PR RFPs: A Fix (Agency Select™)
In partnership with RFP Associates, CommunicationsMatch™ has developed industry-first online RFP and RFP tools that streamline the agency selection process for agencies and clients. Agency Select™ promises better search outcomes for both, and makes it easier for clients to hire agencies and consultants in a social-distanced virtual world.
Here’s a Rorschach test headline if there ever was one for the PR industry.
Did you read this as PR RFPs are fixed? Or there’s a solution to fix them?
Either way, most in the industry would agree that the RFP process needs to be improved.
A growing number of agencies say they don’t respond to RFPs. In fact, as I have written before, this has become a badge of honor. It’s code for “we’re so good, clients are beating down the door to work with us.”
And yet, in a survey we conducted last year into the search practices of Fortune 100 companies and not-for-profits, more than two-thirds said they used RFPs to choose agencies. (Download the PR Agency Search Report here). And, those who did saw the highest levels of agency satisfaction, the greatest alignment between client and agency, and the longest relationships.
What does this tell us? First, that meaningful business is won using RFPs and many agencies are participating. Second, if you were selected using an RFP process, the outcome was likely better for you and the client.
Agency skepticism about RFPs is understandable, given the time (money) that goes into a pitch, the risk of a stacked deck, and the uncertain prospect of winning.
If agencies knew clients were genuinely interested in working with them, felt they were evaluated on equal merits in a fair process that took less time, the balance between risk and reward would be different.
In partnership with RFP Associates, CommunicationsMatch™ has developed an online RFQ/RFP process that streamlines agency search and selection. Two years in development, our new Agency Select™ tools have been successfully used for local market searches we’ve conducted for a global financial institution. They are a potential industry game-changer.
Following a search of the 6,000 agencies and professionals on CommunicationsMatch for those that match needs, client organizations can use Agency Select to issue RFQs/RFPs through the platform.
The process is straightforward. Clients select individual agencies or consultants for an RFQ/RFP or create a shortlist to send to multiple firms based on a review of their CommunicationsMatch profiles. Here’s a short video that explains the process.
Then, hiring companies complete a template to provide the information agencies and consultants need to respond, including company and project descriptions, and budget information. These templates draw upon RFP Associates’ more than a decade of agency search expertise. Clients can also add their own questions for agencies, upload supporting documents, and save completed forms for future use, before sending them to shortlisted communicators.
Agencies and consultants receive notification that they are being invited to respond to an RFQ/RFP. They review the information provided and complete the online form to securely respond. They can add presentations, case studies or other documents with their submission.
Clients are notified when an agency responds. They are able to review completed RFQs and RFPs on a side-by-side basis online and download them as pdfs. Our experience with using these tools in practice has shown that this simplicity resonates with time-pressed client organizations.
By streamlining the agency search process, Agency Select promises to save all parties time while achieving better results. The tools reduce the time to develop and issue RFQs/RFPs. Critically, they ensure that agencies are provided the information – including, most importantly, budgets – needed to respond.
In addition, agencies and consultants can quickly review and respond to the RFQ/RFP – providing information clients need to select agencies for final presentations or even choose their preferred candidate.
For client organizations that may not have the time to manage a search we offer Agency Select Plus™ – a low-cost consultant-led search process that leverages these tools, as well as customized agency search consulting services tailored to each client’s needs.
These tools are made for the virtual and social-distanced world we will be living in for some time to come. We believe Agency Select is the fix RFPs need at a time when making it easier to hire and be hired has never been more important.
About the Authors:
Simon Erskine Locke, Founder & CEO, CommunicationsMatch™
Locke developed and launched CommunicationsMatch, an agency search and engagement platform with 6,000 listed firms and professionals to help companies find and hire agencies, consultants and freelancers that match needs. A founder of communications agencies and startups, he previously headed communications functions at Prudential Financial, Morgan Stanley, and Deutsche Bank.
Steve Drake and Robert Udowitz founded RFP Associates in 2011 after observing the agency selection process from “both sides of the aisle” and recognizing the need to streamline and improve the way searches are made and agencies selected from an honest, unbiased approach. Over the course of their careers Robert and Steve have worked at agencies, corporations, and trade associations in New York, Washington, and, for Steve, in Beijing, China, where he opened Fleishman-Hillard's first Asian office. In recent years they have also been sole practitioners for a variety of clients seeking media, crisis, and strategic counsel.
