If you’re issuing an RFP for IR and investor access tooling, don’t leave it to the vendor to define what matters. Too many IR teams send out open-ended questionnaires, get incomparable answers, and end up choosing based on pricing or familiarity rather than fit. Use this checklist to get apples-to-apples responses that protect security, speed workflows, and integrate cleanly with your existing stack.
What You’ll Achieve
- A vendor questionnaire you can reuse across RFPs
- A scoring rubric aligned to IR and compliance priorities
- A shortlist informed by capabilities, integrations, and outcomes—not just demos
Core Capabilities to Require
Start with the workflows that consume the most time and introduce the most risk. Any platform you’re considering should handle these without workarounds or manual processes.
Event and meeting orchestration. The platform should support 1:1s, small group meetings, analyst days, conference scheduling, and NDRs. Ask vendors to walk through how they handle targeting, invitations, confirmations, schedule conflicts, and post-event follow-ups. If they require you to export data to a spreadsheet at any point, that’s a workflow gap.
No-login attendee access and calendar attachments. Investors should be able to join a meeting without creating an account, downloading software, or clicking through multiple screens. The platform should generate calendar attachments (.ics files) automatically and include them in every confirmation email. If investors have to hunt for the meeting link or log in to a portal, your no-show rate will climb.
Role-based permissions and disclosure controls. Your IR team, Legal, Finance, and executives all need different levels of access to meeting schedules, investor data, and presentation materials. Ask how the platform enforces permissions, handles blackout windows (earnings quiet periods where certain meetings are blocked), and logs who viewed or edited sensitive materials. If the platform treats everyone as an admin, you’ll have compliance problems.
Security and Compliance
IR platforms handle material non-public information, investor contact details, and executive calendars. Your Legal and IT teams will kill any deal that doesn’t meet security standards, so surface these questions early.
Data residency, encryption, and access control. Where is data stored (US, EU, multi-region)? Is data encrypted at rest and in transit? Does the platform support SSO and SAML for authentication, or are you managing yet another set of passwords? Can you enforce multi-factor authentication for all users?
Audit logs and PII minimization. Can you see who accessed what data and when? Does the platform let you limit what investor information is stored (email and firm name versus full contact records and meeting notes)? Can you export audit logs for compliance reviews or incident investigations?
Retention policies and admin controls. Can you set automatic data deletion after a retention period (e.g., meeting recordings deleted after 90 days)? Can admins enforce blackout periods where certain users can’t schedule meetings or access materials? Can you revoke access immediately when someone leaves the team?
Integrations That Matter
No platform operates in isolation. Your IR tech stack needs to sync with CRM, calendar, email, and investor relations management systems. Ask vendors to be specific about what they support and what requires custom development.
CRM and IRRM sync. What objects sync (contacts, accounts, meetings, notes)? Which direction (one-way from platform to CRM, or two-way)? What’s the latency (real-time, hourly batch, manual export)? If the vendor says “we integrate with Salesforce,” ask them to show you the field mapping and conflict resolution rules. Many “integrations” are just CSV imports in disguise.
Calendar and email tooling. Does the platform sync with Outlook, Google Calendar, and Apple Calendar? Can executives see their IR meetings in the same calendar they use for everything else, or do they have to check a separate portal? Does the platform send emails from your corporate domain, or do invitations come from a generic vendor address that investors won’t recognize?
Data export formats and APIs. Can you export meeting data, attendance records, and investor profiles in standard formats (CSV, JSON, Excel)? Does the platform offer a documented API so you can build custom reports or integrate with internal BI tools? If the vendor locks your data inside their system, you’ll have a painful migration when you switch platforms.
Performance and Reliability
You’re scheduling meetings with institutional investors and C-suite executives. Downtime during a conference or a broken video link during an earnings follow-up is unacceptable.
SLAs and uptime history. What’s the platform’s guaranteed uptime (99.9% is standard, 99.5% is weak)? What’s their actual uptime over the last 12 months? How do they handle incidents—do you get proactive notification, or do you find out when your CFO can’t join a call?
