“I’m sorry” and “My Bad” mean the same thing…
Unless you are at a funeral.
The theme of this blogpost is… context really matters, and often - the RFPs that we received leave tons of questions open to interpretation.
Who sent it? How did they find us? What are they looking for and how can Vanquished Media help them realize their creative and business goals?
Over the years, we have received our fair share of RFPs and looking back on our most successful projects, they all began with a stellar RFP and clarity on both sides of the project.
As we believe a rising tide lifts all boats, in our line of work - success starts at the RFP.
In order to ensure you get the information you are searching for - in the right context. Here are five key elements to include in your RFP or project procurement process that will prime you for blastoff.
To save your time, I will leave out the non-negotiable items such as your name, company background and deadlines.
I believe that this one is the most important to finding the video agency that fits your needs. It is very common for video agencies to be ambiguous about their revision process, only to drop a price increase on you due to “out of scope” revisions.
At Vanquished Media, we have a standard revision period built into our process and are clear about what additional rounds will cost upfront.
This element becomes increasingly important with larger organizations that require more stakeholders during the revision process.
Allow the video agency to quote with the context of your revision needs in mind.
We understand you may not be the creative type - and that’s why you are coming to companies like us! With that being said, style and complexity is the most important factor when pricing a video. So, to ensure you get accurate cost estimates that can be compared fairly - we recommend finding 2-4 examples of videos that you like.
A good place to start looking is your competitors, Dribbble, or Vimeo Staff Picks.
More importantly, providing style examples may easily eliminate a few agency options if the style is outside of their capabilities - saving you time and ensuring you don’t get stuck with a company that is not qualified to execute your desired style.
If you are really unsure of style and are not confident providing links - at least specify 2D, 3D, or Live Action.
Although it would be nice if work can simply speak for itself, we believe that 90% of a project's success stems from client communication and a well tested process.
Relationships with your video agency often do not end at project delivery. You will most likely want tweaks and revisions months or years later as your business changes and regardless of if the final video is beautiful, asking for references ensures that you are going to work with a video agency that will be by your side while not burning bridges after the first project.
You can see a few of our client testimonials here.
An X-Factor would be something unique about a specific agency. This could be a certain style, industry or vertical. Asking them about their X-Factor allows them to flex their creative muscles a bit and if their X-Factor aligns nicely with your project - I would definitely recommend looking at them twice.
For example, because of our background in software design - Vanquished Media does a lot of work in the Startup and B2B SaaS industry. That would be considered one of our X-Factors and when working on such projects - they definitely over index videos in other industries.
At the end of the day, all strategy is going to be executed by people. It is usually a good idea to ask about their agency structure, such as your main point of contact, their creative director, etc.
Unfortunately, for some larger companies - the team that worked on the video you love from their portfolio might not be the one actually working on your project.
It is also always good to be clear on if any work will be outsourced overseas. Although overseas work can be great - and many agencies use overseas workers - this is a practice you may not want if you are developing a video for business with sensitive information.
Writing a good RFP can be highly variable depending on the project but, those are the tips I think most clients overlook.
I hope this helps you formulate your next RFP and I am confident that if used - will result in better agency relationships for you and your business.
If you would like to send an RFP to Vanquished Media, you can do so using the links below.
