It’s an occupational hazard among too many PR firms: trying to shoehorn marginal agency experience into an RFP response. When the odds are naturally against your firm winning a client pitch, it’s more important to be selective and focus on your core strengths than it is to position your agency as something it’s not.
When you spend hours to respond to an RFP you have to be as certain as possible that you can win. If you aren’t preparing a proposal with confidence—or find yourself embellishing some of your services—perhaps the best bet is to take a pass and focus on serving the clients you have.
When counseling agencies on their RFP responses we advise them not to stretch their capabilities even when they are trying to branch into new fields of expertise. This is not to say that firm shouldn’t leverage the past experience of new employees or even bring in a freelancer to participate in a pitch. But, again, if you are not automotive experts don’t rationalize that the work you once did for an airline will help a potential client in the automotive industry.
Don’t forget that capabilities include staffing and internal resources. Here, too, agencies should not go out on a limb and make assurances that they can start on day-one fully staffed and ready to go. Our industry’s days of bait-and-switch should be over by now, yet the reputation persists.
Clients are myopic. They know precisely what they want and their expectations are very high once the RFP responses start coming in. They don’t want to be distracted with qualifications that don’t fit the articulated criteria. Any conditions that don’t apply to your agency are probably red flags for you not to proceed.
Look internally before pitching externally. Follow some simple methods or take definitive actions to determine whether you have the PR chops to bid on the next contract that comes across your desk and, if so, whether you can make it work in an honest, transparent way. Here’s a few tips.
> Litmus test. Create internal guidelines to determine what new business you should go after and periodically review in order to update. Map out where your industry strengths are and how deep or divergent you realistically can go, making a clear demarcation of the end point. This exercise won’t hurt to determine the level of services you offer, too. Refer to this litmus test whenever you’re in doubt about whether you should respond to an opportunity.
> Partner. Perhaps your agency has some of the qualifications outlined in an RFP, but doesn’t entirely fit the bill. Seeking another agency or independent counselor who can supplement the gaps with their own expertise may be a solution that could lead to a winning response and/or future collaborations. Your partner should collaborate with your firm from the get-go to ensure your teams work well together and are able to communicate on a united front should you firm become a finalist.
> Don’t overpromise. Many an agency has hurt itself by assuring a potential client the agency can handle the project only to crash and burn later on in the RFP process. Make sure you have the right horses to pull the cart before you propose your way into the final presentation—and well before you sign the contract.
> Deep dive. If you really want a piece of new business but don’t have the chops to handle it today, hit the conferences, retain an industry expert (even a non-communications expert), read the trades and textbooks. Supplement your real experience with the knowledge that the client needs and be prepared to give in another whirl the next time around.
> Learn from your losses. Go back and thoroughly review the pitches you didn’t win. Rereading old proposals and honestly reviewing your losses—rather than kvetching that the client had it wired for your competition from the start—is the best way to prepare for your next win. The finest agencies even dedicate an individual for an “exit” interview when they’ve lost an account. We are proponents of providing feedback to losing agencies, with the hope it will help them and our industry in responding better and smarter the next time.
Robert Udowitz is principal of RFP Associates and senior counselor at Gould+Partners. He can be reached at [email protected], follow him on Twitter: @rudowitz
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