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Geoff recently wrote in this very blog about the shortcomings of submitting a Request For Proposal for Web development, and in fact strongly recommended against it. This of course scared me more than a little as part of my job is to reply to RFP’s, and Geoff is of course our owner. If he submits a new entry stating that my office would perhaps look better empty, I might weep openly. Again. So I thought it might be a good idea to help justify my continued employment by outlining the type of situation where an RFP can be a useful project tool.

Defining our Terms – Project Proposal Stages

Generating an accurate project proposal has two distinct stages. The first stage is Project Discovery, where the goals, specific functions and budget of the Web project are determined. The second stage is Proposal Development (aka the “Phil Phase”, but I’m still waiting for that to become official industry jargon) where a proposal is prepared that outlines the entire project in detail and gives the cost to develop each piece. This brings us to the big questions to see if a Web development RFP is appropriate:

When to Submit an RFP – Which stage are you in?

Not completing the Project Discovery stage makes for a bad RFP, and trying to respond to a bad RFP is like trying to build a house using a child’s drawing. Two windows and a door can do, but I highly doubt that this is all you wanted for your project. But shouldn’t an experienced Web firm such as ourselves know the industry and our own capabilities and be able to help you develop a project outline based on your needs and market? Yes we do and yes we can, and please by all means call us, but don’t ruin your week and mine trying an RFP. You have to finish off your Project Discovery stage to get anything detailed enough for us to tell you what it will take to actually make the thing.

So, for the attention-challenged:

Submit and RFP If – You have completed the Project Discovery stage and established the goals and functionality for the site. If the picture of the project isn’t that clear for you yet, please follow the steps that Geoff laid out in his entry. If you have a good understanding of your needs, a strong summary of your project and would like to get a bunch of proposals for it, submit away.

Do not submit an RFP if – You are not ready to clearly quantify what the site should do and how it should work. “I would like to improve communication with our clients through the site” is not a statement, it is a full-blown conversation. Call us and talk through your needs, goals and potential site users.

Oh, and please do not go the RFP route if you are looking for SEO. Optimization is too market-specific and goals are too varied – please see above regarding us and a phone call.

That’s it for me, other than to point out that I am generally a nice guy that people like having around, and I believe we should fully explore my phone-answering skills before letting me go if the RFP’s stop coming in.

Now Available! Check out The Karcher Group’s sample development RFP by clicking here

This entry was posted on Friday, June 8th, 2007 at 3:43 pm and is filed under Web Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.