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September 19, 2025 37 mins

The typical RFP process for hiring PR and communications firms produces sub-optimal outcomes for all parties. (That's the polite way of saying it's really bad.)

We believe it can be done better, but it will take increased transparency and trust between organizations and agencies.

In this episode, Abbie and Adrian discuss how the traditional RFP has become a barrier that stifles creativity. They provide insights to reshape the way RFPs are perceived and executed, advocating for a more collaborative and open process that benefits both parties.

Abbie shares her firsthand experiences with various proposals, noting the importance of well-structured RFPs that allow for meaningful comparisons. Adrian emphasizes that organizations should be clear about their needs and budget to foster a productive dialogue, ultimately leading to better outcomes for all involved.

Read the transcript and notes for this episode on our website.

Key Takeaways

  • The RFP process is a common yet often unsatisfactory method for hiring PR firms, as it can limit creativity and effectiveness.
  • Organizations must clearly outline their needs in an RFP, as unclear requests lead to poor responses and miscommunication.
  • Trust is essential in the RFP process; both clients and agencies should be transparent about their expectations and capabilities.
  • Budget parameters should be discussed upfront to ensure agencies can provide realistic and feasible proposals that meet client needs.
  • Pre-RFP conversations can enhance the quality of the proposals received by allowing agencies to ask clarifying questions.
  • Agencies should not be asked to provide free ideas, strategies, or plans during the RFP process; this is unethical and counterproductive.

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If you enjoyed this episode, please follow Copper State of Mind in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast app. We publish new episodes every other Friday. Just pick your preferred podcast player from this link, open the app, and click the button to “Follow” the show: https://copperstateofmind.show/listen

Need to hire a PR firm?

We demystify the process and give you some helpful advice in Episode 19: "How to Hire a Public Relations Agency in Arizona: Insider Tips for Executives and Marketing Directors."

Credits

Copper State of Mind, hosted by Abbie Fink and Dr. Adrian McIntyre, is brought to you by HMA Public Relations, a full-service public relations firm in Phoenix, AZ.

The show is recorded and produced by the team at Speed of Story, a strategic communications consultancy for PR agencies and marketing firms, and distributed by PHX.fm, the leading independent B2B podcast network in Arizona.

If you like this podcast, you might also enjoy PRGN Presents: PR News & Views from the Public Relations Global Network, featuring conversations about strategic communications, marketing, and PR from PRGN, "the world’s local public relations...

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:05):
To RFP or no to RFP? That isthe question. It's an existential
question at some level. Imean, we're not doing Shakespeare,
we're doing business. Butorganizationsthat need tohireagenciesforcommunicationsorcreativeservices,theRFPisthetried
and tested methodfordoingthat.And for doing that. And

(00:26):
for agencies that want to selltheir best for,fortheir clients,
best work for their clients,the somethingthatconstrainsthemfromdoingtheir
bestwork. Soisthereawaytothinkdifferentlyandbetterabouttherequestforproposals? Abby,
what'sonyourmind?ie
Well, what's on my mind is I'min the midst of multiple responses

(00:49):
right now, which is afantastic problem to have, right,
that there's a lot ofopportunity out there, a lot of organizations
that are seeking publicrelations services. And it's top
of mind right now. When I lookat the various documents that I've
received and how differentthey all are, but all are looking

(01:10):
for, can you do this work forus at the end of the day? I've also
just issued one for anonprofit that I'm involved with.
And coming to it from thatside of the equation was a real interesting
practice to what annoys mewhen I get them. And here I'm trying
to do the same thing tosomeone else. So it's not a perfect

(01:31):
science for sure, but Ithought it was worth talking a little
bit about the request forproposals, because, again, they're
a necessary evil, I believe. Ithink it is a way for organizations
that are seeking our servicesto encapsulate what they're looking
for. And if they are wellwritten and ask for good information,

(01:55):
then what they get back fromthe proposing agency allows them
to compare apples to appleswhen they're, when they're doing
that. So maybe because it'stop of mind right now, I thought,
well, let's chat a little bitabout, you know, what it is, why
we do it, do we want them, isthere a better way? And see where
that takes us?

