Disruption Series: The RFP Dance
Imagine if we were to audition for Shark Tank by explaining the business model of how agencies currently bid on corporate events: RFP is sent out. Agencies line up, spending a boatload of time and money on creative ideas, set/graphic designs and renderings, with absolutely zero guarantee of any business. The process culminates in online reverse bidding, where agencies agree to further knock down their price in hopes that they may be further considered.
Seriously, we’d be laughed out of the room.
Truth is, you can’t make this stuff up. And we don’t. Join us as we take a deep dive into the RFP dance — a category ripe for disruption if there ever was one.
4 min read.
By Jennifer Gerich, with original art by Haley Mosher
It’s 5:30 pm. Just got home from work after crazy traffic, and about to sit down and join a two-hour online Q&A for agencies participating in an RFP from a fast-rising, white-hot tech unicorn. There are 98 people on the phone. Ninety-eight. So far, we’ve counted at least 15 agencies participating. After numerous technical glitches on the client end—including the host walking her laptop through what looked like her apartment—we finally get going.
After more than 26 years, we are sadly more than familiar with the RFP Dance. As one of multiple agencies vying for a job, you bend over backwards, spend time and (lots of) money for the slim chance of making it to Round Two. You travel with your team to do an in-person pitch. You often have to chase the client to get a decision: a Yes, a No, a Decision Has Been Delayed, or our personal favorite—Radio Silence. And, all this after a $50K+ investment. One heck of a pricey job interview.
Back in the day, clients seemed more open to meeting with prospective agencies before - and even during - the RFP process; Chemistry could be established before the proposal stage. Sure, there were times you were added as a bid check, but for the most part, the overall process was more transparent. Obviously, with today’s digital comms and RFP portals, the process has evolved. For clients, this ostensibly means more choices and more competition.
And why shouldn’t clients ask for as much detail and effort from as many agencies as possible? They plan to spend hundreds of thousands—even millions—of dollars. In theory, this process makes sense. Outlining the event strategy, encouraging competition, discovering the best ideas, and finding the lowest price—all on the agencies’ dime—are all good things.
Or are they?
How much is too much? Choice overload is something we all deal with these days. With so many countless options, how can we be sure we’re committing to the best one? Analysis paralysis can inhibit decision making. Clients’ time is valuable, and at a certain point they can squander it with too many choices—researching agencies, developing RFPs, answering agency questions, coordinating with internal teams, reading numerous proposals, hosting multiple rounds of presentations, and facilitating internal meetings and negotiations until a decision is finally reached.
With so many choices and the lack of a personal component, it’s easier for clients to effectively “hide” behind the RFP process. We were recently brought in on an RFP that was a referral from an existing client. Our pitch went extremely well, and we were assured a decision before Christmas. When Christmas rolled around, we heard nothing, despite checking in again and again. In mid-January, after more chasing, we finally got a response. There was no apology for the delay and no feedback; essentially just “Thanks, but no thanks.”
When communication falls by the wayside, clients risk damaging relationships and connections with potential agencies, who become less motivated to participate on future RFPs. When clients acknowledge and appreciate the effort and provide thoughtful and honest feedback, that’s at least helpful.
For agencies, the downsides are more obvious: time, money, and effort spent working toward an opportunity that was never really there to begin with. The constant cycle results in creative burnout and loss of morale. Business is business, but we’re only human. It’s hard not to get discouraged when you feel you were never really a contender. We love the work we do and are willing to put in the time and money to produce excellent proposals, so long as the playing field is level. May the best idea win.
And don’t get us wrong—we have those relationships/situations where the client values the work, sees the benefit of keeping the team in place, and rewards the biz year after year without an RFP. We love that—Yay team! But today, it seems to be all about cost and checking a procurement box, with enormous asks (i.e. Three different ideas at three different budget levels for each idea), and lengthy paragraphs of boilerplate information (that likely no one will read), all among an enormous pool of competing agencies. In the event world, contracts do exist, but they’re rare. At best, you’re the incumbent, which is good—but certainly no guarantee.
Making agencies sing for their supper each time may seem like a smart idea—but is it really? Can it really be best to ask them to spend upwards of $50K for a slim chance at securing a one-time job, only to do it all over again next time?
In the ad world, agencies also spend an exorbitant amount of time and money to win clients. But once those clients are secured, ad agencies are IN, on retainer. And all the work they’re doing is for a purpose—it all goes toward the job. Even if you have to throw it out and start over, you’re at least in the relationship. For clients, there is no more time and money wasted on the RFP churn-and-burn. For other agency candidates, there is no more wasted time or resources on phantom projects. We’re not asking to be handed contracts and business relationships just because we think we deserve them. We’re asking to be given a chance to be fairly judged based on our merits, process, guarantee and results. Agencies who feel they are valued and are being seriously considered are the ones that will produce the best ideas.
Which brings us to the big question: How the agency-client partnership model combat complacency and ensure clients are consistently getting the best work? This answer should be a key ingredient of any agency’s pitch. It’s what we’re answering at Campos and will be rolling out to clients this year—smart disruption where everyone wins.
We’re excited—stay tuned!