Agency Search · 12. September 2022
As former clients and PR agency executives who have participated in RFPs, we’ve developed an efficient, disciplined, streamlined path for all parties designed to stop RFPs from resembling Ringling Brothers - or even Cirque du Soleil. We believe this should be the industry standard.
Advice · 06. September 2019
We were featured on DC's premier podcast for the public relations industry, the Flack Pack. This interview (starts at 17 minutes) truly summarizes all that we're about.
Client · 26. June 2019
When offering advice to agencies about how they can win more business, we often cite the lesson that no detail is too small. An example that summarizes the point best is the many-times-retold tale of a McDonald’s PR pitch where one agency was eliminated before it even began its final presentation because no one on the team could quote the price of a Happy Meal. The other involves a proposal for a piece of the UPS business which would have resulted in a lucrative win for a major agency. After...
29. August 2016
To listen to executives of both PR agencies and client organizations tell it, the request-for-proposal (RFP) process is hopelessly dysfunctional, and frequently dead on arrival. Agencies point to an array of worries and concerns about RFPs. Among them: a complex and redundant process featuring tight deadlines, outsized expectations, a vague scope of work and an incomplete or completely missing budget. Many believe “the fix is in,” that the client organization knows precisely which agency it...
11. April 2016
So, we recently experienced a first – and not a positive one, from our perspective. A very respected agency pulled out from one of our searches because the RFP was "too elaborate.” We asked, but were not able to determine: Did that mean it was too thorough? Too detailed? Or did it require too much effort to respond? It's true that most RFPs issued for PR services are recipes for disaster, and ask too much from competing agencies. But if an RFP is structured well, and is part of a...
10. June 2015
Our client ISTH and the agency RFP Associates helped it find, The Yu Crew, are double award winners! Last week they won the American Society of Association Executives' Gold Circle Award for the best-integrated communications campaign, best media/PR and the very top Overall Excellence Award (aka Best in Show). And a mere two days later the client-agency duo won a Silver Anvil and Award of Excellence from the Public Relations Society of America.
11. September 2014
Time was, searching for a PR firm meant jotting down a few requirements and shooting it to a few former colleagues or friends of friends at two or three familiar agencies. Sorry. Like everything else in life, finding the firm that will best serve your needs is no longer that easy. And it shouldn't be. In today's bottom line focused ROI environment can you really invest six figures into an agency that may or may not be able
07. July 2014
The PR agency selection process is a mystery that needs unraveling. With fierce competition among agencies and consultants of all stripes and colors, how can one firm distinguish itself from the others? Can a smaller boutique beat out a larger firm in
19. July 2012
Question: What’s the most frequent disappointment about agencies, according to a growing number of client organizations? Answer: That they are not providing enough new ideas or thinking outside of the proverbial box.
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Top Concerns of Agencies Responding to RFPs
- Short deadlines
- Budget not provided
- Incomplete scope of work
- Exhaustive response required
- Poorly written RFP - difficult client down the line
Why Organizations Dread the RFP Process
- Agency bait and switch
- Boilerplate response
- Daunting process
- Hard to differentiate agencies
- Want the process to be open and fair
Have others? Email us.
RFP Associates subscribes to and expects all the agencies we work with to adhere to the professional ethics codes outlined by at least one of the following: Public Relations Society of America, the PR Council and the Arthur Page Society.