As any good fisherman knows, what you catch depends a lot on the bait you are using. And so it goes with RFPs (Requests for Proposals).
But, some RFPs can reflect a poor understanding of what PR agencies do. And now, with an increasing number of searches going through procurement, you can see the difference between an RFP that a communicator prepared and one that procurement prepared alone. PR pros who work with their procurement teams can provide valuable guidance and yield a list of better-qualified agencies.
Below are some examples of RFPs that present “red flags” to agencies. Knowing about these red flags can help PR exes and/or their procurement teams hone a better RFP.
▶ The ‘Cattle Call’ RFP: Companies and organizations that send out RFPs to dozens of agencies signal that they have not done their homework. Agencies perceive their chance of winning the business may not be worth the time and energy to answer the RFP because the odds are too big. In most cases, RFPs should be sent to a dozen agencies or less. If you can’t achieve that through your own research, your first step should be to issue an RFI (Request for Information) to see what agencies offer for capabilities and their past experience. This can help to filter out agencies based on client conflicts, geography, capabilities or other parameters.
▶ The ‘Wild Card’ RFP: This is when an agency gets an RFP for something it can do, but really is on the outer orbit of its sweet spot. You should make sure that the RFP is delivered only to agencies that regularly do what you are looking for, otherwise the time invested in reviewing “outliers” is usually not well spent. You may be comparing apples and oranges when it comes to budgets and activities. And if you did end up choosing the “outlier” for some reason you are likely to invest time and money in the agency’s learning curve.
▶ ‘ We’re Not Sure What We Are Looking For’ RFP: RFPs should have clear descriptions of an organization’s reasons for the search. When reviewing an RFP, responding agencies are focused on what the RFP is looking for—or “the ask.” Many RFPs are not clear, or include numerous “asks”—the “everything but the kitchen sink” approach. These are often RFPs that are developed by committee or prepared by someone who may not have an understanding of what a public relations agency offers. In the RFP, the organization should describe its “issue”—the problem it’s looking to solve by hiring an agency. You will find the agencies’ responses will be more focused.
▶ The ‘Quick Turnaround’ RFP: Often procurement will assume that PR RFPs are like those of other vendors, and apply an unreasonable timeframe. When timelines are condensed, the RFP response is less likely to be thorough or well thought out.
For companies and organizations that issue RFPs, offering a clear timeline for the responding agencies— including due dates and decision dates—demonstrates a serious and respectful approach to a potential agency relationship. Providing a framework to deliver a creative and thoughtful response ensures you will get results you are looking for.
For a responding agency, RFPs that call for unrealistic timelines are warning signs that a client may not treat its agency teams respectfully or understand how agencies work.
▶ The ‘Budget TBD’ RFP: Agencies receive RFPs all the time in which companies leave the budget for a project or AOR work “up to agency to propose.” This won’t work.
Be forthright and up front about what you can realistically put against a budget and you will get a better response from responding agencies. Or at least consider providing a range of what you expect to spend on an agency relationship or project. Agencies that are not given a budget will typically require it to provide a realistic approach.
▶ The ‘Formula’ RFP: Procurement’s involvement in public relations RFPs is a good thing. But sometimes RFPs can become too procurement-focused. For instance, procurement execs may ask for information not relevant to PR (e.g. information related to supply chain vendors) or they may ask for an extraordinary amount of financial background and very little on an agency’s approach. Or worse, they ask for an agency’s input into a formula that they have created to evaluate the services of an agency.
While admirable, ultimately a formulaic RFP process yields poor results because PR is full of subjective and variable elements. RFPs that also include approach, ideas, recommendations and case studies, are better representative of an agency’s capabilities. PRN
CONTACT:
Tim Munroe is VP, business development at Cone Communications. He can be reached at [email protected].