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I probably receive a formal request for proposal (RFP) once every week and most times I choose not to respond. There are many reasons why I feel this traditional process does not work for web development and web marketing initiatives and what follows are my top 7.
I can hire the best proposal writers in the world if I want. I’ve got a stable of contract writers with years of experience doing just that. The problem is that just because I have good writers doesn’t mean I have the qualifications and talent to produce the desired solution. I think it’s unfortunate that the responses received from the request often read very similarly but have estimates ranging from that of the purchase price of a new moped to a luxury sports car. Can these really be competitive solutions? I think not.
I don’t consider myself a sales person. I don’t buy from salesmen so why would I try that approach? Instead I teach and advise. An educated prospect will make the right choices. Sometimes they hire us, other times they don’t. We’ve got to be a good fit and it’s got to be a win-win. My customer knows that they’ve made smart choices and trust me to lead them forward.
Most times, an RFP is not written by a web industry professional. Instead it is delegated to an internal IT resource or marketing coordinator. While I have the utmost respect for these individuals, they simply don’t have the knowledge of modern web services and solutions. Internet development technologies and marketing best practices change almost daily. I myself find it difficult to keep up with the changes and have a staff of subject matter experts to constantly advise me. Companies seeking to get the best return on their investment should involve their internet partner in the early strategy and planning stages. Only then can all client and partner expectations be clearly understood and business objectives met.
I often see requests to develop an ecommerce website with little additional detail. Having built hundreds of sites over the last 15 years, I can tell you that costs and features of an online store range from under $100/mo. to millions. The proposal details are usually too vague to determine which solution to propose. Most times, the customer doesn’t even know what the pros and cons of these solutions are or what they really want or need. Unless I’m clairvoyant, responding to this request is like throwing darts.
In order for a web development or marketing project to be effective, business objectives must first be clearly defined and budget must be allocated. Developing a strategy to obtain the best solution requires many hours of collaborative conversations with the management, key stakeholders, decision makers, developers, marketers and more. It takes a team of experts to understand the goals, the strategy, and the approach that will best match budget and return expectations.
Sometimes a business prospect will put out a Request for Proposal just to get ideas. I have friends who are previous technology officers for companies who tell me candidly that often an RFP project is never intended. Instead, the scharade it enacted only to get ideas from industry professionals. These are particularly frustrating because you’ll find out afterward that you’ve invested all of your time and energy into something that was never going to generate income for you.
Probably the most common reason I choose not to reply is that I simply can’t afford to have my best talent working on a proposal for work that I may never win. Expert web strategists and consultants are expensive. If I’m going to dedicate the 20 to 40 hours necessary to research and provide a quality response, I’ve got to recover that cost somehow. Since there is no guarantee that I’ll get the business, it may take me two or three proposals before I generate income and it is very difficult to justify adding 90 hours of my top talent billable rate to every proposal just to cover my costs. As the customer, I’d be frustrated if I knew that the solution price was inflated to cover these costs.
Written by:
Kevin Krason
June 20, 2009 at 12:03 am | business | 4 comments
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I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Kevin, I too share your opinion and frustration. If only we could engage the aforementioned clients early on and coach them through an effective discovery, our lives would be easier and the client would be so much happier. Any successful project will have multiple stages, and the web development team should be a part of each stage. However, with an RFP- many times, it is not the right team that gets to work on the initial phase which is really the most critical.
I need to disagree, strongly. RFPs work very well for websites, as well as other products and services, so long as they are run well and run honestly.
(links omitted)
Best,
-David
disclaimer: yes, I own the RFP Database found at http://www.rfpdb.com, but I also own a web design boutique firm that bids on LOTS of RFPs (and wins a fair share of them)
Hi David-
Thanks for your reply. I undertand that you have a business around providing RFP templates for others so I would expect this to be your opinion. I can tell you that in my 15 years of building websites, RFP’s provide inferior solutions. Only through collaboration and education, can the best solution be achieved.
Respectfully,
Kevin