(02:15):
Let's start with the optimumideal state, the reason why this
should work. And I think yousaid it well. The organization wants
to solve a problem, and theyneed to get the best possible solution
and preferably at the bestpossible price. They need to make
sure that the people who arepresenting possible answers to their

(02:40):
questions and their problemsare qualified, can do what they say
they can do, have a trackrecord and so on. But they also need
to really specify what exactlythe their needs are. And that in
and of itself is where I thinka lot of the problems begin. Because
essentially the RFP is comingfrom an organization that has a pain

(03:03):
but they are self-diagnosed.They've gone on Dr. Google and said,
"my hip hurts." And Dr. Googlehas told them, "well, you need to
take," I don't know, "extractof beef liver." Some random thing.
And call me in the morning, right?
And they're like "okay, I knowwhat I need now." And so then they
write an RFP for extract ofbeef liver, not an RFP for ""myhip

(03:29):
hurts." You see what I'msaying? They're framing the solution
they want, and that canactually lead Whatareyourthoughtsaboutthis?First
ofall,justthe about this,first up.?
Well, that is exactly right.They're thinking about the end result
more than the process ofgetting there. And so if we relate

(03:51):
it to the public relationsservices. And so why do you hinkrightnowyou
you need public relations?Like what is it about that's happening
in your organization, what'shappening sayswethinkbringingin outside
publicrelationscouncilwillbeabenefittousto gettheresponses
thatyouwantbackfromtheagencies.Youreally needtohelpthemunderstandthesituation.Whatis

(04:19):
goingon help them understandthe situation. What is going is leading
youtobelieveoutsidesupportisgoing tohelpyougetfrompoint
AtopointB?Thetoughestthingthatwehavewhen weget an RFPis,andIunderstanditonsome
level,butthattherequestingorganizationis hesitanttosharealotofinformationatthatparticularpointandwhetherthat'sbecausetheyconsideritproprietaryorthey'reafraidwhatwemightdowithitifwe

(04:54):
knowthatthey'vegotthisproblem,butifwedon'tunderstand completelywhatitisyou'relookingfor
ormoreimportantlywhyyouthinkyouneedit,it'svery difficultforusto
giveyouanysortofresponse.Andlet'srememberthatalmost alwayswedon'tknowyou
yet.Youknow,weareonalistandyou'vesentout your blanketemailtohowmanyeverfirms

(05:23):
youthinkyou any sort ofresponse. And let's organizationandyourneedsfor
we don't know you yet. Youknow, we are on a list and ou'vesentoutyourblanketemail
tohow manyeverfirmsyou thinkyou think you need to. And we're
hearing about thisorganization and your needs for the

(05:46):
very first time when we openup that document and there's no way
that we can adequate beomgingwrit ten a
I think we should underlinesomething here, which is this coyness,
this hesitancy to be fullyopen and transparent must, if we're
being empathetic about it, itmust be coming from a place ofdistrust.

(06:10):
Maybe justifiably so. Maybethe organization or even the individual
person overseeing thiscompetitive bidding process, which
is essentially what this is,has been burned in the past. Or maybe
they feel their job is at riskif they make the wrong decision.
So they want to make sure tosomehow stay in control and not get

(06:32):
taken advantage of, not giveaway too much information. But this
leads to some real fundamentalproblems because you can't tell people
what you need and how much youcan spend to get it. They can't tell
you what they're going to dofor this black box budget of yours.
It's a little bit like youwant to go out on a date, and let's

(06:56):
say you have the person you'regoing out with, that part is solved,Although
that would be an interestingcounterpoint here. But you say, I
want to go out to arestaurant. So you pick up your device
of choice and your app ofchoice and you say, "I want to eat."
The app says, "Great. Whatkind of food do you like?" "I'm not
telling you." "Okay, well, howmany of you are going to be at dinner?"
"That's my secret." "Well,okay. How youwant you want to spend?"

(07:20):
I'm sorry, that's ... howcould you possibly get a recommendation
that's going to lead to theevening you really want, which is
an enjoyable time in thecompany of this person, eating some
food you both enjoy, at aprice that you can live with. Maybe

(07:40):
it's a stretch for you, but itwas a special evening, right? If
you don't give anyinformation, you can't get what you
want. So there's that. Now,from the agency side, I think you
also underlined the realfundamental issue here. You're better
at some things than otherthings. Your firm has a specific

(08:03):
set of capabilities. You arespecialized in some areas more than
others. And if you're gettinga very generalized request for services,
you can't even tell if this isgoing to be right for you in the
sense of can we do this ornot? So you're going to produce all

