What is the nature of RFPs and how to do them best? My friend Mike Rohde had the pleasure to attend the SXSW conference this year and created some brilliant sketchnotes on the topic of how to deal with Requests for proposals.
Lessons when writing an RFP for email software selection:
There are some great takeaways for when you are running your own RFP for email software selection and for more creative email marketing agencies.
Follow up with the losing vendors so they know what happend and why . Explanations help.
Allow for creative responses on creative RFPs (full service email agency), dont expect then on technical RFPs (email software vendor only)
Try and meet the actual team on the service provider side that will be working on your (email marketing and implementation projects. The vendors sales people can facilitate, but meet the real people.
And lastly: When a bid is too good to be true, it usually is.
Jordie van Rijn is an independent email marketing consultant and Analyst. He is the Founder of Email Vendor Selection and specializes in smart email marketing, optimisation and RFP / vendor selection. Named one of "50 Online Marketing Influencers to Watch " by Entrepreneur magazine.
