RFPs and Advertising Agencies: Breaking Up is Easy to Do. Part II
Posted by Tony Rosato in The Daily UpdateIn Part One of my blog post on RFPs and Ad Agencies, I made the argument that for many reasons, RFPs are a pretty lousy way to select an ad agency. I also promised that in Part Two I would offer some new ideas on how to select an agency.
My plan was to oh-so stylishly deliver a variety of solutions to you dear reader, and my suave, brilliant insights would change the way clients select agencies forever. I wanted to include both my own fascinating ideas as well as those from leaders in the ad industry–and in doing that research I came upon many great concepts that I feel deserve serious consideration. They include face-to-face interviews instead of RFPs, a client-created sample project sent out to a small number of agencies, a “one and done” where an agency chooses one previous project they believe best represents their talent and experience, and many more.
But the more I worked on this post the more I felt that polished paragraphs of pretty prose just wouldn’t do. Perhaps this is how we got ourselves into trouble in the first place. Both the questions and responses of RFPs are full of brushed-up, layered language of corporate speak that really don’t get either side anywhere.
What did get my attention was how almost every idea I liked had two common themes: honesty in the selection process and a healthy respect for both the agency and the client. With that in mind, I’ve decided instead to list some simple Do’s and Don’ts when shopping for an ad agency:
DO be honest about why you’re searching for an agency.
Are you doing a search because it’s been three years and the Purchasing Department says you have to? Because your Marketing Department is stretched too thin? Because you want an agency with more experience in social networking? Trust me, if you’re up-front about the reasons for your search, you’ll get a higher level of response, and a better shot at finding an agency that will closely match what you’re looking for.
DON’T invite 75 agencies to participate.
I know everyone wants to do their due diligence and show what a thoughtful, colossal process they’ve created (the ol’ CYA methodology), but let’s face it: the last thing in the world you want to do is read 75 RFPs, interview 12 agencies, have a selection committee narrow it down to 4, etc.–and the last thing an agency participating wants is to be one of those 75.
DO tell the agency what you want.
If your employment brand for the last 15 years has been dictated by marketing and you really need an agency just for media strategy and planning, say so. Want someone to deliver a series of microsites and then go away? That’s fine too. Just tell us. Really, it’s okay.
DO be honest and specific on what your organization considers important–even if you don’t agree with it.
If you’re a Silicon Valley software company, and you know that your company strongly prefers its ad agency to be local, just say so. Certainly that bias will eliminate some wonderful agencies (including us!) but I guarantee you that any agency would rather know the “lay of the land” from the outset than pour time, money and more effort than you can imagine into a scenario that has no chance of coming to fruition. Also, if handling one of your top three competitors instantly disqualifies an agency, common business courtesy also says you should let them know right away.
DON’T believe the standard “bigger is better” hype–or believe it at your own risk.
Some of the best work being done today is in the smaller shops where you’re treated like a king, they turn around projects quickly, things don’t get lost in the shuffle and they have the right client service philosophy. Of course, there are terrific national agencies as well, but the fact that an agency has a three person office in Chicago, D.C., Chattanooga and Houston doesn’t really mean much, especially if the research, planning, creative and strategy are all coming out of Boston–and your organization is in Tampa.
DO your research.
So much of the herculean effort that organizations put into creating, distributing, reading and scoring RFPs could be better used researching agencies. Who’s known for great branding? What do people in the media say about Agency X’s customer service record? Who does the ads for Company ABC that you like so much? etc.
DO work really, really hard to get past the B.S. in any RFP or presentation.
A standard RFP question is: “What makes your agency unique?” It’s a great question, but if you don’t watch out you’ll get seven pages of flowery language from their best copywriter. Be sure to ask for concrete examples of work and results. And those smiling, super-experienced, ultra-bright people sitting across from you doing their polished pitch? Find out if they will be directly involved in your account or if they are just part of a traveling sales show–which means that once they win your account they’ll jettison all the work to someone with one year of experience, and you may never see those smiling faces again.
DON’T ask for confidential or sensitive information from the agency if it isn’t relevant to your search and really don’t ask if you aren’t prepared to tell the agency anything about your organization.
Many RFPs ask for a staggering amount of financial and other proprietary information, but refuse to divulge the most basic facts about their marketing function, recruiting budget, etc. No fair.
DON’T ask for speculative creative, research or media plans.
Demanding detailed, even exhaustive, examples of an agency’s capabilities and experience is okay; asking for free work is not.
DO be respectful of the agencies’ efforts and keep them informed.
Any agency that takes the time and effort to participate in your selection process deserves to be treated professionally and with respect. That includes regular status updates (especially if the process gets stalled, as it often does) as well as a personalized email or phone call thanking them at the end of the process. If that would take too much time or “we’re not allowed to do that,” then your search methodology is seriously flawed and needs to be changed.
The best part of our blog is when our readers write back with their feedback and questions, so please comment. We want to hear what you think!
Author Bio:
Tony Rosato, Alstin's Vice President, Client Development, is the most well-traveled member of our team and one of the nicest guys we know. Sharing his 20 years of industry experience with prospective clients everywhere, Tony's Type A personality is powered by premium iced tea (but never chocolate). 
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I guess I have been fortunate that I have only been through two RFPs as a recruiter in Healthcare. When I first started Alstin was the agency used by my employer. When I moved on I requested from my new employer to use Alstin as our agency which, thankfully, was approved. As the parent company for my facility acquired additional hospitals the new additions used different agencies causing us to go into the RFP process to arrive at one. Again thankfully, Alstin was chosen.
The RFP process worked because only the three original vendor agencies were invited to participate and we weren’t overwhelmed with presentations. Alstin was successful then and now because of the highest priority of personalized customer service, researching and knowing their clients.
Organizations that want to bury themselves in huge RFPs really don’t want to make decisions, more like they want to delay having to make a decision.
If you want to move forward, get there first, be creative, learn how to max out opportuinities using Twitter, Facebook, Linked-In or whatever you need to follow Tony’s suggestions and keep it simple. Not only will you have succes but you will enjoy doing it as well.