(08:23):
kinds of, well, we are theaward winning this and ?
Right. Well, and your analogyis 100% correct. And because we can
give you the fast food versionof your date, or we can give you
the white tablecloth, tuxedoversion of your date, you just need
to help, you know, put someguardrails around what you're asking

(08:43):
for. But the trust issue is,you know, and what we believe wholeheartedly
when we are, you know, broughtinto an organization is we are part
of your team and we have togain your trust. There's no doubt
about it. You're not justgoing to open everything up to us

(09:04):
simply because we tell you wecan do it. You need to understand
that we get it. And one of thethings that I, when I have the opportunity
to have a conversation with aprospective client prior to responding
is up front. I talk about therespect for the process and our confidentiality,

(09:26):
our belief in confidentialityand that what you share with me at
this particular point in theprocess is confidential. I am happy
if you need me to sign a nondisclosure agreement so that you
have, you know, my signatureon a document that says I won't share.
But our reputation and I, andI'm talking about my company, but

(09:50):
I'm also talking about ourindustry. Our reputation is based
on the fact that we hold thatinformation and confidence and that
we do not and will not shareuntil we are given permission to
do so. So at that initialstage, that has to be part of what
you're looking for in your, inyour partner is their, of this and

(10:13):
their belief inconfidentiality. You do not have
to tell me every single thingthat's happening in your organization
and every single challengethat you're facing. But you do need
to give me some context as towhy you believe you need these services.
Conversely, you can alsoengage with an agency that has nothing

(10:39):
to do with a, with thespecific project. And we are building
up our brand reputation. Wehave a new CEO and we want to create
a leadership path to raisethat individual's profile in the
marketplace. Competition hasincreased for the services that we
provide and we believestrongly in, you know, raising our

(11:02):
awareness through mediarelations. Our social media has been,
you know, stagnant for months.We need someone that can come in
and help energize, right? Justgive some ideas and some feedback.
We will youwith you with amuch better response. You should
expect that anybody thatresponds to you, knows how to do

(11:26):
the work. andsay,wewouldn'tbegivingyousomethingifwe didn'tknowhowtodothis.Whatyouwantto
be lookingforisdo weknowhowtodoitinawaythatmakessenseforyour organization?It's
alsonotnecessarilyimportant.Andwhether that'son
yoursideorourside,ifwe'veeverdoneitwithinthisparticularindustrybefore,whatyou shouldbethinkingaboutis,do

(11:50):
weunderstand thehowwecanlearnthewhatofyourorganization?Whatyoureallywanttomakesureisthatyouarehavingapartnerthatknows how
todowhatitisyou'relookingforthemtodo.SoImaynothaveexperience specifically
inyourindustry,butIhaveexperience doing the work. Ican

(12:14):
learn yourindustry.Andthatmaybe adeciding pointwhenyou'reputtingyourRFPtogether.Ishowimportantis
itthatIknowyouandyourbusiness? Orhow importantdo Iknowmybusiness?AndcanI
put that inarelevantwayforwhatyou'redoing? Sothatconceptoftrustis

(12:37):
one thathasto start fromthatinitialconversationandthatyouhavetoknowthattheagency willkeepthat
informationandconfidencethroughouttheprocessandwhetherornot they're
successful ornot ingettingthework, thatremainsconfidential.There'snothingthatgetsdiscussedthatgetsputouttherebefore,during,

(12:58):
orafteruntilpermissionhasbeengrantedtodoso.
Yeah, it's a really greatpoint. And I think of all of the
firms that might be respondingto RFPs for different issues, whether
it's design or marketingservices or ad campaigns or digital,
you know, SEO, pay per click,you know, all the things, right?

(13:19):
All the different things. Youought to expect that your PR and
communications firms are theones that understand this issue more
than any of the others. AndI'm not disparaging any of the others.
They're all professionals intheir field. But your outside PR
counsel is for sure going tobe the ones who understand the stakes
of what gets out and whatdoesn't, and the tone and the message

(13:40):
and the timing and everythingelse. So at the very least, we could
say you should relax aboutthat part with regard to your PR
/ comms agency search process.Now, you mentioned something interesting
here, and that is having aconversation prior. And I this is
the thingwhereI think there'sahuge opportunitytomakeonesimple
changethatcouldfreeupalotoftheseissuesandstop themfrompreventingwhatyouwant.Thereare

(14:07):
manyagencieswhohavecometothepointnowwheretheywillsimplysay,asa matter
ofpolicy,wedon'tdoblindRFPs.Wewouldneed totalkfirst,preferably
witha decision RFPs. We wouldneed to talscopeofthis.Andformanycontractingorganizations,theywanttopreventthatfrom

