A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a formal document that an organization shares with vendors to invite them to submit proposals for a specific project or service. The RFP typically outlines project requirements, expectations and evaluation criteria, and serves as a blueprint for vendors to craft their bids.
An RFP helps organizations compare vendors and proposals in a systematic way, ensuring they select the best-fitting candidate for the job. It’s a crucial tool for organizations seeking transparency, clarity, and strategic alignment in the procurement process. It’s particularly helpful when hiring a partner for complex projects, as it helps you outline a variety of goals and granular requirements in an organized way.
Finding the right partner to help you strategize and build your next web project can be tricky. But one thing is for sure: a well written Request for Proposal document can really help you find the right team.
Download a Quick & Easy RFP TemplateNope. We’ll be happy to speak with you whether or not you have one. But we do believe that if you’re going to get competitive bids from a number of agencies, an RFP will help your decision making process go more smoothly.
There are a number of benefits to writing a thoughtful Request for Proposal (or RFP). One of the most important things is that it helps you accurately outline the challenges your team hopes to address and the goals you hope to achieve with the design project.
Writing your RFP should be a team project, in which key stakeholders participate to clarify what they expect from the new website. This process of gathering and organizing information in collaboration with your team, encourages you to think holistically about the specific ways your new website can help your entire organization. Whether it’s to better tell your brand story, increase online lead generation and grow sales, or simplify workflow and marketing tasks, outlining all the specific goals for the new site, and the important interest of key stakeholders, will help agencies put their best ideas forward.
One of the great things about an RFP, is that the document standardizes the information you’re sharing with all the agencies you reach out to. Everybody you speak to should be on the same page with a clear understanding of your goals and challenges. This way, they can put their best foot (and best solutions) forward. This helps you compare apples to apples when you’re looking at project recommendations and budget. You want to make sure some vendors don’t offer you a go cart, while others suggest an F1 race car. They may both have four wheels, but they have vastly different capabilities and price tags, and one of them is not likely to be a good solution for your needs.
In our experience of working with hundreds of organizations, we’ve seen good and bad RFPs. Unfortunately, poorly drafted RFPs can turn away the very agencies that could be the best fit for your project. Just like you, agencies are looking for good partners. If you’re organized and thoughtful, it will show. If your RFP is confusing or unclear or shows that your expectations are unrealistic, some agencies may take a pass on the project.
It provides vendors with enough information to understand the project, allowing them to submit proposals that are realistic, relevant, and aligned with your needs. Here are the key elements of a strong RFP:
Well-defined project goals, timelines, and budgets reduce misunderstandings and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Include specific details about your project’s needs and any technical specifications, features and integrations you require. Outline whether your team will be providing some resources for collaboration and how you expect to work together.
Setting achievable deadlines helps vendors plan accordingly and ensure the project stays on track.
Be clear about what you value in a vendor—whether it’s experience, creativity, cost-effectiveness, or the ability to deliver ongoing support.
Provide some background on your organization and current web site (if any) and explain the main challenges and pain points that are driving the project.
Give yourself time to draft your RFP. A large web development project can take months to complete. Some organizations hire an expert outside consultant to lead an RFP process, in order to bring additional expertise into the project.
Finding the right agency may also take a month or two. Or three. That’s why it makes sense to put in extra effort in the beginning of the process to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible.
Before you even begin the search, you’ll want to determine your team of decision makers and align on the important details of your web project. Collaborating with your team on a draft of an RFP is a great way to do this. It allows you to get buy-in from key stakeholders and agreement on the important project requirements. There are important decisions you’ll need to make about the website you want, and it helps to make some of those decisions before you begin your search for a partner.
If your team is not aligned on the important factors, you could find yourself making changes to the project after you’ve hired an agency, and the “scope of work” and the budget and timeline could end up changing.
Now, of course agencies are there to help you make decisions as well. And there are some instances when skipping the RFP process might make sense. Especially if you already have a trusted vendor or if time constraints or the need for highly specialized expertise make competitive bidding impractical. In that case, reach out to a few agencies to get some feedback on the best approach.
If you’re working with a team, or within a larger organization, you’ll need to organize a process for addressing the questions a good RFP will raise. Sure, one primary team member can handle a lot of the drafting, but key decisions about goals, challenges, technology, brand assets, timeline and budget often require the input of different stakeholders.
In larger organizations, there are often a number of key managers who need to provide input during the planning and execution of a web project. A company selling products online may want to include input from the sales team, the marketing team, the product teams, and even people from the C-suite. Make sure that your team is defined, and that it includes the right folks.
Once your team is assembled, you’ll be able to look through the RFP template we provide and begin to answer the questions there. You may need time to gather additional information and make decisions within your organization. So schedule your process accordingly. Within larger organizations, this process can take a month or two.
We’ve designed the SPINX Web RFP Template with simplicity and ease in mind. It’s structured to help you clearly define your project’s goals and scope in a way that makes it easy for potential agencies to submit thoughtful, accurate proposals. You can download it right below this article.
The template is concise, in order to encourage you to focus on the important details. You should be able to finish it fairly quickly and get your project moving forward. By using this template, you’ll be able to:
And please don’t hesitate to expand on our RFP. Add more relevant information, design mock ups, wireframes, programming documentation, notes on the back of a napkin, your brand guide, analytics data, historical marketing information, sales goals and anything else you think could help an agency understand your requirements.
Our RFP recommends the following sections. Of course, you can edit the document at your discretion, to match the needs of your organization. In our experience, the more information the better. Providing background on your organization, products and project goals, even if preliminary in nature, can help an agency understand your vision.
Before sending out your RFP, review it carefully to ensure all necessary details are included. Once finalized, send it to a select group of agencies that you believe could be a good fit for your project.
Download a Quick & Easy RFP TemplateUse our quick & easy website RFP template to guide you through the process and to help you make the best decision for your organization’s needs. Feel free to make it your own. Edit the text as needed and delete the instructions written in blue.
Remember, the better your RFP, the better the proposals you’ll receive—leading to a successful partnership and a website that supports your organization’s goals.
We wish you the best of luck with your search! And feel free to reach out with any questions.
We are SPINX Digital in Los Angeles and as innovators in creative website design & digital marketing, we build awesome digital masterpieces!
