Mike
Your first point is the hardest one. From my recent experience, getting
clients to that stage of knowing the basic requirements needs a work strand
all of its own. They frequently don't seem to know why they want an xxx or
a yyy or who it's for...
JP
On 12 Mar 2015 09:21, "Mike Ellis" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Great post, and some useful stuff, thanks Andrew (and Kati!)
>
> Can I turn it around though, and also suggest that museums and other
> people who want work done can make everyone's jobs very much easier by -
> well, frankly - cutting to the chase in their RFP documents?
>
> The main things that every agency I've ever known looks for straight away
> when they get a document like this is:
>
> 1. A SHORT tl;dr version of the thing that is needed. So rather than a
> 100-page word-fest, something like this:
>
> "Our museum is looking to develop an online resource to do X for audience
> Y using technology Z"
>
> 2. A sense of timescales, right up front:
>
> "We need X to be delivered by mid-2015, but expect the project to be live
> for Y years"
>
> 3. Budget. Or at least a ballpark sense of budget.
>
> This is controversial, and I know some people like agencies to pitch this
> - BUT I also know that every single agency I know, mine included, prefer to
> have a sense of what they're working to.
>
> Firstly, it gives us some context as to how much effort to put in to the
> pitch.
>
> Secondly it really helps when actually thinking about what to propose -
> the "how much is a website" question is a non-question, especially in a
> world in which you can throw something up on WordPress.com for free. So
> being guided by budget is really helpful.
>
> Finally, and most frustratingly - ** Everyone has a budget!! ** - no-one
> goes to an agency without knowing what they want to spend - so why be so
> secretive about it? It's much better if a museum comes to you and says
> "Look, we've got £10,000 put aside for this, but really we're cost
> sensitive and would rather get it done for £7,000 so we can spend £3,000 on
> something else - so we will be judging your response partly based on what
> your estimate is". Or: "We've got a £10,000 grant to spend on this so as
> long as it hits the budget, that's fine. What we're really looking for is
> experience in doing X"
>
> I'd like to see a template where these three bits of information are on
> the very front page of any request - rather than having to play the
> scrolling-through-100-pages game in order to get to the crucial "do we want
> to pitch for this work?" information.
>
> cheers
>
> Mike
>
>
>
> _____________________________
>
>
> *Mike Ellis *
>
> Thirty8 Digital: a small but perfectly formed digital agency:
> http://thirty8.co.uk <http://thirty8.co.uk/>
>
> * My book: http://heritageweb.co.uk <http://heritageweb.co.uk/> *
>
>
>
> Andrew Lewis wrote:
>
>> Dear MCG people,
>>
>> Our very own Kati Price here has laid out a lovely summary of what goes
>> through a client's mind while reviewing tender proposals.
>> It's a very digestible summary.
>>
>> I'd suggest recommended reading for anyone managing a tender or indeed
>> anyone working in a prospective partner company who has to put a lot of
>> effort into writing a proposal.
>>
>> http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/digital-media/11-tips-for-
>> writing-a-killer-proposal-2
>>
>> enjoy
>>
>> Andrew Lewis
>> Digital Content Delivery Manager
>> Digital Media
>>
>> Victoria and Albert Museum | South Kensington | London | SW7 2RL
>> T: +44 (0)20 7942 2373
>> linkd.in/andrewlewis<http://linkd.in/andrewlewis>
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