(14:28):
happening.Theywanttoprotectthedecisionmaker.They don'twanttoletyouknowwhoitisbecause,youknow,youmight,Idon'tknow,behavebadly.
You might know them, you mighthave a relationship already.
Which again, in a world ofperfect transparency, should be disclosed
if that's the case. So if yougo all process andthen realizeasyouget

(14:49):
totheveryend,oh mygosh, wehaveaconflict of interest herebecausethat'smybrotherinlaw.
Right.
That's an extreme case. Butmany contracting organizations specifically
say, we will not let you talkto us before you submit your stuff.
You need to understand thatthere are a lot of the best agencies
out there who are now going tosay, "well, then we're not doing

(15:11):
you"rthing.Youhavethesekindofconversationswhenyoucantalkalittle bitfromtheagencysideaboutwhatyou'relookingfor,becauseyou
arealsoqualifyingtheprospectatthispointintime.Sogivethoseof this
point in time. So give thoseof oulookingtohireoutsidecounselsomeinsightintowhatyou'relookingforinthoseinitialconversations,ifyoucanhavethem.

(15:38):
Sure.And you're 100% correctthat I know some extremely qualified
and very creative agenciesthat will just flat out refuse to,
if there is not an opportunityfor a conversation. And the conversation
that I want to have is mostoften clarifying content that you've

(16:00):
put into the RFP. Ideally, theconversation happens before an RFP
has been issued, if that'spossible. And I just went through
this experience recently wherethe prospect had their shortlist.
They scheduled a 20-minutemeeting with those individuals one
on one, which was a fabulousopportunity for them to ask them

(16:26):
questions. Very generallyspeaking, do you have experience,
you know, what do you knowabout us? That type of thing gave
me the exact same questions toask them. You know, why are you seeking
out an agency now? What, whatdo you like? What don't you like?
What could you, you know, ifyou could create a perfect relationship,
you know, some of these kindsof things. It also gave me a chance
to get to know them a littlebit. Like, do I feel like there'd

(16:48):
be good rapport between us?Did we hit it off in this conversation?
Was there something about whatwe were discussing that really resonated
Conversely, maybe not. Like,maybe we end up saying, "you know
what, it's not for us." Andthen we don't waste anybody's time.
I mean, it takes a long timeto put a response together. Worth
it to do it. Absolutely, in myview, but that's a lot. It takes

(17:12):
a lot of time to put togethera good response. So if it is possible
at any point along the way, ifyou are considering issuing an RFP
and you can shortlist, youknow, pick your top X number of agencies
that you want to participate,schedule an opportunity for a conversation.

(17:34):
I'm not opposed to doing it asa group either. You know, if I know
who my colleagues are, Isuspect I know who's going to respond
and who's not, because I knowwhat they all do. There's no problem
in being in there. We're allasking the same questions, we all
have the same thinking. So ifyou only have to share it once across,
you know, 10 of us in theroom, fantastic. Don't read the RFP

(17:57):
to me, though. Don't read whatyou've written and then tell me that
you've had this, you know,let's have a dialogue. You asked
for, you know, our experience.Tell me a little bit specifically
about what you're looking for.Like, let's really make this this
valuable. And if, if youcannot do that, if that is really
outside of the. The plan thatyou have, at least make yourself

(18:20):
available. The, the entitythat is going to be using the service,
the marketing department, thegraphic design team, video team,
make them available to helpanswer the questions if you require
them in writing. Yes, use aprocurement officer if that's how
your company is structured.They understand the process, they
know how to buy goods andservices, no problem. But have the

(18:43):
team that's going to be usingthese services in the room. When
you're answering thosequestions, let them talk in the language
that we understand. You willget so much better responses when
you give all of us this chanceto do that. And you allow us as the

(19:06):
agency to really make aeducated decision on whether or not
this is the right time for usto submit a response, because it's
not. There's so many factorsthat go into it and we want to make
sure that we are giving it ourabsolute best. And the more that
you can provide information tohelp us know that in advance, the

(19:30):
better we can respond. And Ithink on your end makes your decision
making much more streamlinedwhen you're getting what you want
at that initial stage.
It's really good. There's acouple of things in there I just
want to pull out and I don'twant to go down the rabbit hole of
the procurement officer toofar, but I do want to circle back

(19:51):
and talk about who isoverseeing the process. What is their
experience in buying this typeof service as opposed to the hard
goods and the, you know, therecurring service contracts for janitorial
and things of that nature.Because what you're buying here is
a fundamentally differentthing. But let's put a pin in that.

