Even at first reading, the logic of this proclamation (We will do with words what we used to do with paper) seems obvious, almost irrefutable. This straightforward approach of using conversation rather than writing to determine a fit makes perfect sense for both parties, but it is rarely practiced in the creative professions. The written proposal is the norm and not the exception.

Let us explore the many reasons why the client asks for a written proposal and see how many of them are valid.

To Keep the Hordes at Bay

The over-supply of undifferentiated creative firms has necessitated a process that keeps the client from being overwhelmed. He uses the written proposal as a tool to help him. It allows him to keep the masses at arm’s length and still give him something upon which to determine a next step. If we have succeeded in following the first proclamation and we have built an obvious specialized expertise, then we make it easier for the client to let us in. Otherwise, he will use the written proposal to keep us out.

We must embrace the challenge implied by the request for proposal (RFP). If we see the RFP as a tool for keeping undifferentiated firms at arm’s length, then we will take up the challenge to break through the proposal process and gain validation that the client does indeed recognize and value our expertise. When he does not, he will use the proposal, and its supporting selection process, as a means of maintaining distance. The better clients, when they do recognize expertise, will crack open the façade of the proposal process and agree to a proper conversation. The question is one of merit: is the expertise of our firm deserving of such access?

This challenge aids us in determining very early in the process whether or not the opportunity is worth pursuing. For if the client does not recognize and value our expertise then we have failed—failed to build true expertise, failed to demonstrate that expertise or failed by pursuing an opportunity that is not properly aligned with our expertise. In most of these cases it is appropriate for us to retreat. We can do so without having overinvested in the opportunity. We can do so with our integrity intact and with possible future business opportunities preserved.

To Compare

In sorting through many similar firms, the client seeks to grid out their likenesses and differences. Undifferentiated firms gladly participate in this process. By not following the first proclamation, these businesses operate from positions of little power. Thus, all they can hope for is to win based on service (as demonstrated by compliance to the client’s process), personality, price, or by beginning to solve the client’s problem within the proposal. The process itself is an exercise in homogenization that reduces each firm to samples of its work, ill-informed guesses at possible strategies and hourly rates. True differences do not shine through in written proposals.

If we are pomegranates then we will resist being pushed into a process designed to compare apples to apples.

To Measure Value

Value = Quality/Price. The client’s challenge in determining the value of our services is that the quality of an idea not yet delivered is difficult to measure. This leaves him with two options: he can over-weight the decision toward that which he can measure (price), or he can ask us to deliver the idea (for free) in an effort to determine its quality.

By following the third proclamation (We will diagnose before we prescribe) we demonstrate that our ability to do our best work is rooted in the strength of our diagnostic and strategic development processes. A client asking for unpaid ideas in a written proposal is like a patient asking for a diagnosis and prescription from a doctor he refuses to visit or pay.

The flaws of the proposal process are one more reason we must see the request for a proposal as a challenge to be met. Either we leverage the power gained by our expertise to impact the client’s process and replace the proposal and accompanying presentation with conversation, or we walk away and leave this client to another firm.

To Gain Inspiration

The most common, and costly, business development mistake shared by creative firms around the world is that of mistaking interest for intent.

Clients often ask creative firms for proposals before their intent to act on their problem has been formed. In these situations we must recognize that while the client is simply seeking the inspiration to help move him forward, sending us away to write is not likely to achieve it. We must learn to measure the client’s intent; if his decision to act on his opportunity has not yet been anchored to a future date or event (a decent indicator of intent), then the written proposal is not the tool to help propel him forward. If the engagement has not yet moved from his wish list to his to-do list, then it is still inspiration he seeks.

We are better off in these cases exploring our previous work for examples of inspiration, or examining with him his competitor’s work or other best practices from further afield. Sometimes such explorations merit a small paid discovery engagement, and sometimes they are merely part of the conversations in the buying cycle; but we must not mistake the seeking of inspiration for the will to move forward.

To Stall

Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is probably not. And if this is what the client is really thinking, then this is what we should be keen and able to hear. But when we push too hard—when we pitch, present and invest in a written proposal—we often make it difficult for the client to be honest with us. In these cases he will use the written proposal and its supporting process to not say anything to us when he really would like to say no. If the answer is no, we want to hear it; therefore, we want to make it easy for the client to say it. It serves neither of us when we lob a written proposal over the fence and wait patiently for a reply.

To Shop Around for a Better Price

We are under no obligation to provide the client with a reference of services, process and price just so that he can find someone else to do what we would do, the way we would do it, but cheaper. Res ipsa loquitur.