Incident communication and support escalation. What’s the process when something breaks? Do you have a dedicated account manager, or are you filing tickets in a general support queue? What are response times for critical issues (platform down, meeting links broken) versus non-critical requests (feature questions, training)?
Mobile responsiveness and accessibility. Can executives and investors access the platform from mobile devices without a degraded experience? Does the platform meet WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards so users with disabilities can participate fully? Ask vendors to demonstrate mobile and assistive-technology workflows, not just desktop screenshots.
Implementation and Support
The gap between signing a contract and going live is where many implementations fail. Ask vendors to commit to timelines, deliverables, and training plans before you sign.
Migration plan and sandbox access. If you’re switching from another platform or consolidating spreadsheets, how does the vendor handle data migration? Do they provide a sandbox environment where you can test workflows and integrations before going live? What’s the timeline from contract signature to production launch (30 days is fast, 90 days is typical, 180+ is a red flag)?
Training and onboarding. What training does the vendor provide—live sessions, recorded videos, documentation, or all three? Do they train just admins, or do they offer role-specific training for IR officers, executives, and coordinators? Is ongoing training included, or is it a separate fee?
Support tiers and response times. What’s included in the base contract versus premium support? What are guaranteed response times for different issue severities? Can you reach support via phone, email, chat, or only a ticketing system? If you need help at 6 a.m. before a West Coast NDR, will anyone answer?
Build a Scoring Rubric
Don’t evaluate vendors on gut feel or the quality of the sales pitch. Define a scoring rubric before you start demos so you’re comparing platforms on the same criteria.
Suggested weighting:
- 40% Core capabilities: Does the platform handle your most time-consuming and high-risk workflows without workarounds?
- 25% Security and compliance: Does it meet your Legal and IT requirements for data protection, audit trails, and access control?
- 20% Integrations: Does it sync cleanly with your CRM, calendar, and email systems, or will you be doing manual data entry?
- 10% UX and reliability: Is it fast, mobile-friendly, and accessible? What’s the uptime track record?
- 5% Pricing clarity: Is the pricing model transparent (per-user, per-event, flat annual fee), or are there hidden charges for support, integrations, and overages?
Score each vendor on a 1–5 scale for each category, apply the weights, and rank them. The highest score wins, unless there’s a deal-breaker (e.g., a security gap that Legal won’t approve).
Ready to Build Your Tech Stack?
Request a demo to see how WeConvene meets these RFP criteria and integrates with your existing IR workflows.
Key Takeaways
- WeConvene supports IR teams with end-to-end corporate access and investor meeting management workflows.
- Effective investor relations requires systematic outreach, scheduling, and engagement tracking across roadshows, investor days, and ongoing investor meetings.
- Modern IR technology stacks integrate multiple specialized platforms; WeConvene serves as the operational hub for meeting execution and corporate access logistics.
- Data-driven IR programs measure success through meeting acceptance rates, management time efficiency, and post-engagement ownership analytics.
Key evaluation criteria include integration compatibility with existing IRMS and CRM systems, workflow fit for your team’s most frequent use cases (scheduling, targeting, or event management), implementation timeline and support quality, total cost of ownership including training and ongoing maintenance, and vendor roadmap alignment with your long-term IR strategy.
Implementation timelines range from 2-4 weeks for standalone platform configuration to 8-12 weeks for full integration with existing IRMS, CRM, and data feed systems. Key factors include data migration complexity, number of API integrations required, and availability of IT resources. WeConvene’s structured onboarding program includes dedicated implementation support.
WeConvene is a corporate access and investor meeting management platform that connects issuers, sell-side banks, and buy-side investors in a unified workflow. IR teams use WeConvene to manage roadshow scheduling, investor day logistics, and corporate access events more efficiently — replacing fragmented email and spreadsheet processes with a purpose-built system that integrates with major IRMS platforms.
WeConvene integrates directly with major IRMS platforms including Salesforce, Q4 Desktop, and Nasdaq IR through pre-built API connectors. Meeting data — including acceptance rates, attendance records, and engagement history — flows automatically to connected systems, eliminating dual data entry. WeConvene’s integration team provides a compatibility assessment as part of onboarding.