4 Details to Add to Your RFP Before Hitting “Send”

An RFP shouldn’t read like a mail-in order. Instead, the most successful ones strive to foster strategic communication between clients and their prospects.

You finished writing your RFP and you’re ready to find the partner who can tick all the boxes on your list of deliverables. But rather than simply list out needs, an RFP designed for success should foster communication and collaboration between client and partner. Before you send out yours, try to include the details below to ensure your partner clearly understands your goals—and can provide some extra help in realizing them if need be.

Get a sense of the entire scope of project deliverables.

When envisioning your project and drafting up the RFP, don’t focus so much on the big things that you forget the little ones, too. A strong campaign includes several different materials, which can include social media assets, gifs/video, copywriting and more, so take some time to list out all the ones you’ll want from production. Otherwise, you might find yourself scrambling to make up for missing campaign materials later. On a related note, you might include a list of deliverables that are excluded from the scope of your project (for example, concept art) for extra clarity.

If you don’t have a handle on all the deliverables or a roadmap to your goal, that’s fine; that’s what partners are for, and they can help you find your answers. If you’re eyeing some partners already, see if any offer workshops to help clients strategize and realize their goals. This can also aid you in making a case for your brand and project in your RFP’s value proposition.

Include details on life after launch.

Something your RFP shouldn’t overlook is some detail on the life of your project post-launch. This goes beyond a simple warranty agreement, which focuses on fixing technical bugs or issues for a period past launch. If the project will need continuous updates into the future, ensure your prospective partner is open to collaborating a handoff procedure, which might impose technical limitations on them or require they draft up additional documentation for your team.

It’s also useful to detail if, and how, your campaign fits within an overall strategy. While a high-profile campaign is certainly nice for causing a stir and generating lots of excitement, a “one-and-done” approach no longer fits the bill for today’s media landscape. “The big idea is great and necessary,” says Joe Olsen, SVP of Growth at MediaMonks, “but the ability to deliver a personalized experience across different channels is both the challenge and opportunity that brands face today.”

If your project serves as catalyst for a larger overall campaign, include that strategy within your RFP. A good partner will help you ensure your messaging aligns across projects and will help you realize those goals.

Don’t be afraid to ask for advice.

Some businesses bite off more than they can chew when developing campaign goals, resulting in systems or platforms that aren’t actually sustainable. Eager agencies will deliver on whatever the client asks for regardless of whether the solution fits the client’s size or track record. For example, they might provide a state-of-the-art CRM for a client who seeks one, only for the client to discover it’s too complex for them to use efficiently.

Ideally, your chosen partner will be able to offer their point of view to help you find the best-fit solution—even if that means helping you grow your ecosystem over time. In fact, partners are experts in their field, so if you need help with a specific industry, technology or platform, don’t hesitate to ask for their professional opinion on how to approach something.

When clients write their need in an RFP with greater transparency, it helps prospects understand their needs and limitations. Such a proactive approach helps clients get much more value out of the relationship. And speaking of communication…

Have a communication plan to deal with unexpected issues.

The chance of your project going off-track isn’t too high, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be proactive in lowering the risk. One of the most common issues that clients and their partners run into is an unexpected holiday that puts things to a halt—although this is easily avoided by including a detailed calendar in your RFP.

Team turnover is sometimes an issue with longer-term projects, whether it be a manager switching roles or a developer moving onto another project. But this isn’t much of an issue for larger companies who have resources to spare, so it’s useful to request team or organization size.

Setting up a clear communications plan is a great way to avoid issues over the course of a long-term project, and an RFP is the perfect place to lay out any and all your needs. By keeping the four points above in mind, you can add a level of detail to your RFP’s that better show partners what you need—and will make it easier for you to assess who’s fit for the job.