We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alfredo Ramirez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alfredo below.
Alfredo, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.
One of my favorite stories was supporting GreenLatinos in finding consultants for their website redesign and annual summit. They took a leap of faith in us, and I’m so grateful they did because we both emerged as better organizations for it.
GreenLatinos is an active community of Latino/a/e environmental leaders relentlessly pushing for environmental, conservation, and climate justice. They were one of the first partners I worked with in the environmental movement starting in 2016, and I’ve had the chance to support them in various roles, from volunteer and consultant to coalition partner and donor.
In 2022, GreenLatinos had trouble finding the right consultant to rebuild their website. Unable to hire the right vendor, they turned to Prosal in October to help them find the right web designer. Thanks to their patience and willingness, this support helped us shape Prosal’s RFP Concierge service – a unique, human-centric approach to the RFP process.
We designed a staged RFP process with a lower barrier to entry for diverse agencies, leading to a larger pool of candidates and better client-agency fit. The candidate pool was narrowed at each stage through less intrusive requests like 20-minute calls or short questionnaires. The process worked so well that days after hiring their web designer, we were tasked with helping them find an event planner in Texas for their annual summit.
The event’s results speak for themselves, with stories of advocacy, justice, and connection being shared across many attendees. You can read more about the GreenLatinos success story here.
Alfredo, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Sure! I’m a Venezuelan American entrepreneur, traveler and outdoorsman. Currently, I’m the cofounder and COO of Prosal, a venture backed startup. Prosal is a place for agencies and consultants of all sizes to discover good RFPs and win new business. Our mission is to create a compelling, welcoming alternative to the RFP that is transparent and inclusive by design. We envision a world where companies of all sizes and backgrounds can grow at the pace they want and with the clients they want.
Since launching in 2022, we have partnered with agencies to help them find the right clients and supported organizations like GreenLatinos in hiring the right partner. Thanks to our work, we have seen agencies and consultants win nearly $20 million from projects on Prosal. These wins have led to new hires, new opportunities, and fantastic work being done with and for communities around the U.S. and internationally.
We’re finalizing our first raise and are excited about what’s to come next year. For us, it means new hires, more advanced tools, and an ability to deliver like never before for our partners. Our team will be incredibly well-positioned to support more partners and develop tools so that organizations and agencies that find partnerships through RFPs feel like they have an advocate in Prosal.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
Prosal started with one of my best friends, Nick Lopez. I had worked with nonprofits and foundations for years and found many of my clients through requests for proposals (RFPs). However, I also saw how the RFP reduced opportunities for myself and my colleagues:
1) Our background didn’t put us in the same conversation threads where RFPs were shared.
2) Limited information on budgets, timelines, and scopes made it hard to draft good proposals.
3) Bad processes and poor communication meant we didn’t know how we fared against the rest.
4) Rigid standards meant we couldn’t always be creative in our approach.
One day, while mountain biking, Nick asked me about my work. After sharing my dilemma, Nick asked, “Isn’t there a better way?”
Needing technical magic, we brought on a computer wizard named Nyle that Nick went to college with and who wanted to break barriers using technology.
From there, Prosal was born.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
Listen! It’s incredible how much people want to be heard. Doing so allows you to treat people like the individuals they are and move away from the automated drip campaigns that everyone is sick of drowning their inbox and LinkedIn messages.
When I listen, I can ask, acknowledge, and affirm someone for who they are and what they say. Not only does that allow me to understand the whole person, but it also allows me to be authentic when I reach out to others like them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://prosal.io/?utm_source=Earned+Media&utm_medium=Article&utm_campaign=CanvasRebel+2023&utm_term=Alfredo
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prosal.io
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prosal.io/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/prosal-io
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/prosal_io
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@prosalpuffin/playlists
Image Credits
GreenLatinos