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Broker Sending Rfps

Sending RFPs

After configuring plan requirements for a Group within a Proposal, the next step is sending RFPs (Requests for Proposal) to carrier representatives. This guide covers managing carrier contacts, sending RFPs, and tracking responses.

1. Understanding the RFP Process

The Workflow

  1. Configure Coverage — Define plan design and requirements for a coverage type (e.g., Dental)
  2. Select Carrier Reps — Choose who should receive the RFP
  3. Send RFPs — MonarkHQ emails each rep a one-click link to the RFP
  4. Await Responses — Reps open the link, are signed in, and submit Offers
  5. Review Offers — Compare carrier responses
  6. Add to Proposal — Select winning Offers as Proposal Items to present to the Employer

What Carrier Reps Receive

When you send an RFP, carrier representatives receive:

  • An email with a View RFP in Portal button that signs them in with one click. The link is valid for 7 days and works once. Resending the RFP sends a fresh link
  • Employer context (anonymized when needed)
  • Group size and demographics (from the Census), including a member breakdown with each member's first and last name, date of birth, relationship, and the job class, tobacco, salary and life amount details used for rating
  • Effective date (for the Group / plan year)
  • Your configured plan design requirements
  • Any attachments you uploaded

Important:

RFPs are sent for a specific Proposal (and therefore a specific Group / plan year). If the Employer has multiple Groups, the rep will only see the Group tied to that Proposal.

2. Manage Carrier Contacts

Before sending RFPs, confirm your carrier reps are in MonarkHQ.

Viewing Carrier Contacts

  1. Navigate to Contacts in the sidebar
  2. View your list of carrier representatives
  3. Each contact shows:
    • Name and email
    • Carrier affiliation
    • Coverage lines they handle
    • Last response date (if available)

Adding a Carrier Contact

  1. Click + Add Contact or Add New Rep
  2. Enter contact details:

| Field | Required | Description | | ------- | -------- | -------------------------- | | Name | No | Representative’s full name | | Email | Yes | Professional email address | | Company | No | Carrier name |

  1. Click Save

Note:

When you add a carrier contact, they may default to “all lines.” Carrier reps can refine which lines and group sizes they support during onboarding.

Who Can Manage Carrier Contacts

Any member of your organization can add, edit, and remove carrier contacts — this is not restricted to Owners and Admins.

Carrier contacts are a shared, organization-level address book: everyone on the team sees the same list, and a contact added by one person is immediately available to everyone else when they send RFPs.

This is a broader permission than the Organization and Members settings, which remain Owner/Admin only. See Organization Profile & Team Management for those roles.

How Carrier Matching Works

MonarkHQ can help identify good recipients based on:

  • Coverage lines they handle
  • Group size preferences
  • Geographic regions they service

In the send dialog, a contact can only be ticked for the coverage lines they handle. Monark doesn't pre-select recipients for you.

Reps who handle Life also count as a match for Voluntary Life & AD&D RFPs.

3. Send Your RFPs

Where You Send From

From the Proposal, go to the Quotes tab. Then:

  • Single Coverage Type: Click Send RFP within that coverage configuration
  • Multiple Coverage Types: Click Send All RFPs to send every configured RFP in the Proposal

The Send RFP Dialog

Step 1: Select Carrier Representatives

The send dialog has two tabs, New RFPs and Sent. On New RFPs, carrier contacts are listed as rows and coverage lines as columns. Tick a cell to send that coverage line to that contact.

Selection

  • Nothing is selected when the dialog opens. Choose every contact you want to send to.
  • The checkbox at the start of a contact's row selects every coverage line that contact handles, or clears the row. A row with only some lines ticked shows a dash.
  • Select all contacts in the header works the same way across every row.
  • Badges mark a Preferred carrier and contacts with Incomplete contact data.
  • Only carrier contacts are listed. Your own account and other broker users don't appear.

Sending a Line to More Carriers

Every coverage line with plans stays on the New RFPs tab after you send it, so you can send it to more carriers later. Cells already sent to a contact are ticked, locked and marked Already sent. Only the lines where you tick at least one new recipient are sent.

Add New Reps

  • Click Carrier Contact to create a contact without leaving the dialog
  • New reps become immediately selectable, and the lines you've already ticked stay ticked

You can also add an optional Cover Letter to the RFP email.

Step 2: Preview and Send

Before sending, review:

Recipients

  • Name, carrier, and email of selected reps

RFPs Being Sent

  • Coverage types included
  • Plan design summary for each coverage type
  • Effective date and Group context

Email Preview

  • Sample email reps will receive
  • Includes the magic link and key group details

Step 3: Confirmation

After clicking Send RFPs:

  1. MonarkHQ sends emails to all selected reps
  2. A confirmation screen shows:
    • Number of emails sent
    • Any failed sends
    • Next steps

What Happens Next

  1. Reps receive the email with a secure magic link
  2. Reps open the RFP and review requirements
  3. Reps submit an Offer for their carrier
  4. You’ll see Offer status updates in the Quotes tab

Typical response time is 2–5 business days, but varies by line and carrier.

