[...]Should Ad Agency Pitches and RFPs Be a Thing of the Past? « FUEL LINES Fueling Ad Agency New Business Through Social Media[...]…

RFP’s do suck, but we tend to use that as an opportunity to answer the questions they should have asked us as opposed to the ones “required”. Sort of like politicians, you just start answering the question and abruptly change the subject to one more flattering.

I work in advertising to make a living, but I love the wild west aspect of new business so I wouldn’t want to change a thing. Besides it’s not like the clients are going to change their ways any time soon. RFP’s gives the point person a lot of check boxes to check off and for someone without any feel for advertising, marketing or life it’s a safe bet. And clients always take the safe bet.

Right now we are working on a straight up promotion targeting prospective clients. We do a lot of liquor and gaming promotions and are targeting those sorts of marketing types, so we are hoping they will appreciate the hutzpah. Plus it’s a gawd damn compelling incentive with bullet proof architecture and good looking creative. Hey even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally.

If you believed the boilerplate RFP’s we received from the large consulting firms, you would not be surprised that practically all the manufacturing firms in the US all operated in the same way.

We decided that since our software package was different, we would adopt a different approach. Note: If there is a consultant involved, they will not like this methodology.

First, Qualify, Qualify Qualify the prospect. To do this effectively we developed a qualification questionnaire. This document served as a guide to get the prospect to talk about what their requirements were and helped us develop a personal relationship. The result of the hour to 2 hour converstaion is to determine whether or not to proceed to the next step.

Second, if you have determined that the prospect is a qualified candidate for you services, go on a site visit to learn all you can about the prospect and their requirements and make your initial overview presentation of your skills, services, etc.

Third, follow up with the prospect to see where you stand after the opening round. If you are anywhere on the list other than at the top, do not put forth any more effort. Carefully explain to the prospect that while you appreciate being a part of the evaluation, it is in their best interest to start at the top and fully and completely evaluate the candidates ahead of you. The result should be that they either decide to business with one of them or eliminate all of them from the evaluation. But that if they do not find what they are looking for, to please call you.

When they call be prepared to convince them to put some skin in the game by coming to your home turf or engage you in a consulting arrangement which could be credited against a future agreement.

Remember the qualification step? This is when it pays off. Because when they arrive, you are most likely shaking hands with your next client.

Hope this helps!

Mike