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Marketer with well-known brands, seeks hardworking, imaginative agency.
For consideration, successful candidates must be prepared to answer detailed questions about their past, and then many hypothetical questions about proposed future relationship.
Finalists must then share financial history and be willing to sign alluring prenup.
Imagine (just for a moment…) you’d read an ad like that!
While some or all of those requests may be phrased somewhat differently, that is essentially how the traditional agency RFI / RFP scenario can often unfold. Marketers issue lengthy RFI questionnaires to assess the market and then narrow the field based on written responses. Shortlisted agencies are then briefed in an RFP – that may or may not include spec work of some description. And once an agency is chosen both sides negotiate, terms are hashed out and work finally begins.
Under these conditions there has been a growing call for a different, more streamlined – and more effective – approach to finding the right agency(s) to meet marketer needs. And many would applaud the end of the RFI and RFP.
The good news is there are any number of alternative approaches and methodologies that can lead to excellent matches between marketers and agencies. Depending on how you look at it, the bad news (perhaps), is that marketers need to be prepared to invest time and effort into their search processes and to answer some tough questions about themselves. And done properly, the results can really pay-off to create long-term, valuable relationships that reward both marketers and their agencies.
Interested? Well, start here:
Know your own organization
Do you really understand who you are as an organization? What are your strengths and weaknesses as a marketer? What’s your team really good at – and what needs to be improved? What internal processes need to be improved – perhaps even thrown out? What’s brought you to this point seeking an agency review? What does your incumbent agency say about you?
The answers to these kinds of questions will help shape the kind agency you really need as a marketer, while defining areas for improvement and change in your own organization.
Understand the market
Knowing the agency marketplace is a crucial step in condensing or eliminating the RFI. RFI’s shouldn’t be used as substitute for not understanding the market or – just as bad – a mechanism to ‘tick boxes’ on the requirements list.
If you don’t like RFIs the answer is simple: Do your homework on the agency marketplace. And if you’re not confident you have an up-to-date view of what the market has to offer – ask your friendly agency search consultant to help define the market and narrow the field based on specific expertise, while ruling-out on areas like conflicts.
Know what you’re really looking for
Sounds easy – but it’s much harder than many marketers imagine. While understanding your own organization and why you’re in the market for a new agency is half the battle, the other half is being able to define the real attributes of an agency that will make your own marketing efforts more successful.
One of the most common attributes we hear as a requirement is ‘creative’, which is generally just a jumping off point to understanding why your current agency isn’t perceived to be creative (because most are…), and what’s preventing that creativity from coming to the fore. Generally, there’s something behind the current lack of creativity – lack of insight, poor briefing, a breakdown in conceptual evaluation or misalignment of core objectives – all of which might point to a very different set of attributes from what’s initially been defined.
Define value
Another thorny subject we frequently have to help address is when marketers say ‘we’re paying too much…’. If costs are the root cause of your agency review, then the RFI and RFP should indeed be tossed out – not because the search process is wrong, but because what’s really needed is a benchmarking exercise to determine fair market value for the services required.
Costs aside, marketers should also develop a strong sense of what constitutes value from their agencies. Whether it’s strategy, transparency, creativity, thought leadership, technology or anything else is immaterial – but understanding what you really value in an agency relationship is pivotal in being able to assess whether an agency is right for your organization.
Get the chemistry right
Ever read a great resume, then met the candidate only to file under ‘thanks but no thanks’? Well the same holds true in agency search. All agencies look good on paper but only those with good chemistry between themselves and the marketer get the contract.
Ticking boxes against an RFI submission and then evaluating against a specific RFP challenge can only get you so far because ultimately you’re buying an organic set of relationships. Those relationships have to engage, examine, challenge and grow with the human beings within your own organization that you’ve already gone to great pains to interview, hire and train. And because of that, the chemistry step is perhaps the most important aspect of any agency search process when finding a solid, long-term match.
Less is more
Armed with a deep understanding of your own organization, a clear perspective on your key requirements, and what the agency market really looks like, marketers are then much better equipped to manage their respective search processes. And as a result of that understanding, marketers should feel confident in talking with only a handful of agencies.
And if that makes your palms sweat, chances are there’s more homework that needs to be done on your own organization before you can comfortably adopt a more streamlined search process.