(20:13):
Maybe we'll end with that.What you said is so important. If
you're not giving agencies theability to select themselves out
based on understanding thecriteria and determining it's not
a good fit for them, you'redoing both of you a disservice. It's
like we say in copywriting,you need to write this in such a

(20:34):
way that the people for whomit's intended are compelled to respond
and the people for whom it'snot a good fit are repelled by it.
Your RFP should not be, youknow, to use a fishing metaphor --
we're into metaphors here inthis episode -- you don't want to
have the biggest possibledragnet that you're going to try

(20:54):
to sweep through the entireocean to pull out some random, specialized
fish. You're going to get somuch dreck and drudge and plastic
and garbage. It's just notuseful for anyone. If you know what
youwant, understand that. Usethe right type of bait, the right
pole, and go to the right pondto fish for that. So the mestaphorcanmultiplyhere.

(21:17):
But that's another episode.How many metaphors can we put into...
How many metaphors can we usefor selling creative services? Here's
what I would like contractingorganizations to understand that
all your professional partnersare going to be asking themselves.
I have the privilege of doingwith BlairEnns andWinWithoutPitching,andthisissomething

(21:40):
wetalkexplicitlyaboutinthequalifying conversation.Organizations,youneedtoknowthattheagenciesaregoingto
goingtowantto understandifthisisafitornotandthat they'regoingtobe
askingthemselvessomebasicquestionswhichanyone who'sinsaleswillalreadyunderstand.Generallywerefertoas
bant, someversionofbudgetauthority,needtimeline. If

(22:04):
youcan't as BANT, upfront,thisis Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline.
If you can't tell them upfront, this is what we think we need,
here's how we're going to makethe decision. That's the authority
thatweHere's our timeline, notonly for the decision making process,
but for theprojecthingsthatyoumentionedaboutcultureandyouknow,peopledynamicsandwouldwebegoodpartners,canwe is

(22:29):
a good fit or not. In additionto all the things that you mentioned
about culture and you know,people dynamics and would we be good
partners, can we vibe witheach other, all that kind of stuff,
you also gave me a reallyinteresting idea. I don't know if
it's a good one or not. I'llput it out there. Ideas are a dime

(22:53):
a dozen. Good ones are a dimea piece. Another, not very much.
But issue a pre-RFP and itdoesn't have to even be that you
have a shortlist. You couldsend out a broad communication saying
we are going to be issuing anRFP for XYZ. Keep it at a high level
if you want. What do you thinkwe should include in this RFP? Create

(23:18):
a kind of collaborativeprocess in designing the RFP. Sometimes
you can do this one on one. Ihave a former client situationwheretheyhadagreatrelationshipwith,with
great relationship withtheorganization. They weren't a shoe-in
by any means to get the nextpiece of work, tojustsitdownsidebysideandsay,look,here'swhatyouneedtobeputtinginthere.Herearethebudgetitemsyouprobablyhaven'teventhoughtofthatyoushouldaddin.Here'ssomeofthecompetenciesthatyou'regoingtoneed.Nowofcoursetheagency'sgonnasteeremalittgp
omgoin gto tj hem ,c

(24:02):
Well, and what you get back isyour, is the templated boilerplate
response, and that doesn'thelp you and it doesn't help you
make a decision. And you know,there's a couple things here too
that you know, there's what isalso referred to as an RFQ, a Request
For Qualifications. So that's,you know, HMA Public Relations is
experienced in the followingthings. Here's a little bit about

(24:23):
our team and you know, yes, weare qualified because we can do this
work Great. Then you candecide if I can get the rest of the
information. But the B of yourBANT was so important to me, the
budget. And that's the oneitem that I thinkthe prospective
client is always hesitant toshare their budget parameters. And

(24:46):
I understand it from theirperspective because if they tell
me they have $10,000 a month,then I'm going to write a proposal
that's $10,000 a month. Butwhat you don't want is me writing
you a proposal for $10,000 amonth when all you have is $2,000.
And now there is no way thatwe can do the work. But that's not
to say if you told me up frontwe have a $2,000 a month budget,

