Getting Specified Early: How Suppliers Can Influence Projects Before the RFQ Stage

By the time an RFQ lands in a supplier's inbox, most of the decisions that actually determine who wins the job have already been made. The spec has been written, the basis-of-design product has often already been chosen, and the supplier responding to the RFQ is frequently bidding against a product that was selected weeks or months earlier — sometimes with little realistic chance of changing that outcome no matter how competitive the price.

Suppliers who consistently win more work tend to recognize this earlier than their competitors do: the real competition for most projects doesn't happen at RFQ stage. It happens during design, when the spec is still being written and the basis-of-design decision hasn't been locked in yet. Getting specified early means showing up in that window, instead of arriving after it's already closed.

Why RFQ-Stage Competition Is Usually the Wrong Fight

Once a spec names a specific product or a tightly defined set of "or equal" criteria written around one product's specifications, every other supplier responding to that RFQ is fighting an uphill battle. They're not really competing on the merits of their product — they're competing to be accepted as an acceptable substitute for a product the design team already chose. That's a much harder position to win from, and it usually means competing primarily on price, because differentiation on performance or features doesn't matter much once the design team already has their preferred option in mind.

This is the structural reason a lot of suppliers feel like they're constantly racing to the bottom on price: they're entering the competition at the one stage where price is almost the only lever left to pull.

What "Getting Specified" Actually Requires

Getting specified early means building a relationship with the people who write specs and influence basis-of-design decisions — architects, engineers, and in many cases the developer's own technical team — well before a specific project's RFQ is ever issued.

This isn't about a single sales call. It's about consistent visibility with the people who make these decisions, built through technical resources that make their job easier (clear submittal packages, code-compliance documentation, performance data formatted the way a spec writer actually needs it), and through a track record on past projects that gives a design team confidence in naming a product without having competitively bid it first.

Suppliers who do this well tend to think of design teams as a long-term audience, not a one-time sales target. The architect or engineer who specifies a product on one project is very likely to specify it again on the next one, if the product performed well and the supplier was easy to work with — which means the relationship-building investment pays off well beyond a single job.

Where This Connects to a Broader Route-to-Market Strategy

Getting specified early is one piece of a larger pattern in how suppliers consistently get into projects rather than winning them sporadically. The case for building a consistent route to market rests heavily on this idea — that suppliers who rely entirely on responding to RFQs as they appear are playing a much harder, more reactive game than suppliers who've built relationships upstream of the RFQ stage. Getting specified early is, in many ways, the clearest practical expression of that broader strategy.

It Also Changes Who You're Selling To

Suppliers focused only on RFQ response tend to sell almost exclusively to GCs and subcontractors, because that's who issues most RFQs. But the people who actually make basis-of-design decisions are frequently on the developer's or design team's side, not the GC's. This is closely related to the shift covered in selling to developers, not just GCs — getting specified early often means building relationships with exactly the audience that post identifies, because developers and their design teams are typically the ones with the authority to name a product in the spec, well before a GC ever issues a competitive RFQ.

What This Looks Like in Practice

A supplier pursuing this strategy seriously will typically invest in a few concrete things: submittal and spec-language documentation that a design team can drop directly into their own documents with minimal editing, a process for tracking which architects and engineers are working on upcoming projects in a given market, and a way of staying visible with those design teams between projects — not just showing up when there's an active bid to chase.

This is also where consistency matters more than intensity. A single well-timed presentation to a design firm rarely changes much on its own. A supplier who shows up reliably, with useful technical resources, across multiple projects over time, is the one who eventually gets named in a spec without having to win a competitive bid for it.

From a Single Spec to Repeat Business

Getting specified once on a project is valuable on its own, but the bigger payoff comes when that relationship turns into being specified again on the next project, and the one after that. That's really a question of turning a single project into a long-term, repeat customer relationship — getting specified early is how that relationship usually starts, but it isn't the same thing as the ongoing work of maintaining it once it exists.

Why This Matters More as Margins Tighten

In a market where RFQ-stage competition increasingly comes down to price, getting specified early is one of the few remaining ways for a supplier to compete on something other than the lowest number. A product that's already named in the spec doesn't need to win a price war against an "or equal" substitute — it's the baseline everyone else is being measured against. That's a fundamentally stronger position, and it's available to any supplier willing to invest in the relationships and documentation that make it possible.

Merlin Merchant helps suppliers track which projects are moving through design, which design teams they have existing relationships with, and where the basis-of-design decision is still open — so outreach happens during the window when it can actually influence the spec, rather than after the RFQ has already gone out.

This kind of structured visibility is also what makes building multiple buildings the same way actually achievable at scale."

About Merlin AI

Merlin is the operational intelligence and execution orchestration platform built for the construction industry — continuously aligning materials, labour, cost, and decisions in real time across every active project. The platform serves three participants in the construction ecosystem: contractors industrialising through prefab, self-perform, and warehouse operations; developers who need their supply chain to coordinate like a production system; and suppliers looking for a direct route into live construction projects. Merlin EOS runs production operations, Merlin PI coordinates projects, and Merlin Merchant connects suppliers to work. Unlike tools that report on work after the fact, Merlin orchestrates it while it is happening. When Merlin runs production, execution becomes inevitable.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What does "getting specified" mean for a building product supplier? It means a supplier's product is named as the basis-of-design — or as one of a tightly defined set of acceptable products — in the project spec, before the RFQ stage. This gives the supplier a significant structural advantage over competitors responding to the same RFQ.

2. How early should a supplier start building relationships with design teams? As early as possible relative to a project's design phase — ideally well before a specific project even exists, through ongoing relationship-building with architects and engineers who are likely to design projects the supplier wants to be specified into.

3. Is getting specified early only relevant for large suppliers? No. Smaller suppliers can compete effectively in this space because it's driven by relationships and technical resources rather than by the size of the sales team. A supplier with strong, well-documented technical resources can build design-team relationships regardless of company size.

4. How does getting specified early affect price competition? A product that's already named in the spec is the baseline against which substitutes are measured, rather than one of several options competing primarily on price. This generally reduces price pressure compared to responding to an open RFQ.

5. Does getting specified into one project guarantee future work with that design team? Not automatically, but it significantly improves the odds. Design teams that have had a good experience with a product and supplier on one project are considerably more likely to specify the same product again, provided the relationship is maintained between projects.