When it’s time to find the right marketing or creative partner, it’s all about the process. A streamlined and comprehensive process will result in making sure you’ve selected the right vendor for your needs. 

“The process” kicks in after you establish the core objectives, determine the agency size that would best fit the work and do some reconnaissance (if you missed the first blog, go back).

The Process

Your agency selection process might include these four major steps:

1. Developing and distributing a request for proposal (RFP)
2. Evaluating proposals
3. Selecting finalists 
4. Making the decision

The RFP and the medium-wide net

Most of the request for proposal will be standard (read: boring) and possibly dictated by a procurement or finance team. But there are ways to use this document to get a glimpse into an agency’s philosophy and their approach to creativity and branding. 

In your RFP’s submission requirement’s section, include questions like:

1. Describe your creative process.
2. Why do you think you are the best partner for this project?
3. What team members will be doing the work?

Be as transparent as possible about your organization’s challenges, needs and goals, and outline your evaluation metrics.

Then, get ready to distribute. Cast a medium-wide net. Too wide a net, and you’ll be sifting through far too many proposals and wasting the time of poor-fit agencies (and yours). Too small a net, and you won’t have enough to compare, enough options to choose from. I like to reach out to 10-12, knowing 8-6 will respond, 2-3 will be no good, leaving 5-3 good options, 2-3 front runners. (It’s not clean math, I majored in English).

Evaluations

Whether there will just be two people evaluating the proposals, or a whole team, it’s important to determine evaluation metrics in advance and consider developing a scoring system or rubric to use as a guide. This can help ensure that all evaluators stick to the priorities and are clear on what the “right fit” means to them. 

Evaluation metrics might include things like:

1. Compliance with, and satisfaction of the requirements of this RFP.
2. Approach to creative process.
3. Qualified and experienced team members.
4. Demonstrated experience working with similar clients/projects.
5. Ability to provide effective and timely administration of project deliverables.
6. Ability to deliver on project scope within budgetary range.

Round 2: Presentations 

For large projects or extensive work, you may need to have a second round or phase to your selection process. This is where you bring in the top 2-4 agencies (based on your evaluation metrics) and have them do a presentation in person or virtually. Often, this presentation is to those folks who have evaluated the proposals, plus any decision-makers. 

During the presentation, the agency will add color to their proposal. You’ll also get a feel for what it might be like to work with them – the energy their team members bring to the table, the way they handle your questions or early feedback, etc.

Decision-making time

After all the proposals are evaluated, and the presentations are heard, it’s time to collect feedback and make a decision. 

Though you may have a larger evaluation team, it’s unlikely that all of them will be key decision-makers. It’s important to know from the start who will be the ultimate decision-makers, and engage them in a feedback meeting to review the evaluations/rubrics of the full committee. If the decision-makers aren’t aware of the concerns or goals of the team members who will be interacting with the agency, they may make decisions that will cause friction during the project, or fail to fully understand how to negotiate the final scope. 

Once you decide which partner you will be working with, it’s time to do a final review of the scope and contract to make sure everything is clearly outlined and all terms are agreeable. Depending on the size of your organization or the amount of red tape typically involved in these things, you should be sure to build in 1-2 weeks for this in your timeline. 

Making The Relationship Work

As you get started on your new vendor relationship, keep in mind a few key tips:

1. Prioritize clear communication: It goes both ways! Be clear about your expectations, goals and needs and ask for communication throughout the process. 
2. Track milestones and check in: At the project kickoff, your agency should provide you with a roadmap of key milestones and check in points for larger meetings. Don’t skip these. It’s important to keeping momentum.
3. Aim for consistency: A single point of contact on both sides; an agreed upon communication channel (email, slack, etc), a single project management system, etc. consistency will help everyone stay focused and know what to expect