Just Say No to Request For Proposals
If you were Noah, and you received orders from above to build the ark, you’d probably have a lot of questions: How big does it have to be? How long will we be afloat? How many cages will we need? What about provisions and storage? What about navigation and propulsion?
Noah had the benefit of divine inspiration to build his ark. Most of us, particularly in the public sector, would start by forming a committee, then developing a Request for Proposals, then interviewing several ship designers, picking one of the low bids, then crossing our fingers that what is designed will actually meet all our needs. If Noah had gone through this arduous process, chances are the rain would have started falling before the first plank was attached to the hull.
As Noah watched the waters rise, working in panic-mode, he would have wondered why he hadn’t issued a simpler Request for Qualifications, cut to the chase, hired the best he could find, and had the boat designed.
All of his questions would have been answered in the process. THEN he would have issued a Request for Proposals for construction of the ark, based on a solid set of plans.
When you want something built to certain standards and pre-defined instructions, then issuing a Request for Proposals is the best way to get the best bang for your buck, both in terms of cost and expertise. But in the wild world of consulting or design where there are no absolute parameters, and the first step is getting those specifics written up, then issuing a Request for Qualifications is the obvious thing to do.
Let’s take a look at community branding. There are numerous companies out there, each with their own philosophy, methodology, and sets of principles that they work within. Destination Development (DDI) uses its CommunityBrand™ process, which is significantly different than other companies’ methods.
The problem with issuing an RFP is that you need to determine the entire process, write up the scope of work, assign a budget to it, then issue it, and hope what you get in return fits your scope and allows you to actually compare apples to apples as you go through the selection process. The average RFP consumes at least 10 pages, not including all the boilerplate items such as terms and conditions.
In many cases, experienced and qualified companies will review the scope of work, see that it doesn’t fit their particular methodology, and toss away your RFP. Others will try to shoe horn their methodology into it, or they’ll just give you what you asked for, whether it’s a good fit or not.
On the other hand, you can write up a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in a couple of hours. You let firms know in general terms what your goals are, what you are looking to accomplish. Then THEY do all the work. They provide you with a scope of work based on their methodologies, which in many cases may be a great fit with your goals.
An RFQ only needs to be two or three pages at most. You are simply looking for the most qualified firm you can find. Go through your responses, and narrow the field down to the most qualified company you can find; review their methodologies, their philosophies, their experience, past work, and their references to see if they’re a fit. Pick the top firm, and then negotiate the scope of work and the cost with them. If you can’t come to terms, move onto the next best candidate. You usually have just this one chance to do it right, so you don’t want to make a major mistake.
Issuing and RFQ rather than an RFP will save you weeks, if not months. RFP’s are frequently written by committee, which is time-consuming itself. And then there’s the process of trying to compare all the varying responses, how they fit with your predetermined scope of work, interviewing the top three or four, then negotiating the final scope, price, deliverables and timelines.
An RFQ can be written quickly, without a committee and ongoing discussions. Your committee can review the materials firms submit, interview their top choice, and, if they’re the right fit, they can negotiate the scope of work and price right then. If it doesn’t work out, move on to the next. It’s that easy.
Once again, the RFP process is a perfect fit when it comes time for Noah to build his boat, but when you don’t know what it is you need to build, and you have one chance to get it right (as in Noah’s case), then you better get the best. Noah had instructions from above, so he didn’t need an RFQ for the planning – he already had the best. You want the best, too, so when it comes to branding, marketing, wayfinding, graphic design, public relations, and downtown programs that aren’t black and white, issuing a Request for Qualifications is the only way to go.
Save yourself a lot of time, headaches, and money, and get the most qualified company you can to assist you. Let them do the work of providing you with the scope of work and costs. If it’s a good fit, you’re on your way!
While Noah had lots of people trying to tell him what to do and what not to do, there’s no question he made the right move going with the most qualified “consultant,” as opposed to interviewing a number of candidates, telling them what he wanted and the process he wanted them to use (based on guesswork), and then hoping for the best.
Just say not to RFPs.
THINGS TO REQUEST IN AN RFQ
1. Company name, address, contact information, structure (sole proprietorship, corporation, etc.)
2. Programs, methodologies and/or strategies employed to accomplish your goals
3. Experience: past and current clients, types of organizations they typically are engaged by
4. Expertise: Work examples, case histories
5. Who would you be working with, specifically (this is very important)
6. Bios of the firm’s staff that would be working on your plan
7. Ownership of the deliverables (particularly if they include identities, tag lines and other creative elements often owned and “licensed” to the user)
8. References
