3 Reasons Why B2B Marketing RFPs are Key to Success
In the competitive B2B industry, companies like yours undoubtedly want to work with the very best. For this reason, when it comes to choosing an important partner like a B2B marketing agency, a request for proposal (RFP) is a tried and tested process.
A request for proposal (RFP) is a solicitation document that an organisation posts to elicit bids from potential vendors, in order to procure a product or service through the responding business proposals[i]
The document is sent to multiple marketing agencies with the aim of providing your company with an overview of the offerings, experience, and costs of several vendors at once. The RFP helps to determine project management milestones and realistic dates, get a better understanding of the potential of the project, and determine which agency would be the best fit.
Let’s face it though, the RFP process is like Marmite. It’s a detailed document that requires considerable time to be dedicated to it, and you either ‘love it or hate it’. In today’s fast-moving B2B landscape, companies and agencies alike are questioning whether this formal process is truly the best method of procurement.
If you’re trying to decide whether a B2B marketing agency RFP is the right decision for your business, here are 3 reasons why they’re key to success…
1. Time-savings
One of the biggest reservations about RFPs is the time the process takes. As well as putting the initial document together, you and your team need to read all of the submitted RFPs in depth and compare them to each other. However, if you don’t write an RFP you may waste more time further down the road struggling to compare proposals that are based on different specifications, or arguing with agencies about miscommunications. So, even though it requires a little extra time initially, it will save you time later on.
2. Ease of comparison
The RFP is a detailed document that requests information and costings for a whole host of different services. This enables you to compare multiple agencies across an industry at once, with easily-visible, at-a-glance costs. As well as streamlining this potentially time-consuming process, it also allows you to identify which agencies are realistically priced for a long term relationship. In addition to this, an RFP enables a company to request prices for new services and products in order to get a clear idea of future budget allocation.
3. Reduced risk
Because the RFP requests information about the history of the bidding agencies and case studies of previous work, you’re able to vet them for an ongoing relationship. This minimises the risks associated with new suppliers and protects your business. No two RFPs are the same and there are no templates agencies can use to simply fire off details – each one will need to be written from scratch. As a result of this, your company will receive an honest, well-thought-out response to the issues or challenges you’re facing.
With benefits like these, it’s clear that a B2B marketing agency RFP is the logical choice for companies looking to streamline their procurement process. Nevertheless, the number of poorly written RFPs circulating the industry mean the process remains a bone of contention among B2B marketing agencies. The solution? Invest time and energy into each RFP your company creates. Understand your objectives and goals, and bear in mind that the more you put into an RFP, the more you’ll get from it. If more companies took this approach, perhaps more people would be on the ‘love it’ side of the RFP process.
To submit an RFP to Really B2B, simply click here to send us your details.
[i] http://www.confluentforms.com/2013/05/requests-for-proposals-rfp.html