It’s Monday morning, and I’m a little more cranky than usual. Wait a minute — aren’t salespeople supposed to be always “up”, motivated, high-energy, happy and not easily perturbed when rejected? It’s not rejection that finds me in this mood today. Maybe it’s the fact that I have realized the truth in the words of my dear colleague, Gwen Ishmael, who spends most of her time as a moderator in discovering motivational drivers at a research firm. Her company’s motto is “you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince.”

My issue today is not with the prince — that client who engages me and my agency and begins the romance that leads to a solid and win-win relationship. No, today my issue is with the frogs, organizations who push a universal Request For Proposal (RFP) to a variety of agencies and suppliers in search of the “perfect” vendor. In my experience, there are lots of different kinds of frogs, but they pretty much fit into three categories:

• Price checkers
• Due diligence robots
• Show me what you’ve got

They have absolutely no desire to transfer the business — but are checking prices and ruffling feathers. I experienced this with a large insurance company, having repeatedly attempted to qualify my agency and its size. They absolutely were adamant about our participation, only to learn later that we lost because we were “too small” and, because of that, transference was “too risky.”


Many times these are conducted by a purchasing department. My least favorite experience was the process of a company whose lawyer issued the RFP document. Following a completed submission of the document (whose template was for a construction company), the next step was to present in person. Well, we were flattered to be invited, but honestly — how much impact could we really make? We had no idea of the audience, their title/responsibilities, concerns, needs, previous experience, work scope, the budget — and there was no way we could get the information. It would not be made available to “vendors.” (Oddly enough, at the end of this process, we were told we won the business. But we could never get the contract signed by the lawyer in order to do work!)


These folks believe that a written document (crafted in a vacuum less a session for questions) that qualifies the vendor then leads to a thunderous presentation is what’s needed. They want flashing lights; they want to be entertained. After presenting to one group, one of the audience members pulled me aside afterwards and said, “You would have done better if you had flashing lights, more sizzle.” I really wanted to share this fact: Good marketing strategy, collaboration, and flawless program management and deployment of campaign planning with targeted (and surpassed) ROI have nothing to do with flashing lights — unless, of course, you are marketing strobe lights and a demo is required.

Usually RFPs contain pages of rules and regulations, methods of submission, requisite disclosures, free strategy (tell us what we should do) and/or creative appeals, false deadlines, no budget or work scope projections nor access to senior management who will be impacted by the agency relationship. Wow — does that sound like a great romance?

Perhaps a young lady is looking for a possible suitor as a husband. She reaches out to friends, colleagues and extended family to make known the desirable characteristics of a future groom and decides to issue an RFP. Her questions include past and present income of the potential suitor, details about his family, friends, former girlfriends, why they broke up, and testimonials from each. The response must be accompanied by the engagement ring. And, by the way, he is not allowed to speak to anyone but her cousin twice removed, who is coordinating the process. Sounds like the RFP process today — hardly a win-win situation.

In my years in new business development, I have heard John Boyens speak about the disasters of the RFP. I have listened to the Sanders sales training folks advise on declining response to the universal RFP. I have crafted check lists and stop gaps before investing time and money (and creative) in the process. My colleague, Richard Tooker, in his book The Business of Database Marketing, shares a logical point. “If you think about it, the current RFP approach is diametrically opposite to the way virtually all other human relationships happen. Individuals sort people into acquaintances, friends, good friends and significant others only after they have met and interacted with them personally. They don’t ask for resumes first.” In his book, he advises that “face-to-face meetings are the best way to determine whether or not a vendor is a good fit.” I agree. Perhaps things will change when agencies altogether just stop responding to RFPs.

As an industry, we can do a better job of exploring working relationships with outsourced partners. We can begin to minimize the pain of the RFP process by playing fair, being honest, and sharing information. Consult a specialist if you need to. Share competitors. Knowing my competitors who are invited to participate in an RFP will help me to point out the differences in our organizations, how we are different, what the value is over another company. Or, it may be that I will be completely honest and tell you that Agency Two is better suited for your organization. I have done this! In this instance, I have also made referrals if an agency that was not included should be included! These good deeds do not go unnoticed. Another important area is the morning after the RFP — that which can typically result in a “thanks but no thanks” email. We can only learn by understanding how we were evaluated, why the decision was made (either way) and who was selected. Information is good, and the more the better.

I am a true believer in networking, as agency growth is usually about 85% organic/referrals. A network comes from many years of giving, sharing and good will. (I am a big fan of Tim Sanders and his book “Love is the killer App.”) I also enjoy the feeling of the hunt, and the win. The highs are very high — but in contrast, the lows are very low. I have no issue with the lows — except for the fact we, as an industry, don’t have to make it harder.


For qualitative indicators to ensure likeability, relevance, empathy, and realness:

• Plan for a face-to-face meeting to understand where the parties can come together and reveal if it’s a good fit — aligned in order to produce energy, enthusiasm, and a results driven environment. (It’s hard to do that on a piece of paper. A recent prospective client dined with us for about four hours, then he issued the RFP because he liked us.)
• Do something recreational. Plan a night out. Ski down a mountain. Sail down a river. (Our team sailed last week with new prospective clients and found we were quite a fit for each other!)

For quantitative indicators to ensure that the agency is competent:

• Consider those things that are important to your organization — then set out to ask the appropriate questions that will reveal value proposition, proof, testimonies, financial strength, core capabilities, years of expertise and clientele.
• Create a typical challenge in the organization and ask the agency how they would approach the solution, asking “what if” like questions.
• Meet again to discuss the document — offer feedback. Even if it’s a phone call — close the loop.

If you are client-side and need some assistance in building a really good exploration document as a part of a successful process, including chemistry check ideas and pseudo assignment for evaluation, contact me. In the meantime, I’m always on the look-out for the “perfect” client and have created an RFP of my own. If curious, download it by clicking here, and enjoy your day.


As a pioneer in the field of customer relationship marketing (CRM), CCG has 30 years of unparalleled experience in the financial services and retail industries in both B2C and B2B. As a full service direct response agency, CCG offers integrated, end-to-end expertise including strategic consulting, database marketing solutions, CRM program development, customer research, data analysis, creative execution, production services and ROI measurement — all focused on developing strong, lasting relationships with your best customers.