by Steve Fodor
I’ve worked on a lot of request for proposals (RFP’s) for marketing communications in my career. Our firm just completed one recently that was “typical” in the sense that they were going to “get three price quotes.”
Why is it that “three quotes” seems to be a magic number? And why approach it from a price standpoint in the first place? It seems to me that you would determine what marketing funds you have available, and then ask a qualified marketing firm…”If you were in our situation with these available marketing funds, what would you do?” That puts the emphasis on creativity, business thinking, marketing strategy and understanding how to “do more with less.” Aren’t those really more valuable for successful marketing than price alone?
Maybe it’s the general economic climate today. Even though the recession of 2008/2009 has been the worst economic downturn since 1929, brands still need to be maintained. Customer relationships need to be developed. And sales lead generation programs still need to be implemented. And even though marketing budgets have been reduced, that doesn’t mean you have to find the “least expensive quote” to work on your marketing program. You need to find the most qualified resource that knows how to make every available marketing dollar work harder…and smarter.
In the long-run, isn’t that the most cost-efficient approach?
Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkmoose/
Why is it that “three quotes” seems to be a magic number? And why approach it from a price standpoint in the first place? It seems to me that you would determine what marketing funds you have available, and then ask a qualified marketing firm…”If you were in our situation with these available marketing funds, what would you do?” That puts the emphasis on creativity, business thinking, marketing strategy and understanding how to “do more with less.” Aren’t those really more valuable for successful marketing than price alone?
Maybe it’s the general economic climate today. Even though the recession of 2008/2009 has been the worst economic downturn since 1929, brands still need to be maintained. Customer relationships need to be developed. And sales lead generation programs still need to be implemented. And even though marketing budgets have been reduced, that doesn’t mean you have to find the “least expensive quote” to work on your marketing program. You need to find the most qualified resource that knows how to make every available marketing dollar work harder…and smarter.
In the long-run, isn’t that the most cost-efficient approach?
Flickr Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinkmoose/
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