RFP’s — what did we do to deserve them?

Pencil If you want to make an agency person or consultant cringe, just whisper "RFP" 

I have to wonder what level of mistrust or what horrific deed was done years ago that forced someone on the client side to create the first RFP.  They are torture for the applicants and I can't imagine much fun on the client side.

We're having a lively discussion about RFPs over at Marketing Prof's Daily Fix.  Come join us.

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~ RFP = Really Flawed Plan
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~ How much is a house?

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3 comments on “RFP’s — what did we do to deserve them?

  1. Drew,

    Based on the traffic and continued interest in the RFPs listed on my site, the RFP Database http://www.rfpdb.com I have to assume that people continue to have a worthwhile ROI to the time they spend responding to RFPs. Yes, I’ve received quite a few that I’ve simply walked away from because the requirements, wording, legalese, etc. were ridiculous, but I can only hope that enough people avoided those same RFPs and maybe the organization that wrote it learned something because of their failed response rate. Good RFPs are worth responding to because it shows that the client knows enough about their project to ask the right questions and to put definition to their project.

    Best,

    -David

  2. David,

    All valid points. If a company was thinking of issuing an RFP but didn’t really require the formality of that…do you recommend they do something different?

    Is there, in your vast experience, a company or an industry that actually does RFPs well as a general rule?

    Drew

  3. David says:

    While a full blown RFP might not be necessary, in the tech industry (the industry I work in) I’d say it’s important as it enables you to write a requirements document and really have an informed conversation with potential vendors. However, to write a good requirements document it might be necessary to bring in a 3rd party consultant if you don’t have someone in-house with those expertise. One of the services my company has recently been focusing on has been providing this kind of 3rd party CTO service where we (in writing) preclude ourselves from any chance of taking the project but instead assist the organization in writing the requirements, writing the RFP, publicizing the RFP, evaluating the proposals, etc. and if desired, staying on board during the implementation phase to continually evaluate the project deliverables and help the project succeed. SO far it’s been very successful and our clients are happy to have us on board.

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