Jen Quinlan

Let me start by stating, there are some cases that a RFP makes sense. However, those cases are outweighed by situations that an honest conversation with an agency would do a lot of good.

When does a RFP make sense?

• Large / Federal Company Regulations - Think of a Fortune 50 company with an entire procurement department dedicated to vetting prospective vendors. Or even consider a federal or state-level department having to abide with legislation to ensure government dollars are justly distributed. 
• You’re Buying a Widget - If you’re evaluating a platform, plug-n-play solution, or straight forward digital services, having an apples to apples comparison of vendors’ solutions makes sense. It will also save your time as the solutions these vendors are providing aren’t consultative / custom.

What are you going to get in a RFP response?

Most of the time in a RFP response a client is going to get a very pretty document that is heavy on filler content. The meat of the proposal will concentrate on the agency’s approach to solve client’s problem with tight scope around a discovery / planning exercise and loose scope around execution.

Why? From the agency’s perspective, to provide a thoughtful solution for your ‘ask’ will require a Discovery exercise (consulting gig). Without this exercise, recommendations may be weak and estimates skewed. Interactive is complex. Client’s environments, marketing teams, personalities, stakeholders, legacy source material, and requirements are even more daunting. Often a Discovery exercise is a great way for teams to ramp-up, provide thoughtful recommendation while mutually controlling risk - for the client not signing a hefty SOW for the full execution without ‘dating’ the agency first, for the agency this time period will assess if the client is a good fit or not (crazy).

I would be cautious with any agency that claims after reading a RFP they have all the answers. This likely means one of the following things will be the result of the project. First - the agency will run out of money since they didn’t have an accurate picture of the ask or scope. You will have the option to pay them more money, scale back scope (get less) for the same budget, or some combination of these two. The second option is the agency is much smaller than they’ve let on or the really need the business. Winning your account will help them grow, however they might not have full-time resources on your engagement or the processes / infrastructure to service your account well. In other words, what you save in cost might add additional risk to project or long-term relationship.

RFP vs. No RFP

Whether RFP or no RFP, the process comes down to:

• From the Agency’s POV: is the relationship a fit? Do you have the appropriate expectations, budget and timeline that align with scope identified? Is this project aligned with our core focus areas and team’s skill set? Can we do good work and make money?
• From the Client’s POV: do you know what you’re talking about? Do you understand me? Will you follow through on your commitments? Can I trust you? Will you make me successful?

For me personally, I think a client with realistic expectations and budget should engage an agency directly. You’ll get more ‘free’ consultation, have more face time with agency leads that will likely be shaping your project’s strategy, and have a higher likelihood of confirming you’re solving for the RIGHT problems. RFP responses often turn into a one-sided conversation led by agencies that miss the mark on real marketing conversations that need to take place.

Also consider asking agencies to show their work with you 1x1 instead of having to write about it. Agencies in this setting may be able to walk you through work that they can’t share publicly or in a RFP response (work that is under NDA or still in progress). I think it is more powerful hearing in person the nuances of projects, how agencies structure the work and complete the work from the people that worked on the project. Otherwise you’re in a situation to have to read through paragraphs of copy that may or may not tell the story in a way that best connects with your needs.

If you are still issuing a RFP, please consider:

• Limit the quantity of vendors you invite to respond - RFP responses are a big investment for agencies, and it is a waste of your time and agencies’ time inviting the wrong players to the table. Pre-screen vendors and have conversations before issuing a RFP. It’ll save you and them time.
• Be reasonable. Agencies product = their services and intellectual IP. In other words, have realistic expectations about what you’re looking for in a response. Asking for a fully baked strategy or creative solution is the scope of the ask and often too much to ask of an agency trying to win the business.
• Have a budget. Most agencies are structured hourly. We identify scope of a project, and then we match scope against labor needs across roles. All those hours are applied against a standard rate card to generate the cost of a project. There is no magic. The numbers are the numbers, and not having a realistic budget range for your engagement will waste time. Also being up front with budget will help an agency evaluate whether they’re a good fit (based upon how they’re structured or staffed), or even make a recommendation for another agency to bring to the table that might be better aligned for your immediate needs.
• Don’t assume a detailed RFP will replace a Discovery phase of a project. It takes time for an agency to get to know you, your organization, and the ask. Discovery is an inevitable part of building a new relationship with a team, although the investment will pay off assuming you’ll stick with this team for at least a few years.
• Be clear about what your ask is. In fact, you may even want to consider asking each agency participating for a their best Project Brief template. If you can get the RFP in their language as succinctly as possible, you’re increasing the odds of a strong response.
• Timing. RFP responses touch a lot of team members. Despite an agency’s interest to get to know a prospective new client, a 1-2 week timeline from date issued to responses due may not be feasible. Team leads are often resourced for weeks in advance. Keep in mind that your process may take 1.0 - 1.5 month for all steps in the process.

Something To Noodle On

My first digital gig was for Resolution Media, a search engine marketing agency headquartered out of Chicago. My previous boss, Aaron Goldman, wrote an interesting blog post that breaks down the RFP process quite well. He has some great insights on why the system is broken and some ideas on how to make it more efficient.