WHAT'S THE STATUS ON THAT RFP?

We’re not in the business of turning down business. So, when a request for proposal magically appears in our inbox, we start imagining how we will handle the account, what grand campaign ideas we can bring to the table and how, “Of course we got this RFP—we’d be perfect for this brand. Why would they even waste their time with this process? Let’s get started yesterday.”

Then reality chimes in.

Most RFPs are lengthy, and they are usually shared with multiple suitors. Why else would anyone create a generalized request? Oh, and while it’s due in two weeks, questions will be answered in a week and a half.

Eff it. Let’s go for it. We’re small. We want to grow, and as mentioned earlier, we’d be perfect for this. Not so fast there, eager beaver. What if we lose? Or worse yet, what if we make it to the finals and come in “second place.” What are the red flags we’re not noticing through our red flag-blocking sunglasses? What is the cost to our current clients and/or our sanity during this sprint that may lead to one of those tunnels painted by Wile E. Coyote on the side of a mountain? 

All of these scenarios play out within forty-five seconds of double clicking the attachment. That’s why we’ve started relying on a scorecard for incoming RFPs. Hey, clients have their scoring criteria, why shouldn’t we? 

The scorecard may not be scientific, but it does take some of the subjectivity and blind enthusiasm out of the equation. And if nothing else, it gives us an idea of where to start with our response, outside of Gemini. 

So what’s on the scorecard? What do we care about? Great questions. Here you go. This is our highly sophisticated, actuarial table-ized gut check^TM, shared with you, dear reader, free of charge and worth every penny.

We rate each criterion on a simple 1-5 scale, five being the best. We may drop a zero or a six into a field if that element is especially deserving of two thumbs down or a fist pump.

The first is budget.

Have they provided a budget we can work with? Have they even provided a budget at all? Or is it a wild shot in the dark with no parameters and lots of ambitious-yet-ambiguous goals. This one could be its own blog post.

Next is creative opportunity.

Is there a desire to make something great? Does the marketing team want to make a splash? Or are they staving off scrutiny? What kind of work have they done in the past? Do we have any indication of their sensibilities? Is the RFP well written? Or did it come straight out of the machine? 

Agency/client connection is a big one.

And it’s self-explanatory.

Clarity of RFP is huge.

Do they have any idea what they’re looking for, or are they kicking tires and extracting a budget from the responses. See? Back to the budget thing.

Strength of organization helps us think about longevity.

And whether we think the client has the gumption to stick to a plan if sales don’t pop in week two. 

Number of agencies invited is big for us.

Probably because we’re small. We’re eleven people. Brands love working with us because we’re accessible and intimately involved in the daily goings on. But if there are fifteen others in the mix and it comes down to an upstart, independent shop and a large, established name, well nobody got fired for buying IBM. But we might strain our resources for zero return. 

Conflict potential is obvious.

We don’t want to be sneaking around on the kind folks who have partnered with us already. Then there’s just the sheer volume of work that goes into the response. Are they asking for spec creative? We hope not. They should be able to tell if we are creatively qualified by our website. Best case, they found us because they saw our work. (Believe it or not this has happened with animal rescue organizations, hospitals and fiber internet companies, so this category has come in very handy.) Not to mention, our best work comes from collaboration with our client partners as opposed to separate from them.

General vibe check

Was there a phone call offered with decisionmakers? Or just a series of deadlines in a form email? Do they seem like people we would enjoy working with? Or does it feel like they want a vendor who will just shut up and crank? Again, these are all weighted against each other. So not one category supercedes all, but this one does matter despite seeming somewhat nebulous. 

Lastly, do we have category expertise?

Is there a success story we can tell? Because, while clients may want to hire an agency with a fresh perspective (see: Cara Spencer hiring us for our first political campaign), they often like to picture themselves with a proven partner in their category. Who’s to blame them? Not many people would hire a contractor for his first kitchen remodel. But then again, you might try a different entree at a restaurant you loved the first time. That’s when the question may become, can we translate success from one category into this one? We hope so.

How do these criteria relate? Once the numbers are input, does the machine spit out a definitive answer? Usually not. But as you can see from the answer key below, we get a good, high-level sense of how to proceed.

It’s rare that we get a score that is 40 or above and even rarer that we get one that comes in under 25. That would be under 2.5 per criterion. But it has happened. More often than not, the scorecard renders a perfectly murky 28 or a 33. And we have a conversation to have.

Which is the whole point. We start with this pseudo-objective tool as a means to initiate the process. Or, as Luke Sullivan said somewhere in his oft-cited-by-darling book on making ads, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This, there is a process. First it’s willy. Then, it’s nilly.  

All this to say, feel free to send your RFP to blake@darlingmakery.com. If you like, we’ll even share your score with you.