(25:09):
that I'm going toautomatically say no. I'll rethink
what I'm going to do for you.Our time is how we, you know, we
sell our services. It's our,you know, there's a lot of ways we
come up with it. So you don'thave to be 100% specific, but you
do have to give someparameters or you should give some
parameters. You want to getback from the agency something that

(25:31):
is valuable and doable withinthe budget that you are allocating.
And it is very difficult foran agency to tell you at this particular
stage. Remember, we don't knowyou very well yet. We don't have
a full grasp of your needs andyour organizational structure and
where we fit into your overallbudget to tell you how much money

(25:55):
you should spend on yourpublic relations services. We know
what we need in order to dothe scope of work that you were asking
for. But we really need areality check around what it is that
you are able to spend. Andthe other thing that falls into that
is you cannot expect in aproposal stage for the agency to

(26:21):
be able to tell yowhatto dobecausewedonotknowyou.And you. And
wematterhowmanypreconversationswehave,nomatter howmuchinformation
you'reabletoshareatthestageoftheproposal,we cannotand quitefranklyshouldnotbegivingyouapublicrelationsplan.

(26:43):
Right.
Because we cannot possiblyunderstand completely your needs.
What you should be expectingfrom us is what to consider as part
of your plan. Based on whatyou've outlined for us. If you tell
us X, Y and Z, we will suggestthat these are the things you should
consider. But there is so muchnuance in putting together a public

(27:06):
relations and marketing planthat at the proposal stage, it is
not the time, it is not thetime to ask. And if someone provides
that to you, it should be thatit is not specific to your organization.
It is a plan that we all have.We all have our generic plans. But

(27:27):
that is not what you'relooking for in your agency partner.
Well, and I'm going to go alittle further and draw an even harder
line and say it is unethicalfor you to request free creative
work from agencies orfreelancers or anybody as part of
the selection process. If youare thinking, well, what I'm going

(27:47):
to do is have them ... I'mgoing to pick our shortlist and I'm
going to say, why don't eachof you come up with your best ideas
for us and present them. Thatis what they will get paid to do.
Stop it. You cannot ask peopleto give you for free the thing thatthey
sell. That's unethical. It isprofessional malpractice. And you

(28:07):
might think it's obvious, andthat's okay because you may have
heard it from someone whoheard it from someone who heard it
from someone, and y'all needto stop. You cannot ask people as
part oacompetitiveprocess,oreven ifthey'retheone,and
youjustletthehirethemifyoubelievethey can dotheworkand
thenletthemgettowork. Yeah,Ijust,Ido getvery, veryfiredupabouttheexpectationthatagencies
shouldessentiallyworkforfreeforyou tocome upwiththeir
best ideasinordertowinyourbusiness.Theywillcome upwiththeirbestideasforyou
oncetheyhaveyourbusiness.Theend.

(28:42):
Right? So the several yearsago, the television show Mad Men,
which I loved, and it was, asyou know, it was focused predominantly
on advertising, but they didweave in publicity and they would
talk about stunts and all thethings that just make PR people cringe.
But one of the episodes theywere pitching Honda Motorcycle, well,

(29:06):
that, you know, we knowthere's not. But what was so interesting
was when they wereshortlisted, Honda executives said,
you have $2,000 or whateverequivalent to create a campaign for
us. And I thought, how aboutthat? So it counters what you're
saying, right? There is, don'task me to give you my creative ideas

(29:28):
unless you're willing at thisstage to pay for them. And I would
be happy to certainly engagein that conversation. But that was
such a unique. Now, that wastaking place in the '60s and that
doesn't happen anymore. Butall we have to sell is our intellectual
property, our minds, ourcreative talent, our abilities to

(29:51):
do this work. We should not beasked to give that to you at this
particular stage. Andhonestly, you aren't getting what
you want when you ask me to dothat because again, I can't know
you well enough yet. So, youknow, we really, in this conversation
and whether we're doing it ina face to face, whether we're writing

(30:12):
it, an email we really talkabout this is a proposal to do the
work for you and we areproviding you with our knowledge
and expertise. We will behappy to share case studies of how
we have done it in similarsituations, show you examples of
work that we have done that wethink relates to what you are asking

(30:34):
us to do. When you havedecided that we are your agency of
choice, then we will writeyour public relations plan. And we
have a whole structure abouthow we write your plan, the discovery
sessions and the question andanswers with some of your executives
and other things. That is partof what we tell you is how we get

