The AON TBS RFP Nightmare: Why Exports Are So Difficult and What You Can Do About It

If you’ve ever tried to export an RFP response from AON TBS, you’ve probably felt the frustration. You spend hours fine-tuning your answers within the platform, only to end up with an exported file that’s messy, disorganized, and practically unusable. Misaligned tables, broken bullet points, inconsistent fonts—the list goes on.

For proposal managers, this isn’t just annoying. It’s a serious time-waster. Instead of moving on to your next project, you’re stuck manually fixing formatting problems. And if you’re on a tight deadline—which you usually are—this kind of extra work can cause real stress.

So why are AON TBS exports so difficult to deal with? What exactly goes wrong during the export process? And most importantly, what can you do to make things easier? This post will explore those questions and offer some practical tips to help you cut down on cleanup time.

By the end, you’ll have a better understanding of AON TBS’s quirks and how to manage them. You might not be able to avoid all the headaches, but you can at least make the process a little less painful.

Why AON TBS Exports Are So Difficult

When it comes to exporting files from AON TBS, proposal managers quickly discover that what should be a straightforward task often turns into a time-consuming mess. Let’s break down some of the common problems that make AON TBS exports so challenging and why these issues persist.

Common Problems with AON TBS Exports

1. Poorly Formatted Output: One of the most frequent complaints is that exported files—whether in Word, Excel, or PDF—come out looking disorganized. Tables get misaligned, bullet points break, and font sizes seem to change without warning. This leaves proposal teams scrambling to fix the formatting by hand, which takes valuable time away from higher-priority tasks.
2. Lack of Customization Options: AON TBS’s export function offers limited flexibility. Like some competing platforms, such as ProposalTech, AON TBS doesn’t allow users to adjust export settings to better match their company’s style guide or formatting preferences. This rigidity means users are often stuck with a default layout that doesn’t work well for their needs.
3. Manual Cleanup Required: Because of these formatting issues and limited customization, proposal teams often find themselves doing extensive manual cleanup after exporting a file. Fixing broken tables, adjusting margins, and reapplying consistent fonts can take hours—hours that could be better spent refining proposal content or strategizing for the next RFP.

Why These Issues Occur

1. Platform Rigidity: AON TBS, which holds a 10-15% market share in the RFP software space for benefit plans, may prioritize standardization over flexibility. The platform seems designed to enforce consistency across RFP responses, but this focus on uniformity comes at the expense of user control. As a result, exported files tend to follow rigid templates that don’t always translate well into usable Word or Excel documents.
2. Outdated Technology: Some of the export limitations may stem from the underlying technology that powers AON TBS. Unlike newer platforms that offer dynamic export options, AON TBS’s system may rely on older template structures that are less adaptable to modern formatting needs. This can lead to the kinds of alignment and layout issues that frustrate users.
3. Limited Export Configuration: Unlike some competitors, AON TBS provides few options for configuring exports. Users can’t easily adjust things like table widths, font styles, or bullet point formatting before exporting, which means they’re stuck making these changes manually after the fact. This lack of flexibility is a key reason why so many proposal teams struggle with AON TBS exports.

How to Minimize Export Issues: Pre-Export Tips

While you can’t eliminate all the issues with AON TBS exports, you can take some steps to make the process smoother. Here are a few tips to help you minimize formatting problems before you export your file.

1. Use Consistent Formatting: Formatting inconsistencies inside the AON TBS platform tend to get magnified during the export process. To reduce this, use consistent fonts, styles, and bullet points when preparing your RFP response. This won’t fix every issue, but it can help minimize some of the more common glitches.
2. Preview Your Response Before Exporting: Before hitting the export button, take a few minutes to preview your response within AON TBS. Look for any obvious alignment issues, inconsistent bullet points, or missing text. Fixing these problems upfront can save you time during the cleanup process.
3. Create a Reusable Template: Consider creating a standard template that you can use to clean up your exports more quickly. For example, you could set up a Word template with predefined styles for headings, bullet points, and tables. This can help you reformat your exported file more efficiently.

Fixing the Export: Post-Export Cleanup Strategies

Once you’ve exported your RFP response from AON TBS, the real work begins. Here are some practical strategies for cleaning up your exported file as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Cleaning Up Excel Exports

• Use Excel Tools: Excel has several built-in tools that can help speed up the cleanup process. For example, you can use the “Find and Replace” function to fix inconsistent bullet points or the “Text to Columns” tool to split data into separate cells.
• Automate Repetitive Tasks: If you frequently encounter the same formatting issues, consider setting up macros to automate some of the cleanup work. This can save you significant time in the long run.

Cleaning Up Word Exports

• Use Word’s Styles Feature: Word’s “Styles” feature allows you to quickly apply consistent formatting to your document. You can use it to fix broken headings, realign tables, and adjust bullet points.
• Bulk Adjust Margins and Spacing: If your exported file has inconsistent margins or line spacing, you can use Word’s “Page Layout” settings to make bulk adjustments.

Leverage Third-Party Tools

If the built-in tools in Excel and Word aren’t enough, you might want to explore third-party software or add-ins that can help streamline the cleanup process. These tools can automate tasks like table alignment, bullet point correction, and font standardization.

Long-Term Solutions: Advocating for Change

While the tips above can help you manage AON TBS export issues more effectively, they won’t solve the underlying problems with the platform. Here are a few long-term strategies to consider:

1. Provide Feedback to AON TBS: The more feedback AON TBS receives from users, the more likely they are to address export limitations in future updates. Encourage your team to share their experiences and suggest specific improvements.
2. Train Your Team: Consider offering training sessions to help your proposal team navigate AON TBS’s quirks more effectively. This could include best practices for formatting responses, using templates, and cleaning up exported files.
3. Use an RFP Response Platform with Native Support: If AON TBS continues to be a source of frustration, it might be worth evaluating whether an RFP Response Platform like Fastbreak, which has native support for the AON TBS export format, would simplify your workflows.

Conclusion: From Nightmare to Manageable Challenge

AON TBS exports may never be perfect, but with the right strategies, you can make the process a lot less painful. By preparing your response carefully, using smart cleanup techniques, and leveraging automation tools, you can save hours on your next AON TBS export.