WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD FOR PUTTING A PROJECT OUT FOR BID?

The most effective and efficient way to put a project out for bid is to be clear and concise about what you want. Many Requests for Quote (RFQ) and Requests for Proposal (RFP), both terms are used interchangeably, are somewhat vague and result in bidders misunderstanding what you want.

RFP’s and RFQ’s for media projects usually fall into one of two categories: (1) The requestor knows exactly what they want, clearly details it, and is simply looking for a dollar quote; and (2) is where a company knows what they want to achieve, but relies on the bidder to come up with a creative solution.

Coming up with a creative solution can take an enormous amount of time and effort, so out of respect for the vendor’s efforts and to get the best possible results, you need to clearly articulate your objective, who your audience is, your schedule, budget, and anything else that a vendor needs to know beforehand.Often times project managers are reluctant to share their budget, but without it a vendor is flying blind. The most talented company may guess wrong and come up with a fabulous idea for $40,000 over what you have to spend, thereby taking themselves out of the contention. Had they known the real price range, they might have been the winning bidder. By not disclosing your budgetary range, you are depriving yourself of really great ideas.

Another thing to consider is that vendors will often contact you directly with questions that help define the project parameters. Any question posed and answered by you should then be shared with the other bidders. Otherwise, the company who posed the question has a competitive advantage which is not in your best interests.

If you are doing the type of project that does not need a customized creative solution and you know exactly what you want, then it helps to have all competing suppliers follow a common spreadsheet layout. By having every bidder plug in numbers on a common form you can easily compare line items like crew and equipment. A standardized form also allows you to quickly identify anomalies in certain quotes that may indicate the bidder has misunderstood the scope of the project or simply neglected to include something. It’s better to identify such problems before a project is awarded, rather than later. Boiler-plate spreadsheet forms for media can be found on the Internet or you can customize your own.

If you do not have the ability to scope out your project, then we suggest you talk at length with a supplier or two to get their input. These suppliers could be bidders on the same project since helping to define the project offers no real competitive advantage unless you are asking for a creative solution. Then, of course, it would be considered unethical since those suppliers would have a significant head-start in formulating creative ideas.

All-in-all, if you don't invest the time up front, it's going to cost more time and money later. You will usually find the best vendor with the least amount of aggravation if you provide the necessary details and create a common structure for bid submissions.

Jeff Gewert
© Copyright 2009, JMG Productions, Inc.