In today’s agile business environment, the Request for Proposal (RFP) can seem like an overly cumbersome process for vetting call center outsourcing vendors. In our article, The Blind RFP, we described how RFPs are often blasted out to vendors indiscriminately. Let’s expand on this conversation with a more holistic analysis on what’s wrong with RFPs, what’s right with them and alternatives to the traditional RFP process.
We surveyed dozens of call center outsourcing clients and vendors across industry segments and deal sizes. We asked a few simple questions about their views on RFPs, and our findings paint an interesting picture:
If clients’ and vendors’ perspectives regarding the RFP are as unfavorable as our survey indicates, are we OK with business as usual? Unless we adopt more creative ways to evaluate vendors, it looks like the default RFP will remain ubiquitous in our industry.
The call center industry has evolved over the past two decades, yet too many RFPs today still follow outdated practices. For example, the compilation of the “RFP list” is often put together without much prequalification. We’ve encountered clients who search on Google for call center vendors, and boom—they end up on the RFP list.
What purpose does this serve other than giving the “RFP list compiler person” bragging rights about how many vendors they “got” for the RFP? This approach is about quantity, not quality.
Padding the list with random vendors decreases your chances of finding the perfect match.
Look at it this way—if you were looking to fill a key position in your company, would you interview all candidates whose resumes you received? Of course not. You’d screen them carefully and only allow the best-in-class and most qualified to make your short list. So why include unqualified call center vendors in your RFP without proper screening, vetting and scrutinization?
The issues that both clients and vendors have with RFPs are symptomatic of a deeper problem with the process itself. Most RFPs follow this format:
Is this the best we can do? A mechanical and impersonal RFP process does not give vendors an opportunity to get creative or to provide a 360-degree view of their services. Clients often complain that too many RFP responses are cut and paste jobs. Well that is true because vendors will cut and paste responses when each RFP they receive follows the above process, and the RFP itself is a derivative of another RFP, which is a derivative of yet another RFP.
To come up with a more beneficial solution for both clients and vendors, let’s first delve a little deeper into the what, when and why of RFPs.
Most organizations issue RFPs for the following reasons:
As much as the RFP is maligned, it has many advantages and if implemented correctly, RFPs can help in identifying the right outsourcers.
The following are several reasons why the RFP can be useful:
The RFP is without a doubt, resource-intensive. Clients invest a lot of effort into the process, yet often overlooked is the effort required on the vendor’s part to respond.
Given the resource and time commitment and previously mentioned flaws with the process, it’s understandable that many vendors can become frustrated when faced with the common pitfalls associated with RFPs. The following are some of the reasons why RFPs get a bad rap:
As an industry, we continue to implement RFPs the way that they have always been done. Does this mean that we should still use workforce management practices or ACD technology from the 1990s? If we can adapt to changing processes and technologies, then we should also be capable of adapting to newer and better vetting practices.
We don’t have to default to the same old way of doing things. A better approach is to isolate the components of the RFP process that work effectively and combine them with newer and better methods of vetting talent.
For example:
Gather your short list of vendors and send them a brief RFI—Request for Information, requiring basic info. Next, schedule a video conference that poses a series of additional questions to the vendor. Give them a maximum of 2-3 minutes to respond verbally to specific questions. The questions could range from basic to situational (e.g., “What would you do if ____?”).
This process helps clients to put faces, voices and personalities to the vendors’ responses. It also tests the vendor’s ability to articulate services and solutions in an unfiltered and unrehearsed way.
Using this approach can also help the client to judge whether the vendor’s participants are all on the same page. Are they authentic? Are they answering questions naturally and with confidence and verve? Or do they lack conviction?
Once you’ve collected a short list of vendors, invite each vendor to visit you in person for a pre-RFP meeting. During the visit, the vendor will get to immerse themselves in the client’s call center (if internal), process, culture and way of doing things. Post-meeting, administer an RFP so that the vendors can respond intelligently based on a more informed understanding of the client’s requirements.
Instead of an RFP, create an SAT-type test that asks the vendor a series of “what-if” questions. It’s best to narrow your list of vendors first. Then, brainstorm internally to develop a series of situational questions that will help to extrapolate the “inner vendor”, instead of the typical gloss and shine responses. For example, “What if you are staffed at ____ agents and your service levels are _____ when they should be ______? What is your process to take corrective measures, and who is responsible for executing your plan and communicating with the client?”
Send a short list of prequalified vendors a scope of work (SOW) describing your business needs in detail. Then ask each vendor to come up with a freehand creative response to your SOW. Provide vendors with a few required guardrail questions so that responses follow a consistent format, however, let the vendors determine how they want to respond and what additional information they feel it is necessary to include.
Conduct the bulk of your RFP questions at the vendor’s site. Start by sending your broader list of vendors 10 questions maximum and come up with a weighted score for each question depending on your key selection criteria. Then, after scoring their responses, schedule site visits to your down-selected vendor(s). Take stakeholders to the site visits, and plan on spending 1-2 days at the vendor site. Set the agenda for the visit and send the vendor a more detailed list of questions that you want answers to on-site. This process enables the vendor to “show you,” not just “tell you” how they operate.
Yes, this sounds counterintuitive but why not? In traditional RFPs, the Q&A process allows vendors to ask questions. The RFP captain at the client compiles the questions, obtains answers and provides the vendor with a codified Q&A. So why not make this the RFP? Allow a short list of vendors to ask no more than 10 questions each about the client’s business needs, then provide a proposal to the client. Clients can evaluate vendors on the types of questions asked and the strength of each proposal received.
Allow vendors to produce their own videos instead of responding to a list of RFP questions. Give vendors the opportunity to create a five- to 10-minute video that tells their unique story. Allow the vendor to get as creative as they want within the framework of the client’s guidelines on required topics, suggested topics and parameters on the length of the video.
In the end, if all the stakes are on the table, and all other boxes are checked, what are clients really looking for in a vendor today? Culture, transparency, innovation, follow through… I could go on.
The call center industry has undergone a profound transformation during the past two decades—emerging into a highly visible touchpoint representing the human face of the brand.
More care and attention need to be paid to the process for identifying and selecting a vendor partner that is the best match for an organization’s mission, vision and values. It is a distinctive role, which demands a more unique, creative approach to fulfill—perhaps we should think of it as a Request for People… or Passion… or Personality.
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As a call center outsourcing thought leader and president of CustomerServ, Nick Jiwa is dedicated to helping companies find, select and retain the right call center outsourcing partners. Nick’s expertise and contribution to the call center industry started in 1986 – as a call center agent when the industry was still in its infancy. An avid 80s music buff, proud father and soccer fanatic, Nick is passionate about “anything call center”, giving back to the community, mentoring and helping others win.