(30:57):
started. And then we canprovide you with a plan that is addressing
the needs of, from theconversations we've had with your
executives and you even atthat point have an opportunity to
say it's not what we want.Just because we were on it doesn't
mean that we've given you whatyou've wanted. But that's where your

(31:21):
agency partnership comes in.We have a back and forth, we have
a conversation. The RFPrequest for proposals isn't going
away.There are plenty ofpeople out there that wish it would,
that it would, that you know,that you know, I like you, Adrian.
I want to work with you,Adrian. Let's get together and make
it happen. Well, that isn'tgoing to be the way that it goes,

(31:43):
but you can, both sides ofthis, of this equation can make the
process more user friendly, ifyou will, and that the entity that
is requesting our services,whether you use a procurement officer
or not, whether you're the inperson writing the RFP, if you use,

(32:03):
you know, AI to write yourrequest, whatever it is, remember
that there are people on bothsides of these things, that the more
information the prospectrequesting the proposal provides,
the better the response isgoing to be, that you're going to
be getting trust in theprocess. Trust that the partners

(32:24):
that you're asking to submitrecognize that. Be open and transparent
with what you can share withthem. If you are unable to share
something, tell them why, youknow, give me some idea as to why
this question I'm asking can'tbe answered. Give budget parameters.
It's not going to limit whatthe agency does for you. It just

(32:49):
reframes how they're going todo it, they will still offer their
services. They just might doit in a slightly different way. It
might make a longer term, itmight condense into a project. They
might tell you that that canfall outside of the scope and give
you a project budget, whateverthat is. The more information, the
better off it will be. Be asavailable to the, to the agencies

(33:12):
that are submitting aspossible. You know, they, I have
no problem when you tell methat the proposal is due, you know,
on Friday and questions needto be turned in by Tuesday. Great,
fine, then get me the answersbecause I'm not continuing down the
process until I understandcompletely. So be as open as possible.

(33:35):
And for the agencies that aresubmitting, take a real serious look
at what's being asked. Don'tjust respond simply because you got
the RFP. Really, really thinkabout whether it's a good fit. If
the type of client fits intoyour organization and feels like

(33:55):
it would be something that youcan do a good job for, doesn't mean
you have experiencenecessarily, but that you get what
they're asking for. Do youhave the bandwidth to perform the
things that you will beproposing? We are not all things
to all people and most of usaren't. So think about whether or
not you want to invest thetime to put together the response

(34:18):
and do the research you needto do in order to put together something
that makes the most sense. AndI fall victim to this all the time
is don't wait till the lastminute to do it. You've got to give
yourself enough time that ifit's due in a week, start it now

(34:38):
because you need the time tothink through it. You want to do
some of your own research. Youdon't want to end up cutting and
pasting from all the otherthings and just putting something
together. Yes, you wrote aparagraph that was fantastic about
media relations that you wantto use. Again, no problem, but let's
see if we can adjust it to thedocument and the client that we're

(35:00):
proposing to. This can be awin win situation for both sides.
When both sides come to theprocess with this type of understanding.
And it, as I said, it's notgoing away. And so if we want to
continue to play in thisspace, then we will be responding
to RFPs. But those of you thatare, you know, issuing them, if you

(35:24):
can think through that and youwill save yourself significant amount
of time because you'll getwhat you need. And those of us that
are response responding willget you what you need and it will
be valuable on both sides andthe relationships will develop and
hopefully for the long termyou'll have found your partner to

(35:44):
provide, whether it's PRservices or any other that fall in
the creative services field. Ithink those are the important aspects
of issuing and responding toyour RFP.
Thanks for listening to thisepisode of Copper State of Mind.
If you enjoyed theconversation, please share it with

(36:05):
a colleague who might alsofind this podcast valuable. It's
easy to do, just click the"Share" button in the app you're
listening to now to pass italong. You can also follow Copper
State of Mind in ApplePodcasts, Spotify or any other podcast
app. We publish new episodesevery other Friday. CopperState
of Mind is brought to you byHMA Public Relations, the oldest
continuously operating PR firmin Arizona. The sisrecordedandproducedbytheteamatSpeedofStory,aB2B
communicationsfirminPhoenix,anddistributedbyPHX FM,
distributed by PHX.fm, theleading independent B2B podcast hereatSpeedofstoryandPHXFM,
of us here at Speed of storyand PHX.fm, I'm Adrian McIntyre.
Thanks for listening and forsharing the show with others if you
choose to do so. We hope
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