But.
Yes, there’s a but. Perhaps several ‘buts’ because not all marketing organizations are ready or capable of walking away from the RFI, RFP process.
Adopting a more streamlined approach to agency search requires considerable introspection in order to be successful. Organizational structure, corporate policy, procurement requirements, international alignment, total contract value and yes, internal politics, are all factors that may determine a marketer’s readiness and ability to move away from a traditional RFI, RFP search process.
Even when marketer conditions are favourable, killing off a traditional process framework could be disastrous if your organization hasn’t done its corporate homework and doesn’t truly understand itself or identified the reasons for their chosen search process.
And in those situations, marketers may be jumping from a frying pan into a whole new fire of their own making. So is it really time to say RFI, RFP – RIP? Or do marketers need a little more introspection?
Perhaps the best reference for agency search best practice in Canada is the Association of Canadian Advertisers guidebook on Searching For A Marketing Communications Agency Partner. As its author, we can help ensure you have a best practice framework for your next search process.
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Well-written agency RFIs, RFPs, RFQs – or whatever you choose to call them – should be concise requests to help determine whether an agency is or isn’t capable of fulfilling your scope of work requirements. So it can sometimes be an eyebrow-raising experience when a telephone directory-sized document, filled with redundant requests appears in agency inboxes.
These seemingly endless reams paper that ask way too many, unnecessary, inappropriate and often thoughtless questions, serve little or no purpose other than to create unnecessary work for agencies that have to complete them and a corresponding amount of unnecessary reading for clients who have to evaluate them.
Marketers who choose to chuck everything – including the kitchen sink – into their RF whatevers, need to pause before hitting ‘send’ and ask themselves the relevance of each question, whether it might be removed and how their documents might be streamlined. Here are a few examples of kitchen sinks that we’ve seen that don’t need to be included:
How many offices do you have?
132. Happy? It’s a pointless question. If you’re asking because you want solutions for a particular market – say so, and ask the question accordingly. For example, “what resources do you have on the west coast?” would yield a far more insightful answer.
How many awards have you won?
650? Is that the right answer? Of course not. It’s a kitchen sink question because it provides no insight whatever. It doesn’t answer whether the agency won 20 awards for the same campaign, how old the awards might be or what kind of awards they are. Try, “what are the three awards you’re most proud of and why…?” Wouldn’t that give more insight around the awards and the work the agency believes is their best work?
Obvious questions with obvious answers
We sometimes see kitchen sink questions along the lines of “Do you have account management as part of your offering…?” Well if you’ve done your homework on the agencies you’re reviewing, the answer should be obvious – and if it’s ‘no’ then you’ve likely shortlisted the wrong agencies.
What’s your process?
Truly an eye-rolling, put you to sleep, who cares, and nobody’s ever going to remember kitchen sink question. Every agency has a process of some description. Whether it’s a simple four-step – discover, ideation, create, measure – or a detailed twelve-step approach, it doesn’t matter. The point is – they’ve got one and your ability to evaluate “do you have a process” can only be ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If you have process challenges that you want addressed – ask a specific question such as “help us understand your quality assurance process” to drill into the aspect of process that’s relevant for your business.
‘Differentiating’ questions that make no sense
Yes, I’m talking about those nonsensical kitchen sink questions that lead nowhere such as “if your agency were an animal, what would it be…?” I don’t know why you’d ask a question like that, much less how you’d evaluate the answer. If you want to ask a differentiating question, just ask “What do you think differentiates your agency from others?”
Last three years of financial statements
People, you’re not asking agencies to complete a mortgage application and agencies are under no obligation provide financial statements. One of the few reasons you should be concerned about the financial stability of an agency is if you’re handing over millions of dollars for a media buy. And if that’s the case, ask for a financial reference.
Annual billing by client
Some kitchen sink financial asks go deeper and ask for annual billing of the agency’s top ten clients. Just think about that for a minute. Would you be ok if the agency disclosed your spend to a third party? I doubt it. So please don’t ask the question.
Future business plans
We’ve seen RFP documents that specifically ask for agencies to disclose their future plans by sharing their five or ten year plans. How can this kitchen sink question be relevant to your advertising / media activities? If you’re concerned the agency might be sold to another entity for example, include a ‘change in control clause’ in your contract.
