Day 2-RFPs Without Tears: Writing Inclusive RFPs that Don’t Scare Away Talent

— Hi everyone and thank you for the time today, and I’m glad to talk about RFPs

 

— My name is Emily Lessard, co-founder of Bellwether and if you’ve been in NYC in past five years, you’ve seen our work
  • We’ve promoted our work across all five boroughs, including welcome graphics at JFK/Laguardia, the strategic plan for NYC, and the 2019 World Pride Campaign
— Everything you see on screen started with an RFP, so here are some tricks and trips on how to do them right

 

 

— Some nomenclature before we get started
  • The procurement process is how govt buys design work and everything else from toilet paper to jets to websites
— It can be a little strange to have same process apply to design

 

— RFP refers to requests for proposals
  1. Process goes from government agencies writing an RFP
  2. Submitting the RFP to outside businesses
  3. If an agency bids on the work, they submit a proposal
  4. The government reviews the proposals, and awards the bid to the creative partner for the government

 

 

— Why is it important?
  • RFPs are at the beginning of process, and every one depends on the RFP being engaging and welcoming
  • I’ve seen many RFPs, have reviewed over 250 RFPs, and sent in 62 proposals
    • Everything today has been built off my experience in the RFP world

 

 

 

 

— Everything I’ll talk about today come from two lens
  • Operational benefits to government agency processes, such as
    • Faster Process
    • Less Mistakes
    • More Collaboration
  • Driving Equity, through
    • A more diverse pool of creative agencies
    • More responses

 

 

— Let’s look at RFPs, all of these are multiple websites for various visual projects
  • But all RFPs appear as blocks of text

 

 

— So before you do anything sit with government  procurement before you even open up a google doc, and establish a partnership with them

 

— This pre-meeting is crucial to establish trust. Have the following:
  • An Open Mind
  • Lots of Questions
  • No Agenda

 

 

— RFPs can range from five pages to 115 pages
  • Who has time to write/read this? We certainly do not
— We’re busy, you’re busy and our  main recommendation is to have page limits

 

 

— Let’s all swear that our RFPs max out at 15 pages, and proposals to send only are 30 pages max

 

 

— But you say “Emily, I’ve tried doing this, but it’s not possible”

 

— So we’ve started a Google Doc that follows the framework that I’ll give out to you to get your creative juices flowing

 

— We begin with the scope of work, materials/research, budget, and  timeline
  • This will help agencies make sure scope is in line with what you have to give
— For the budget and timeline
  • Place these items there as governments will ask you about them
  • This shows that you are an excellent partner and respect the business you are working with

 

— All of this is in the Google Doc, but let’s commit at least to page limits
  • Brevity will even the playing field, as large/small firms can complete on the same level
— Responses also bloat, as people want to talk a lot, and page limits help us stay focused

 

— File submission problems are mitigated by page limits

 

 

—Here are we again, with 10 RFPs for cities, states, and agencies across the US
  • All deal with highly visual projects

 

 

— There are similarities though, as they’ve decided to use the first page to orient all submissions who want to bid on a job
  • These consolidate info like deadlines, submission requirements into a single place
— Put all key info on first page to make sure people have the tools they need to put everything together

 

 

— So what should be on the title page of a RF?
  • Release Date
  • RFP Coordinator
— Put all of this info in as tables, as tables help us find what we are looking for
  • They provide clear intent of who to speak with, where files can go, and submission deadline is visible
— Place time of the submission deadline as well to avoid un-necessary Q&A

 

— Recommend adding next steps after proposals  that come in and tell people when there will be interviews and when process will kick off
  • This is a show of respect for the partners and avoid these questions from being asked in the Q&A section

 

 

— It really helps to submit for newer and smaller firms to have their first RFP page act like a tool, and to keep it all short and scannable

 

 

— Procurement portals have sadly languished, and anyone who wants to do business with a government  entity has to work through hard-to-navigate portals

 

— As wonderful as the RFP is, act like a firm that’s going to be bidding and go through the UX of actually finding the RFP
  • Spend time with procurement portal to see where your RFP will be found by potential bidders

 

 

— Next, market your RFP to creative agencies by sending RFP directly to agencies, and put together list of agencies who will bid on the project. The rules are stringent though

 

— Also ask about rules for posting on social media

 

— Remember to review the UX for the RFP site

 

 

— Three big rules exist for submitting RFPs
  • No printing/shipping of RFPs, as it gets really expensive very quickly. Use PDF or Dropbox to send the RFP instead
  • No spec work for the submissions (any work you are asking to be completed for free), as it is disrespectful to businesses, and something we don’t do for other service agencies
  • Look for WMBEs. This is an actual certification businesses go through. Certification has a lot of help and some government agencies have threshold that they can match
    • Goes other way too and when agencies are certified you can search for them in a database (no need for Google)

 

 

— So that’s where we are and here are my takeaways listed above:
  • RFPs are crucial, and I’ve had agency friends who told me they couldn’t bid on government projects out of fear of too many hurdles

 

— I put together this presentation to change that to ensure people make bids are of highest caliber, and are the most equitable

 

— Thank you for letting me talk about so much about RFPs

 

Q&A
  1. In your experience, can agencies have get-to-know you conversations?

 

— Yes, I very often have introductory Zoom conference where anyone can come and where  government agency can meet and greet various creative agency partners

 

— Talk to your procurement officer to find out more info

 

  1. Did you ever send an idea that was too forward thinking and how did people respond?

 

— What I keep coming back to is that you need to have the hope and willingness to do the work to make change

 

—> Something that has guided me is to make change, and to recognize the slowness needed to doing big things

 

— If on government agency side, I need acknowledge change will be slow work but necessary

 

  1. When to use a time/material contract vs. a  fixed-price contract?

 

— Think if you have big project and want lot of ongoing support, retainers are the way to go
  • Ongoing relationship lets you simply go back to procurement, as opposed to re-bidding on a project
— Ask if you can have long-term engagement. If you have a long-term relationship, ask for clauses where you can renew the engagement

 

— A one-off project, a project-based fee will be fine

 

  1. Are there alternatives to purchasing with labor categories for discovery work?

 

— That has been going away, but insurance is scary for small agencies

 

— Talk to procurement officer and let them know the requirements are scaring away small firms, and ask if paper-work can be included in the contract side of things