There was a moment in my career when I realized I had been approaching RFPs in the wrong way. I thought RFPs were about demonstrating our expertise, the sophistication of our methodology, and the innovative nature of our work.
It turns out that’s how you lose.
Committees don’t select vendors based on brilliance. They select the vendor who makes them feel safe with their decision:
“If we pick you, nothing will blow up—and we’ll look smart for choosing you.”
The epiphany hit me after losing a pitch we should have won.
– We had the experience.
– We had the case studies.
– We had the vision.
But the committee chose another firm.
Their reason stunned me:
“Your proposal was impressive, but it felt risky using a 3rd party solution with that much control.”
That sentence changed everything.
From that point forward, I stopped writing proposals as if I were selling services. I started writing them as if I were reducing someone’s anxiety. And everything changed.
The 4 Forces That Actually Win Digital RFPs
1. Demonstrate Economic Value (Not Deliverables)
Most RFPs ask:
- “What will you do for us within the budget range?”
But decision makers secretly mean: - “How will this create measurable economic value?”
This is where most proposals fall apart. They list tasks and actions they will take, rather than outcomes. You must validate their business case.
Winning proposals quantify:
- Revenue impact
- Cost efficiency
- Avoided losses
- Productivity gains
- Strategic enablement
You win by showing how your work ladders to their financial model. Even if not stated, there will be a perceived or anticipated value expected from this effort.
2. Minimize Risk—The Hidden Scoring Matrix
The committee’s real evaluation criteria look like this:
- Will you embarrass us?
- Will you blow the timeline?
- Will you blame us when you hit a roadblock?
- Will our internal teams hate working with you?
- Can you keep the executives off our back?
Risk isn’t listed in the RFP.
It lives in the hallways.
It lives in the experiences of damaged committees still traumatized from the last redesign.
Show your systems:
- Governance
- QA
- Escalation paths
- Communication rhythms
- Transparency mechanisms
Risk reduction wins more points than creativity.
Why Economic Value Is the Ultimate Risk Reducer
The truth is, economic value and risk mitigation are not separate forces — they’re two sides of the same decision.
A buyer will absolutely spend money if they believe the investment aligns directly with their purpose, KPIs, and the outcomes they are accountable for. The fastest way to de-risk a vendor is to demonstrate, with credibility and specificity, how you will create the exact value they expect and how your solution delivers against the success definition they already have in mind.
If you can clearly show what economic value you will deliver and how you will deliver it, you’ve already eliminated the biggest source of fear in the selection process.
Everything else — process maturity, governance, communication, experience — becomes the secondary layer of risk reduction.
The foundational de-risking signal is this:
“We can trust you to produce the value we are staking our internal reputation on.”
This is the point where economic value becomes more than a pitch — it becomes proof.
And proof is the most potent antidote to RFP risk.
3. Demonstrate Team and Organizational Fit
Most people think RFPs are rational. They’re not.
They’re tribal.
Committees select teams they believe they can collaborate with, be honest with, and escalate issues to without conflict.
You win by demonstrating:
- Cultural fit
- Responsiveness
- Empathy
- Cross-functional maturity
- Low ego collaboration
This is where you beat larger, louder competitors.
4. Listen First. Solve Second. Sell Last.
Most proposals are a monologue. Winning proposals are a mirror.
You must prove:
- You understood their RFP
- You understand their internal environment
- You understand their constraints
- You understand why they are issuing the RFP in the first place
Only then do you introduce your differentiators.
The rule is simple:
Fulfill the RFP before you innovate beyond it.
Committees penalize vendors who attempt to substitute requirements with preferences.
The Missing Elements No One Talks About
5. Simplicity Beats Complexity
Decision committees reward proposals that reduce cognitive load. RFPs are evaluated under time pressure—clarity wins.
Committees evaluate 8-20 proposals. They skim, not study.
You win not by saying the most, but by making the decision easiest.
6. Proof of Competence Through Relevant Evidence
It is crucial to demonstrate your competence in the required services, and you must provide relevant evidence of this competency and its economic value. This is achieved by presenting relevant examples, rather than a portfolio tour of logos, awards, and unrelated case studies.
The primary thing they want to know is:
“Have you successfull solved this problem in a context that looks like our world?”
Evidence is your currency. Don’t waste their time showing them projects that have no relevance to theirs.
7. Differentiation With Restraint
You must answer the RFP accurately before adding your unique perspective and secret sauce. Differentiation loses points when it replaces, rather than enhances, the required solution.
In Epiphany 9 – You Must Be Different, I argued that to win in a crowded digital marketplace, you need to be different—not just in service, but in orientation.
Here’s the nuance: We’ve found two very different buyer types in the RFP world:
- The embedded-strategist buyer: They want you to up-skill their internal team, improve their process, and bring strategy alongside execution.
- The get-stuff-done buyer: They want an agency to do stuff. They don’t want coaching or transformation—they want a reliable hands-on partner.
Your differentiation doesn’t matter unless you can signal clearly which of those two buyers you serve. And when you’re responding to an RFP, you must select the correct orientation and demonstrate how your proposal addresses the actual RFP (not just the stated one).
8. Operational Readiness > Theoretical Excellence
Most buyers fear operational chaos, and execution fear kills proposals.
Showing your process and execution systems (QA, reporting cadence, comms pathways, escalation maps) reduces fear dramatically.
9. Understanding the Buyer’s Organizational Physics
Every RFP has two layers:
- The public scope
- The private pain
Speak to both. Winners show awareness of:
- Internal silos
- Stakeholder incentives
- Approval bottlenecks
- Past failures
- Political landmines
This is the epiphany layer: the RFP isn’t the real RFP.
10. Tie Everything to Their Definition of Contribution Value
This is where agencies tend to lose focus by prioritizing themselves over the client.
Tie every recommendation to:
- Their KPIs
- Their incentives
- Their cross-functional tensions
- The outcomes that define success for them, not you
The goal is to show alignment with them, not with you.
- Not your KPIs.
- Not your methodology.
- Not your deliverables.
Final Thought
RFPs aren’t about winning the argument. They’re about removing doubt. That is the real RFP process, ensuring that you are the safe and best bet.
If you can demonstrate economic value, reduce risk, show team fit, and reflect back a deep understanding of their needs, you’re already in the top 5%.
Add simplicity, relevance, operational maturity, and contribution value—and you’re in the top 1%.
Winning RFPs isn’t a sales skill.
It’s an empathy skill.
And that’s the epiphany.
Explore More Epiphanies
This article is part of my ongoing series, My Digital Marketing Epiphanies – realizations, hard-earned lessons, and mental models shaped by decades in the field.
If you want more insights, visit the full archive here: My Digital Marketing Epiphanies.
