Here’s a truth many agencies won’t say out loud: some of our client’s most successful projects were the ones that didn’t begin with an RFP. 
 
This might sound self-serving. But if you’ve been on either side of a lengthy, highly prescriptive procurement process, you know the cost: in time, opportunity, and creative momentum. And when you’re looking to launch a brand campaign in 2 months, the delay in getting to the project kickoff curtails everyone’s ability to deliver the best program possible. 
 
The intention behind an RFP is sound: bring structure to decision-making, create parity between contenders, and document the process. But when the assignment is open-ended – “We need to reimagine our brand story” or “We want to establish a thought leadership platform that stands out” – an RFP often forces answers too soon. It invites a response to a fixed brief when the brief itself needs work. We’ve seen this play out time and time again. 

 
And we’ve found that some of the best work starts in exactly the opposite way of a fixed brief from our clients. It starts with uncertainty, a challenge, and a conversation– not to mention a few SME interviews – before we can clearly articulate the opportunity. 

 
The problem with premature precision 
 
Too often, RFPs create pressure to define every deliverable, deadline, and KPI before we’ve fully unpacked the underlying challenge. This pressure turns what should be exploratory projects into rigid bidding exercises. The result? The “winner” is often the one that delivers on the client’s incomplete brief best, not necessarily the team best equipped to solve the actual problem. 
 
And if your project is strategic in nature – asking questions about audience relevance, business alignment, or competitive advantage – you’ll need a partner who can help define the problem, not just check the boxes on a scope of work. 
 
What to try instead 
 
If you’re facing a brand challenge or planning a major marketing initiative but aren’t sure exactly what shape it should take, here’s what we recommend: 
 
1. Start with a conversation, not a checklist. 
Reach out to two or three agencies you trust or want to get to know. Ask for a short call. Let the conversation be open-ended. It’s okay to admit that you don’t have all the answers. The best partners don’t need you to. 
 
2. Share your context and constraints. 
What internal conversations sparked this initiative? What’s falling short today? What do you want your leadership or your customers to say six months from now that they’re not saying now? Be candid. This isn’t a pitch, it’s a co-investigation. 
 
3. Ask how they’d frame the challenge. 
A true agency partner won’t leap to tactics. They’ll start by reflecting your situation back to you with clarity, and likely frame it in a way that helps your team see the opportunity in a new light. That reframing is more valuable than any line item on an RFP response. And what we’ve often found is if both sides maintain a degree of flexibility in the deliverables, you can come up with a program that better meets the goals. 
 
4. Talk budget early. 
This can feel risky. But transparency here sets the tone for trust later. Agencies that do strategic work want to help you get the most from your budget. Knowing what parameters they’re working within allows them to propose the right scale of solution; one that’s grounded in reality. And it saves a lot of back and forth so the real work can begin now. 
 
5. See how they think, not just what they make. 
You’re not just buying assets. You’re buying a way of approaching problems. Agencies that lead with curiosity, not assumptions, often bring the most long-term value. 
 
Build trust before you buy 
 
This isn’t about skipping due diligence. It’s about replacing a document-driven process with a dialogue-driven one. 
 
When clients start by opening up the conversation instead of locking down the scope, both sides win. You get smarter thinking, tailored ideas, and a clearer sense of whether the agency’s instincts align with yours. And the agency gets a chance to demonstrate value through substantive conversation, not just polish. 
 
Some of the best, most collaborative outcomes we’ve seen began with an informal, 30-minute call. No pitch deck. Just a shared commitment to defining the challenge before solving it. For example, a biotech client of mine was charged with building the employer brand as they approached commercialization. She mentioned the need many times, talked about the complexity, and told me she was working on a brief. More than a month passed by, and she was unable to get to the brief. I offered a call instead.  Together with a strategist, I met with her for an hour to facilitate a Mural board working session that helped us wrap our collective heads around the situation. We then came back with a proposed approach for scoping this project. 
 
If your next project involves telling a more compelling story, bringing new energy to a market-facing platform, or helping your brand meet the moment – consider skipping the RFP, at least for now. 
 
I bet you’ll find the real answers are hiding in the questions you haven’t asked yet.