We see and pitch for a lot of really cool Requests for Proposal (RFPs) at Radish. We also take a pass on a lot of RFPs, sometimes just because of the way they’re written. Here are three key pieces of information to include in the RFP for your next creative project. We think you’ll see a difference in the quality and accuracy of the pitches you receive.
A Ballpark Budget
We know you want this to be a competitive process, and that you’ll probably choose the best vendor with the cheapest price. But if we have a rough idea of what you’re prepared to spend (and we know you have ballpark number in mind), it helps us a lot when it comes to pitching creative and technical ideas to fit within the realm of financial feasibility. We don’t want to waste your time or ours. If we don’t think we can give you a great solution for your budget range, we won’t spend time putting together a pitch. At the same time, if we know we can do something great, you can be certain our proposal will be doable with the budget you’ve outlined.
Your Plan for Planning
Most RFPs we see skip right over any mention of planning or discovery. At Radish, we believe that discovery is actually the most important phase of any project. It’s an essential part of building a new website that will actually accomplish your goals, and not just dress up your old site in a new skin. A good agency will have strategy and information-architecture specialists on staff who can help dive into user roles and flows, analytics, site mapping, user experience, and content strategy with you. A robust discovery phase will help you to create a solid framework for the design part of the project, and this is something a competitive agency will want to include in their estimates. But if you have another plan for getting discovery done (hiring another consulting firm, or doing it internally), please let us know!
Give Us a Contact (and be ready to answer questions)
No matter how well prepared your RFP, we’ll have questions about what you’ve put together. We’ve found that many organizations aren’t fluent in the vocabulary needed to describe exactly what they envision for their new site, which can lead to a confusing and unclear list of expectations in their RFPs. Delegate someone on your team to be in charge of answering questions from firms, and make sure they’re ready with answers. The more information we have, the more accurate and realistic our proposal will be. Allowing us to develop a relationship with someone on your team can truly work in your favor and help you to select the agency that is the best fit for your project.