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.
RFPs · 07. August 2018
Of course the agency selection process can be improved. But it's a two-way street and both sides don't just have to be willing; they also need to commit to transparency and honesty. Why is that so difficult?
RFPs · 23. January 2018
Selecting an agency able to deliver globally while sticking to budget is far from easy. Here are the questions to ask.
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...
25. June 2015
PR agencies should and can improve their RFP response “batting average” by asking questions and pushing for complete information up front, avoiding the cookie cutter approach, looking inward before responding outward, and being prepared to put their best foot forward during the proposal and presentation process. Those were the recommendations we shared with more than 50 firms when RFP Associates presented to mid-sized PR agency heads and senior executives last month during the PRSA...
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.
15. October 2013
It’s no secret that our anemic economy, though technically growing, has not treated public relations agencies very well. RFP Associates has received reports of diminished billings and layoffs at agencies of all sizes, particularly here in our base of Washington, DC, where the sequester and now the government shutdown has paralyzed many once high-flying firms. When business slows and RFPs are few and far between, what is an agency to do? One suggestion: build on your library of client case...
08. January 2013
When we discuss our approach to agency search with a prospective or newly engaged client, one of the questions inevitably asked of us is: Why should we include a budget in our RFP? To which we respond: If you don't want to share your budget, you might re-consider whether you are really serious about issuing the RFP at all. Publishing a budget as part of your RFP is not a magic bullet -- you certainly need to include a well-thought out scope of work as well -- but it is essential to ensuring a...
21. November 2012
Recently I outlined the top five concerns we hear about time and again from our business and association clients regarding the RFP and agency selection process. Now, as many clients look to hire or switch agencies to have a resource in place by early 2013, it’s time to hear from the agencies. What are their chief complaints and concerns?
07. August 2012
When we launched RFP Associates last year, we did so after having spoken with dozens of public relations and communications executives at businesses, associations and non-profit organizations nationwide. Our goal: to find out how they felt about conducting agency searches – what we call the RFP process.
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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.