By Pam Hadder
Recently, SWJ was asked to respond to an RFP - not a big deal, we've responded to many RFPs and have won a number of new jobs and some long term clients in this way. What was unusual was how the process evolved into a meaningless exercise.
We should have heeded our inner alarm bells, but the referral came to us from a respected and trusted contact, so we quashed any misgivings and gave the RFP our full attention.
The good news, we over-delivered and felt great about our end result.The bad news (Part One) is that we didn't get the work. The even worse news (Part Deux) is that a publisher won the RFP! This publisher bills themselves as a "PR company" - not only is this untrue, they do not have a team with the skill-set to complete the items identified in the RFP.
Yes, a prickly situation - to be trounced by posers with no marketing campaign experience, no web development and programming ability; and with debatable understanding of PR! To say we were gob smacked by this turn of events is really an understatement.
Looking back, there were so many red flags - flaming red, actually: the group was slow to confirm the details of the RFP and delivery time lines, the meeting time was changed at the last minute; the re-scheduled meeting ran through typical lunch hours (guess who supplied a lovely lunch?); only two of the four expected guests attended the meeting, with one guest arriving late; and the latecomer had the audacity to mock our walls covered in advertising and marketing awards on his way out the door (???).
The moral of our tale - always trust your gut. Never get sucked in by the dine-and-dash crowd who ask for all of the flexibility on your part, but deliver little commitment on their end. Know your value and guard it with your life.
I think of our strategic marketing and advertising firm as a five-star restaurant with a wonderful, ever-changing menu tailored to the unique needs of our diverse clientele. Patrons of our restaurant can survey the menu prices and choose according to their preference and allotted budget. When someone orders everything on the menu and we deliver, as ordered, our expectation is that we will be paid for our work.
We are just lucky that all these pirates gobbled up was some of our time, our preliminary thoughts and a free lunch! Eyes bigger than your tum-tum, Buddy? Not a problem - we'll box it up for you in some award winning packaging "to go!"
