates are. The panel How to strengthen this response lists unanswered must-haves and any scored questions you have not answered yet. Press Update next to it to jump to the section.

When you finish a section, press Check this section. HAPR names anything required that is still blank. Press Next or Back to move between sections.

Enter your rates#

1. 1
   Open the rate sheet section.
2. 2
   Name your room types under Room type name / category, and add Define room type, Total number of rooms per room type and Room size in sqm (m²) if asked.
3. 3
   For each season, type the dates under Season dates. Start must not be after end.
4. 4
   Type the rate for each room type and occupancy. A season or room type marked Not offered is greyed out. Switch it to Offered to price it.
5. 5
   If the buyer asked for a Dynamic offer, choose Offered and type the discount percentage off the best available rate.
6. 6
   Say whether Rates are commissionable and the commission percentage, or choose Net (non commissionable). Tick Rates include tax and fees if they do.
7. 7
   Press Expand to work in the sheet at full screen.

Blank rates mean not offered for that season, room type and occupancy. The sheet shows the currency the buyer set. If it says Rates cannot be entered yet. then HAPR could not work out the currency for the property. Contact the RFP team through Messages.

If you need more seasons than the sheet allows, press Need more seasons? Ask the RFP team, say how many more and why, and press Send the request. The reply arrives in Messages.

Reuse your property profile#

Some sections come from your property profile, which you answer once and reuse in every request, from this client or another.

• Press Load from profile to refresh the section from your profile.
• Press Save to profile or Update property profile to keep this section's answers for next time.
• An answer shows Inherited when it comes from the profile and Overridden when you changed it for this client only. Press Revert to profile to go back to the profile answer, or Answer in profile to open the profile.

To edit the profile on its own, press the property name in the portfolio. It opens the property profile with the same sections. If the property is not yet linked to a shared record, the answers are saved against this response only and carry over once linked. You can still edit the profile after you have sent a response.

Sign off the terms#

In the section with the rates and terms you find Proposal Authorisation & Terms Sign-Off. Tick I confirm and authorise this proposal submission to confirm that your rates, amenities and terms are authorised and binding for the corporate travel programme. You cannot send without it.

Fill in a venue or room block response#

A venue, a room block or both go through one proposal with a row of steps along the top. Which steps you see depends on what the buyer asked for.

• Property Profile
• Venue
• Room Block
• Catering
• Safety & Security
• Commercial Offer & submit, or Commercial proposal & submit when only a venue is asked for

Each step shows how many required answers are still to go. Press Continue to at the foot of a step to move on. Answers save as you type. If the buyer wants the venue and the rooms from the same property, it is still one proposal that you send once, from the last step.

• Venue. Answer each question and say, space by space, whether you can provide it and which room. Enter your daily rates and any charges. The step also shows the total your lines add up to.
• Room Block. The tabs Rooms & rates and Terms hold the main work. Under Rooms & rates, type a rate for each room type and night. Type one figure under All nights and press Apply to repeat it across every night. Tick Not available to decline a room type. Pricing settings hold service charge, tax and commission.
• Terms. For each block term, choose We accept this or We propose something different and say what you can offer. A counter offer is normal and does not put you out of the running.
• What's included. For each amenity choose Included, Costs extra or Not available. Costs extra is a fine answer. It gets priced, not disqualified.
• Additional benefits or offers. Optional. Describe concessions such as complimentary rooms or suite upgrades.
• Who to contact. Press Add a contact to add other people from your team who can answer questions.
• Attachments. Optional. Add PDF or image files, up to 10 MB each.
• Combined package. When you answer for both the venue and the rooms, you can enter a saving for winning both. It is shown beside your venue and room block figures and is never taken off either of them.

Work in a spreadsheet#

For a hotel response you can fill in answers or rates outside HAPR. Use the two icons at the top of the response, or at the top of the portfolio for all your properties at once.

1. 1
   Press the download icon, Download as a spreadsheet, and choose Questions & answers or Rates.
2. 2
   Open the file and edit the Answer column in the questions sheet, or the Rate column in the rates sheet. Leave the other columns alone.
3. 3
   Press the upload icon, Upload a completed spreadsheet, and choose the same kind of sheet.
4. 4
   Check the preview, then confirm. HAPR reports how many rows were saved, how many already matched and which rows were not used, with the row number.

Keep the Property ID column. It tells HAPR which property each row is for. Download the sheet again if the buyer has opened a new round since, or if it was downloaded for another programme. Spreadsheets do not work once a response is sent. The venue and room block proposal has no spreadsheet.

Check and send#

For a hotel response, follow these steps.