Too many case studies
We saw one client-written RFP recently that asked for seventeen (one seven) separate case studies ranging from strategy to print to out of home to direct marketing to ‘interactive television’(?). This is a classic hallmark of a marketer who’s not thought through their requirements to define what’s really important,. So instead of thinking about their own challenges, the marketer chucks in everything (and the kitchen sink) – likely forgetting they’l have to read and evaluate 17 case studies x say 10 agencies. That’s 170 case studies to be evaluated! Good luck.
Unfortunately, many of these questions are cut-and-paste questions from other documents or RFP templates that have been pulled from the internet. Some are pulled from procurement documents for product based sourcing initiatives that just aren’t relevant for service based initiatives. Either way, if you’re struggling with preparing an RFI,P,Q documentation that would otherwise include the kitchen sink – call for help. It’ll be less work for agencies. Less work for you. And you’ll almost certainly get a better result.
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“Marketer with well-known brands, seeks hardworking, imaginative agency.
For consideration, successful candidates must be prepared to answer detailed questions about their past, and then many hypothetical questions about proposed future relationship.
Finalists must then share financial history and be willing to sign alluring prenup.”
Imagine (just for a moment…) you’d read an invitation like that!
Well, traditional agency selection process can be lengthy and cumbersome: Procurement written RFPs often send out detailed questionnaires to evaluate a large pool of agencies. Then, a select few are invited to submit even more detailed proposals, which may or may not involve unpaid speculative work. Finally, after negotiations and contract finalization, the project kicks off.
Not surprisingly, this approach is ripe for an overhaul. Marketers and agencies are calling for a more streamlined and effective way to find the right agency partner. Thankfully, there are several alternative methods available.
The caveat? Marketers need to be more invested in the search process. This means dedicating time and effort to self-reflection and crafting a clear project vision. But the payoff is significant: fostering long-term, successful partnerships with agencies.
Ready to explore new approaches? Let’s dive in…
Ditch the RFI – Do Your Research
Instead of relying on lengthy RFIs, invest time in understanding the agency landscape. RFIs shouldn’t replace your knowledge of the market or become a checkbox exercise.
Get Help Narrowing The Field
If you’re unsure of the current agency landscape, consider partnering with an agency search consultant. They can help identify agencies with the specific expertise you need while avoiding conflicts of interest.
Dig Deeper
Knowing what you truly seek in an agency is crucial but often trickier than it seems. Understanding your organization and why you need a new agency is a good start. Dig deeper by defining the qualities that will enhance your marketing efforts. “Creative” is a common request, but it often masks a deeper issue. Why isn’t your current agency considered creative? What hinders their creativity?
Look For Underlying Issues
There’s usually a reason behind a perceived lack of creativity – missing insights, unclear briefs, communication breakdowns, or misaligned objectives. Identifying these root causes may lead you to prioritize different agency attributes than you initially thought.
The Secret Ingredient
A stellar agency can look great on paper, but the real magic lies in the chemistry between you and them. Just like a bad interview, a mismatch can doom the partnership.
Price Isn’t Everything
If high costs are driving your agency review, ditch the RFI/RFP. The search itself isn’t flawed; you need a market value analysis to determine fair pricing. Look beyond cost and define what value means for you in an agency. Do you prioritize strategy, transparency, creativity, or something else entirely? Understanding this is crucial to finding the right fit.
But.
Yes, there’s a but. Perhaps several ‘buts’ because not all marketing organizations are ready or capable of walking away from the RFI, RFP process.
The Road to Streamlining: Self-awareness is key. A more streamlined agency search requires significant introspection. Factors like organizational structure, company policies, procurement needs, international alignment, and even internal politics all influence a marketer’s ability to move away from the RFI/RFP model.
Even with ideal internal conditions, abandoning the traditional process can be disastrous without proper self-analysis. Organizations need to understand their needs and the reasons behind their current approach. Skipping this step risks replacing a familiar process with unforeseen challenges.
So, is it time to say goodbye to RFI/RFPs?
Perhaps. But before making the leap, marketers should invest in introspection to determine if their organization is truly ready for a more streamlined approach.