“Required Fiasco Participation.”
For certain promotional products distributors, that phrase is a more accurate spelling out of the “RFP” acronym – which, of course, really refers to Request for Proposal.
“The process tends to be incredibly inefficient and expensive,” says Jamie Mair, vice president of marketing procurement at distributor Capsule & Kitsch (asi/157354). “The whole thing is scoped wrong, from beginning to end.”
Not every distributor feels that strongly, but in talking to ASI Media there was a general consensus among firms that the RFP process has become more complex, time-consuming and expensive as clients’ demands multiply.
Some promo executives also believe RFPs have become more common, especially when it comes to trying to work with bigger fish clients. That reported increase, these industry pros say, interjects the challenges of the process more frequently into the daily business of distributors, requiring the devotion of additional hours and resources.
“RFPs have gotten infinitely more complicated,” asserts Bill Feldberg, executive vice president at Counselor Top 40 distributor Something Inked (asi/329822). “It used to be you could submit a price and sample and be good to go. Now, the amount of information required and the services you need to provide – like storage, drop-shipping, split shipping, customization, etc. – just add a lot of steps. The more steps, the more chances for mistakes.”
Why have RFPs increased in complexity? How are industry companies responding? And what can be improved about the process? Industry thought leaders address such questions here.
More Demanded, More Given
An RFP is a business document issued by a prospect that announces a project, describes it and solicits bids from contractors to complete it. The process is intended to help the buyer get the best price and solutions from the vendor best suited to deliver.
In promo, the increased hoop-jumping distributors now go through during the process appears to be the result of at least several root factors. One of those is that more than a few RFP-issuing prospects want to assess their potential promo partners’ ability to be a one-stop solution provider.
“We are seeing a lot more requests for storing product and shipping as needed, a lot more regarding web store/website inclusions, things like that,” Feldberg shares. “There’s just more going on related to developing merchandise programs and branding.”
Craig Nadel, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people, delivers a like-minded perspective.
“Big companies are more demanding with their RFPs,” says Nadel, president of Counselor Top 40 distributor Nadel (asi/279600). “They want more compliance, legal, freight expertise, tech expertise and executive contracts. To win the business, you need to have those experts trying to help get the client.”
Some businesses, especially larger ones, are also more aggressively tightening and centralizing procurement processes, driving a rise in the use of RFPs that aim to rigorously vet potential vendors, some executives say.
“Corporations have become more disciplined in their buying habits,” says Mike Wolfe, CEO of Counselor Top 40 distributor Zorch (asi/366078). “There’s a more holistic approach by the corporation, looking for that single-stop shopping. It’s influencing the role of RFPs in our industry as some companies pivot from relationship-based transactional sales into more program business purchasing models.”
As Nadel mentions, RFPs now more often seek to assess distributors’ technological capabilities, including cybersecurity protections. Distributors need to not only have a strong tech infrastructure in place but be able to demonstrate the strength of their systems.
Accomplishing that, while satisfying other elements of an RFP, can be complicated by the fact that the marketplace lacks a standard RFP that’s issued by all buyers.
“No two RFPs are alike, so there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ response,” says Terry McGuire, senior vice president of Counselor Top 40 distributor HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000). “The breadth and depth of client requirements for RFPs continue to grow, which requires additional time and diligence to respond.”
Undeniably, prospects’ requests for in-depth information about potential vendors’ position relative to sustainability, corporate social responsibility and diversity/equity/inclusion (DEI) has added layers to the RFP process.
“For example,” says Wolfe, “we have some clients that require an extensive amount of reporting on what we’re doing to drive meaningful DEI initiatives in our supply chain. Some are very focused on sustainability, too. They want verifiable reporting on your green efforts – things like your end-to-end carbon footprint.”
To be clear, Wolfe and other distributors aren’t lamenting would-be clients’ request for such information; they recognize it comes from a company’s desire to do good and protect brands from supporting/being associated with planet- or people-harming actions and actors.