1. 1
   Press Review & submit at the foot of the section list, or Review & Submit on a phone. On the last section, press Review & submit proposal.
2. 2
   Read Review & Submit Response. It lists anything still missing. Press Fix beside a line to jump to it.
3. 3
   When it says All required questions answered, press Confirm & Submit. Press Continue editing to go back.

For a venue or room block response, follow these steps.

1. 1
   Press Check the form on a step to find what is still missing.
2. 2
   On the last step, read Before this proposal can be sent. Press Fix beside a line to jump to it.
3. 3
   When it says Everything is answered. Sending locks the whole proposal., press Submit proposal.
4. 4
   Check the totals in Submit this proposal? and press Submit proposal. Press Not yet to go back.

Revise after a negotiation request#

If the buyer asks for revised rates, the status changes to Revised rates requested and the action button reads Continue. The form reopens until the date the buyer set, and your own figures are still there.

• In a hotel response, each requested rate shows Req with the buyer's figure under your own. Press Match buyer request to take their figure, or type your own.
• In a venue or room block response, the banner A revised proposal has been requested shows the buyer's note and date. The card Buyer revision requests lists each line with your figure, theirs and the difference. Press Edit to open the line.
• Every line the buyer asked about needs a figure before you can send. Send the response again. The status then reads Revised rates submitted.

Ask for more time#

Ask the buyer for a later deadline from either place.

• In the portfolio, press Request submission extension. Choose the property if you have several, type your reason under Why do you need longer?, pick the date under Date you are asking for and press Send request.
• In a venue or room block response, press Ask for more time, type your reason and press Send the request.
• In a hotel response, Ask for more time appears when the form has been closed by a date.

The buyer decides. Your client is emailed straight away, and nothing about your deadline changes until they grant it. Keep working to the current deadline until you hear back. The buyer's answer appears in Messages.

Ask a question#

The round button at the bottom right opens Conversations. A number on it counts unread replies.

1. 1
   Press Start a conversation.
2. 2
   If you have several properties, choose one under Which property is this about?.
3. 3
   Type a Subject and a Message, then press Send.
4. 4
   Open a conversation later to read replies or type under Write a reply….

Your message goes to the whole RFP team, not one person.

Decline to take part#

You can say no without filling in the form.

1. 1
   In the portfolio, press Decline on the property row. Inside a response, press Decline this request.
2. 2
   Choose a Reason. If you choose Other, type a short note under Tell them why.
3. 3
   Press Decline in the portfolio, or Decline proposal inside a response.

Your other properties are not affected. The status becomes Declined to participate and the form is closed. You cannot decline a response you have already sent.

Sign out#

Press your initials at the top right and choose Sign out. The menu shows Signed in as and your address.

Good to know#

• A code is valid for 20 minutes and allows six tries. You can ask for another code once every 45 seconds.
• Invited properties only. Unsolicited bids are not accepted.
• One response per property. Complete them in any order.
• A passed deadline may close the form. When it does, you see This bid can no longer be sent. with the reason. The form stays closed until the buyer grants an extension.
• If a deadline has passed but the buyer did not set it to close the form, the portfolio warns you with This programme’s response date has passed. and says you can still send. Check that late bids are accepted.
• Your property profile answers shown in a bid are copied into it when you send, so later profile edits do not change what you sent.

If something looks wrong#

• That code does not match. Check the six digits in your email. Type the code again, with no spaces. Ask for a new code if it keeps failing.
• That code has expired. Ask for a new one. Press Send a new code.
• Too many attempts. Ask for a new code. Press Send a new code, then use the newest email.
• This link has expired or We don’t recognise this link. Press Sign in with your email address, or copy the whole address from the email, because some mail programs cut it short.
• Some changes are not saved yet. Check your connection and try again. Your last edit did not reach HAPR. Wait for your connection, then edit the answer again. The message adds Nothing was sent. when you tried to submit.
• This response is already submitted. The response is locked. Ask the buyer to reopen it.
• This request is already closed. You tried to decline a response you have already sent.
• Season start date cannot be after end date. Fix the dates for that season.
• Please provide at least one rate or dynamic discount before sending your proposal. Enter at least one rate, or a dynamic discount, before you send a hotel response.
• Price at least one line before sending your bid. Enter at least one price before you send a venue bid.
• One rate in this round is still blank. Every line your client asked about needs a figure before you can send it. Fill in the rates the buyer asked about. The count changes when several are blank.
• Sign-off confirmation is required before proposal submission. Tick I confirm and authorise this proposal submission.
• That file could not be read. Download a fresh spreadsheet and upload it again without changing the layout.
• This programme has no contact address on file, so the request could not be sent. Contact your client directly. Your extension request did not go anywhere. Contact the buyer another way.
• Could not send the request. Try again, or contact your client directly. Press Send request again.
• A message saying your session has expired means you have been signed out. Sign in again with a new code. Your saved answers are kept.