Five Billion Reasons to Change the RFP for Ad Agency New Business

RFP for Ad Agency New Business

Inspire your clients to abandon the RFP. 

The RFP (Request for Proposal) process is the way a lot of clients evaluate and select an advertising or marketing partner and keep prices down. But Cal Harrison, president of Beyond Referrals, states that the RFP process is actually an unsophisticated, and inefficient, process based on questionable science. It actually increases the cost of buying professional services as well as decreases the probability of selecting the right provider.

Many agency owners know that the current RFP system is flawed but, what should take it’s place?

Cal’s Tedx talk provides 5 billion reasons we need to do things differently than the RFP. He is working to transform the way clients go about hiring an agency like yours. It is in your best interest to be part of this movement. I would encourage you to take the time to watch his presentation (20 slides, 20 seconds each) on the problems inherent in the professional services RFP process and how we can easily fix them.

A special thanks to Blair Enns, author of Win Without Pitching, for introducing me to Cal. Blair likes to remind agencies that there is no such thing as the cost of selling, only the cost of buying.

Traditional RFPs have demonstrated limited usefulness in procuring professional services. It is intended to increase competition in order to drive down the prices, it actually does just the opposite. It’s time for purchasers to radically change or abandon this archaic process, and use more accurate and cost-effective means of finding, evaluating and hiring the firms that are right for them. It’s time to change how professional services are purchased. Cal Harrison

Additional articles and information about Sales & Marketing for Professional Service Firms and their clients:

photo credit: Definition of the RFP – 2011-11-06 via photopin (license)

About Michael Gass

Consultant | Trainer | Author | Speaker

Since 2007, he has been pioneering the use of social media, inbound and content marketing strategies specifically for agency new business.

He is the founder of Fuel Lines Business Development, LLC, a firm which provides business development training and consulting services to advertising, digital, media and PR agencies.

%d bloggers like this: