Why RFPs Are Bad for Everyone (Yes, Even You)

Let Me Say It Plain: I Cringe When I See an RFP

This week, I got another one of those. You know what I mean.

👉 A Request for Proposal (RFP) sent via a cold email.
👉 A barcode or a portal link to "submit your interest."
👉 No real contact, no conversation, just… fill out the form and prove yourself.

And every time I get one, I punt.

Not because I’m arrogant. Not because I don’t want to win new business. But because this process is so fundamentally flawed, it’s hurting everyone—especially the people who created the RFP in the first place.

Let’s break it down.

1. RFPs Are a Lazy Way to Find a Partner

Let’s say you’re looking for a new agency to help with your marketing. Instead of talking to people, learning about their work, and seeing if there’s chemistry, you send out a cattle call. “Hey everyone, prove your worth. But you only get one shot.”

This is like asking five people to write you a love letter without ever going on a date. Sounds romantic, but it’s not. It’s transactional. Cold. And disconnected from reality.

In fact—sorry to break it to you—I don’t work with just anyone. There has to be a mutual spark. Energy. A click. That’s hard to feel through a form on a portal.

2. RFPs Focus on Price, Not Value

When you reduce your selection process to a document, you’re usually optimizing for one thing: cost.

Not creativity.
Not strategic thinking.
Not long-term results.

Just, “How cheap can you do it?”

If that’s your primary concern, you’re not looking for a partner—you’re looking for a discount. And when you optimize for low cost, you often end up paying twice: once for bad work, and once to clean it up.

3. RFPs Are a Request for Free Work

Let’s call it what it is.

Most RFPs ask agencies to:

• Build strategies
• Outline tactics
• Do competitive audits
• Estimate performance
• Show creative samples

…all for free.

That’s like asking a home builder to draft blueprints, mock up the house, and show you interior design—just to maybe, possibly, potentially get the job.

Imagine walking into a bakery, asking for a custom cake tasting, design consultation, and mock display—and then saying, “Thanks, we’ll let you know if we go with you.”

Wouldn’t fly there. Shouldn’t fly here.

4. There's No Room for Human Connection

Here’s the big one: RFPs remove the human element.

I don’t want to just be a name on a spreadsheet. I want to know your goals. Hear your tone. Understand your pain points. Maybe even laugh together.

RFPs strip all that away. They reduce potential partnerships to a list of boxes and budget columns.

That’s not how you find a real fit. That’s how you find a mismatch in disguise.

5. They Favor Style Over Substance

Let’s be real: the shiniest deck doesn’t always win the long game.

But in the RFP world, whoever can package their pitch the prettiest often wins. Not because they’re the best fit—but because they had the resources to make a beautiful PDF.

You don’t need someone who can impress you with transitions and buzzwords. You need someone who can move the needle.

6. They Kill the “Why” Behind the Work

One of the biggest issues? The context gets lost.

Without real conversations, you’re asking me to guess:

• What your actual problems are
• What matters most to your team
• What your internal politics look like
• What constraints you forgot to mention

That’s like handing over your car to a mechanic and saying, “It makes a noise. Fix it.” What kind of noise? When? How long has it been happening? That context matters.

So… What’s the Better Way?

✅ Have a conversation.
Spend 15 minutes on a call. That’s it. You’ll learn more in those 15 minutes than in reviewing 20 proposals.

✅ Ask for a chemistry check.
Invite 2–3 agencies you’ve researched and actually like based on real work—not SEO results or directory listings.

✅ Pay for discovery.
If you want strategy, pay for strategy. Book a consulting session. You’ll walk away with something useful, whether we work together or not. And you'll get a real taste of how we think and work.

Final Thoughts

If you’re serious about solving a problem, take the time to scout the right partner. Don’t send a Google Form and hope the right person jumps through your hoops.

I don’t want to convince you to hire me.
I want you to be excited to work with me because you’ve seen my thinking, felt the connection, and believe in what I do.

If that means skipping the RFP process and hopping on a real call? Even better.

👋 Need help figuring out if I’m the right fit?

Let’s talk first—no proposals, no pitch decks, just real talk.
Book a quick free consultation and see if we click:
[Schedule a Consult →]