There is a process stifling the way business moves forward in the digital business arena. The request for proposal process hasn’t been used as a technique by my agency in a while now. Businesses need to catch on and stop letting their creative passion to be lost all because their potential clients want to practice an out dated method of doing business.
I know personally when I was doing them I spent time analyzing this and got data proofs for that, the thought always came across to me, “What am I really showing the client…? Everything seems to come across as being just a smart theory on paper.” Yea the RFP process is a process of trial and error every time, and the client always wants to know what are going to be the precise methods of execution. Cost is never an issue, not really. The questions from prospective clients always fall outside of the narrow parameters of the RFP. Of course I noticed this and I had the answers for the client, but this would always mean my team was going to have to rework the proposal. I hated doing this, and I learned to stop doing this.
We moved our agency along by simply relying on an internal case study process. We made up in our minds and decided to identify who are clients really are. Progress quickly began to happen through our process. We evaluated the revenue producing products and services that our clients had in place, and verbally explained in depth what the analysis revealed. In person, skype, and conference call closing meetings are the way to go. The body language of the client is 90% of the communications needed to close the deal. Verbal communication gives up at least 50% of the communication needed to close the deals. Both processes develop a more trustworthy attitude from the clients, and both methods do something special for the confidence of executive leadership closing the deal. On both sides business begins to happen in a more predictive manner.
People tend to become quite annoyed when they are presented unnecessary information about their company, and about how your marketing agency is the best. Requests for proposals just don’t get to the point. RFPs don’t talk more about what falls in line for what clients need. When we figured out how to be creative in the way we approach clients we began to see positive results. In my opinion the process seems more casual than business like, this is when our agency began closing deals of all kinds quicker.
Sure, in every business there is a business and administrative process, but paper work should be light. If the client has their own set of documents that they want to use to complete the transaction that’s fine. So why inundate the client with your unnecessary paper work to be reviewed by the clients executive administrators. This will only delay your business the opportunity to acquire new business revenue from clients right away. Let’s face it there a plenty of ways to obtain new business without straining your new business opportunities.
Hello, I'm Garland L. McLaughlin Author, Publisher, Ad Guy and Communications Agency Principal Consultant. I'm also the writer of the book "Demonstrations of Digital Marketing Professionalism" and Managing Director of Abundance Trade Group.
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