Promo pros are saying, though, that establishing the initiatives and proofs necessary to meet potential client requirements in these areas and then accurately providing such information, based on the particulars of an RFP, takes time and resources.
“We’re happy to do the extra work, given the importance of these initiatives,” Wolfe says.
Like Wolfe and his team at Zorch, industry distributors say they’ve evolved – and continue to evolve – to keep up with the rigors of RFPs. This includes not only building the supports, systems and solution capabilities clients may want but also devoting team members expert in RFPs to navigating the process. For sure, that’s the case at HALO.
“We are fortunate to have an experienced team that rely on HALO subject matter experts to comprehensively respond to RFPs and improve our win rate,” McGuire says. “It makes sense for our business to invest these resources because we are responding to several RFPs each month.”
Something Inked has a strategic, proactive approach too, says Feldberg.
“For us, it starts with having our legal team review the RFP to ensure there are no crazy requirements and to see if there are any special requirements we may or may not meet, all to ensure it makes sense to even begin the submission process,” says Feldberg. “If it does make sense, the salesperson who got the opportunity and our sales leadership team will go through the RFP and submit the necessary info.”
Can Improvements Be Made?
While merch firms are adapting, certain industry pros think there’s room for considerable improvement in the RFP process – something they believe would benefit distributors and merch buyers.
“The RFP process can be painful for both parties,” says Robert Fiveash, co-president/co-owner of distributor Brand Fuel (asi/145025), a Counselor 2024 Best Place to Work in promo company. “A better process will ultimately help clients find their ideal partner – not necessarily just the one that checked all the boxes perfectly.”
Fiveash and Mair would like to see an overhaul that would turn the process more into a “request for a solution,” rather than a proposal. The difference, in part, centers on buyers clearly defining problems they’re trying to solve and objectives they’re trying to reach.
“We’re a creative industry, and when we know the problems we’re solving for, we can flex those creative muscles to come up with the best solutions,” says Mair. “This would greatly help clients get the best results in terms of the partners they work with and the effectiveness of their initiatives with merch.”
Still, some distributors say an impediment to the reimagined approach is that promo RFPs are often orchestrated by an organization’s procurement professionals rather than marketers or other departments that may actually be looking to leverage the swag toward an end. This creates stifling disconnects.
“In an RFP, when you are done showing why we fit to a very cost-conscious department like procurement, we are then challenged by the creatives in what deliverable expectations are. It’s usually never aligned and not congruent to each’s expectations,” says Memo Kahan, a member of Counselor’s Power 50 list of promo’s most influential people.
The process needs to be flipped, says Kahan, the CEO of Counselor Top 40 distributor PromoShop (asi/300446). “Since the different departments often lack alignment on deliverables and service-level expectations,” Kahan says, “I truly believe the process should be based on the true buyer’s needs, with some oversight from procurement, not the other way around.”
Similarly, Fiveash feels that an enhanced RFP scenario would include open communication with the key point of contact on the project and more time – say a month – to complete the process. “The ideal process would allow for a clear picture of the pain points that initiated the RFP and the ability to interview stakeholders to understand needs, challenges and opportunities,” he says.
But is any of this realistic? Fiveash and others think so.
“The main change is that clients need to have a POC that has the time, resources, authority and inclination to follow the better process,” he asserts. “It’s not more burdensome for them to do it right than it is to do it in the traditional box-check manner. Take the emphasis off of budget and price and put more weight on creativity, problem-solving and whether the account team is a good fit for the buyers/stakeholders. Look at our medium as more of an investment.”
Along the same lines, Chris McKee, chief revenue officer at Counselor Top 40 distributor Geiger (asi/202900), thinks a more dynamic RFP that goes beyond stale “yes” and “no” questions yields greater results for vendors and their customers.
“The best process allows for distributor and client to be able to dig into capabilities and really understand what will work for the client,” McKee says. “This includes a distribution strategy, product use profiles, sustainability opportunities and services by region – both domestic and international (when applicable). When this happens, the value to the client increases significantly and the relationships flourish.”
