This RFP template was written by George Morris, Client Services Manager @ Imulus, a Denver web design + interactive agency. Companies may use this template for the RFP process rather then the generic corporate, non-website RFPs that float around out there. The tone is informal and I’m essentially speaking to you, potential client, in hopes that you might better understand how Interactive Agencies, Web Development companies think through the bidding / proposal process. I’m just trying to make the RFP process a little bit less painful.
The RFP process can be a tight rope to walk. You.. the customer has a need to get a fair and accurate price, but then again you are often poorly situated to fully understand the ramifications of what you are looking for or what direction is best to take. We... the agency want to make sure we are comparing "apples to apples" with other agencies. We also are often in the best position to evaluate direction and make recommendations. We need for as much information as possible so we don't get hammered later with scope-creep.
So here is my suggested template for RFPs. Sure it's not perfect but I think it will help get us all to a better place.
COMPANY NAME Web Site Project
About Your Company
Insert information about the company. How long have you been in business? What is it that you do in as a concise manner as possible. Who are you customers and what industries do you serve?
Why Us and How Did You Find Us?
It is always nice for us to know how you came across our company, a Google search, word of mouth, or an advertisement. Also why did you select to send us an RFP? Did you like our design skills or was it a project that we did that drew your attention. How many agencies are competing with us and are they similar in size or have you tossed in a few freelancers who are going to under-bid us all?
Situational Analysis / Timing
What has spawned you to generate this RFP? Upper management asking for it? Do you need to address an urgent problem? Has your past agency failed to live up to your expectations? Let us know what we are getting into. Is there a hard date that we need to hit or is the date arbitrary? During the proposed project will we have one point of contact or will we need to meet with steering committees, or is it a combination of both?
Proposal Dialog
How do you want to proceed with this discussion about your website, or do you? Is this RFP process going to be about sending a list of specs and receiving a response, or are you open to a discussion around finding the best possible solution? If so, how do you want to handle questions and responses and will others vendor’s be included in the discussion?
In my opinion, if an RFP comes to us and the prospect is only looking for pricing information and no discussion process then we will reject the opportunity outright. If the prospect is open to discussion then I’d like to hear what questions other vendors are asking. It helps to ensure that we are all being told the same story, and that we are all bidding on the same scope.
Don’t forget to tell us when and how you will need our proposals to be delivered. Be sure to specify how long the selection process is going to take.
Web Site History
What’s the story behind the website, is this a redesign or a new site? Are we carrying over any legacy functionality from the old site? In previous work on the website, what worked well during the development process and what about the process did you not like?
Website Target Audience
Who are the people who are going to be using this website? What do you know about them and if you had to prioritize who gets the most attention which audience would it be. Example you are the Marketing Director for Widgets Software Inc. Your audience includes CFOs and Programmers. Programmers might be involved in researching your software but the CFO is ultimately going to approve or deny the purchase. Which of these audience members is more important or would you say importance could be divided between 60% Programmers and 40% CFOs.
Also, think of your own company as an audience. Will your employees use the site for various purposes?
Website Technology
Are you held to a particular technology, ASP.NET, ColdFusion, PHP, JSP etc..? One thing I continually see are prospects asking for open source software when what they really are saying is “we want to own the software and make changes, we don’t want a proprietary system which locks us into using you as our only vendor.”
Functionality
Really evaluate what you need this website to do. Many clients want a content management system with a workflow approval process and document versioning, but when they actually get what they have asked for they don’t use it. Think about how your company currently works, not how it works in an ideal world.
If you need a customized web application to perform a particular task, do your best to outline the task. Perhaps you are not a whiz in Visio or OmniGraffle, so then sketch it out on paper and include it in the RFP.
Online Content
This category delays more timelines then all the others, so let us know if you are reusing content, redeveloping content or replacing content? Will your company need the assistance of a content writer? How long will you need to finalize all content before sending it over to us for implementation?
The Competition & Online Strategy
Where do you see your company vs the competition? What are your thoughts, both pros and cons as it relates to the competitor’s websites? Do you have or need to develop an online strategy? How important is search engine optimization and pay-per-click advertising?
Firm Evaluation
I’m sure you are going to need more information about us, such as years in business, process methodology, how we manage changes to scope, do we have a software license policy? I’d love to give you this information but tell me how it will be used. How important to you is the size of the firm? How do you weigh design skills verse technology expertise? Understanding how you are weighing our firm helps us decide if we are a good fit. I don’t want to do business with a company who isn’t a good fit and I doubt you do either.
A note on references; ask for a mix of people to speak to. Often clients ask for just three references, of course I’m going to give you our best contacts but make sure you also specifically request 3 more references by looking at our client list or portfolio. You might be surprised at how few companies are willing to give you that information.
Optional Items
Flexibility is major portion of the RFP process, so give us a scale to better gauge your stance on the project attributes. 1 = firm / ridged. 10 = loose and open to suggestion
Timeline 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Keeping the Same Feature Set 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Adherence to Current Identity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Backend Technology 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Information Architecture 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I hope this helps us all build better RFPs which will lead to better projects. Please mock-up and revise as needed.
