Technical jargon: What does "RFP" actually mean?
Benno Maggi explains marketing and communications terms in his column "Technical jargon".
The acronym "RFP" causes perplexed hecticness everywhere - an uneasy mixture. Why? It stands for Request for Proposal and means the request to make a proposal. But a proposal for what, pray tell? This perplexity is immediately joined by excitement, because RFPs are usually submitted by a large corporation.
They speak in such short terms and apologize for this with the additional information that "we are an international company. And there is also a standardized and time-limited procedure that is not (yet) known, which encourages hectic action.
Many of these companies have gained enough experience over the years on how to comply with the standardized processes, but still let the same people win in the end. A bunch of agencies are contacted to make a proposal to solve the advertised problem. This by asking them to introduce themselves, disclose their processes and paint a price tag. As an offer for clarification, a transparent round of questions is submitted, in which the providers outbid each other with clever, often overlapping questions, and the potential clients are teased with meaningless and often contradictory answers.
Until the end, it remains unclear whether concept approaches, creative solutions or design mockups are now required or only price and agency presentation are desired. Whatever is proposed by the agencies, it will have been the right thing in case of success and the wrong thing in case of failure. So beware when receiving an RFP. The state of mind can quickly change from OMG to WTF - to stay with the acronyms for once.
* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He created the column "Vom Fach" in the NZZ Folio and was in charge of it for years. He presents and decodes words and terms that can be used either for small talk, being important, getting excited, playing Scrabble or simply for fun.
