Why the RFP process needs a marketing makeover: Balancing cost and innovation for effective partnerships
As an indie media agency owner, Bench Media’s co-founder and chief operations officer, Shai Luft, has seen how tender and Request for Proposal (RFP) processes “can often miss the mark”. Here, he explores who should be responsible for writing RFPs.
As an independent media agency owner, I’ve observed first-hand how the traditional RFP (Request for Proposal) and tender processes can often miss the mark, particularly when they are driven primarily by procurement teams rather than by marketing teams. While procurement’s role in ensuring cost-effectiveness and compliance is vital, the overemphasis on these aspects can stifle creativity, hinder innovation, and ultimately compromise the effectiveness of marketing campaigns, especially when committing to a partner for the long term.
Countless RFPs are built by procurement teams who are primarily focused on procuring goods such as office supplies or equipment, and often have limited understanding of the nature of digital marketing. Unfortunately, in the process of producing the RFP briefing and requirement documents, marketers tend to take a back seat resulting in 100+ page documents that are an administration nightmare to read, let alone respond to. RFPs often lack vital details such as budgets, current challenges, preferred pricing models creating a detached process that lacks meaningful human interaction or relationship building along the way until the very last pitch meeting.
This is not to say I haven’t been privy to some very well structured and throughout RFPs that utilise a proper modern age response system which are a delight to respond to. Sadly, they are rare examples.
The procurement-driven approach: A double-edged sword