4. Track RFP Status

Viewing Status

From the Proposal Quotes tab, each RFP shows:

| Status | Description | | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Draft | Configured but not sent | | Sent | Sent and awaiting response | | Viewed | Carrier rep opened the RFP | | Responded | Carrier rep submitted an Offer | | Declined (DTQ) | The carrier declined to quote. This is set automatically when a carrier declines every plan on that coverage without sending a quote or another offer. You can also set it yourself with Mark DTQ and reverse it with Undo DTQ. Declined carriers drop out of your awaiting-response items |

Tracking Individual Recipients

Click into an RFP to see recipient-level tracking:

  • Who it was sent to
  • Who has viewed it
  • Who has responded with Offers

5. Receive and Review Offers

Notifications

When a rep submits an Offer:

  • The RFP status updates to Responded
  • The Offer appears under that coverage type in the Quotes tab
  • You may also receive an email notification (if enabled)

Viewing Offers

  1. Go to the Proposal → Quotes tab
  2. Select the coverage type
  3. Review submitted Offers including:
    • Carrier name
    • Plan details
    • Premium rates
    • Commission information

Comparing Offers

Use the comparison view to:

  • Compare multiple Offers side-by-side
  • Review plan design differences
  • Evaluate pricing and commission structures
  • Mark recommended options

Adding Offers to the Proposal

Once you select an Offer you want to present:

  • Click Add to Proposal
  • The Offer becomes a Proposal Item the Employer can review and select

6. Manage RFP Attachments

Adding Attachments Before Sending

  1. Open the coverage configuration
  2. Scroll to RFP Attachments
  3. Upload files (drag/drop or click Upload)
  4. Supported formats: PDF, Excel, Word, images, CSV (up to 25MB per file)

On dental, vision, life, disability, accident, hospital indemnity and critical illness configurations, you can attach files before the RFP has been saved for the first time. They upload when you click Save or Save All Plans & Continue. If an upload fails, you stay on the page with the files still listed, and the next save tries again.

What to Attach

Common attachments include:

  • Current plan documents (renewals)
  • Benefit summaries
  • Enrollment files
  • Experience data (when applicable)
  • Special requirements documentation

Carrier reps can view and download attachments while responding.

7. Shared Document Library

The Shared Document Library is a dedicated space for files relevant to the full RFP — separate from per-coverage-type attachments. Once available for a proposal, it appears on:

  • The RFP detail sheet (broker and carrier rep views)
  • Quote/offer pages for each coverage type
  • Proposal item detail views

What to Use It For

  • Current plan summaries that apply across multiple coverage lines
  • Employer-provided documents (e.g., renewal packets, enrollment summaries)
  • Files the carrier rep should reference regardless of which coverage they are responding to

How to Access

  1. Open a Quote, the RFP detail sheet, or a Proposal Item detail view
  2. Scroll to the Shared documents section
  3. Upload, view, or download shared files

Files in the shared library are accessible by both the broker and responding carrier reps throughout the RFP process.

8. Resend an RFP

When to Resend

Resend if:

  • A carrier hasn’t responded
  • You want to send a reminder
  • You want to add new carrier reps

How to Resend

  1. Open the RFP under the Proposal → Quotes tab
  2. Click Resend (or open the send dialog again)
  3. Select recipients
  4. Send

Previously sent reps receive a new email with a fresh sign-in link.

When you send RFPs (rather than resend), MonarkHQ skips any rep whose carrier has already responded for that coverage. A second contact at the same carrier won't get a new RFP email. If you do want to notify them, resend.

8. Best Practices

Carrier Selection

  • Send to multiple carriers to create competition
  • Use match indicators to avoid poor-fit recipients
  • Include specialty carriers for unique needs
  • Prioritize carriers you know respond reliably

Timing

  • Send early enough to allow review cycles
  • Follow up if responses are overdue
  • Plan for longer turnaround on complex underwriting

Communication

  • Use attachments to reduce back-and-forth
  • Include context when cases are unusual
  • Respond quickly to carrier questions

Organization

  • Track which reps were sent which RFPs
  • Maintain updated rep preferences over time
  • Document why certain carriers were selected (especially on renewals)

9. Troubleshooting

Carrier Not Receiving Email

  1. Confirm the email address is correct
  2. Ask them to check spam/junk
  3. Resend the RFP
  4. If needed, contact the rep outside the platform

No Responses

  1. Allow 2–5 business days (varies by line)
  2. Send a reminder
  3. Confirm the rep is a fit for group size / geography / line
  4. Follow up directly if needed

Incomplete Offers

  1. Review Offer details
  2. Ask the rep to revise or provide missing info
  3. Consider requesting a revised Offer within MonarkHQ

Next Steps

Once Offers are received, proceed to: