In the game of life, many people tend to subconsciously let force of habit lead their decision-making. This can include what doctors to see, what grocery stores to shop at, and what brands to use. And somewhere along the line a friend or a coworker mentions a generic brand barbeque sauce that beats the heck out of your usual fanfare or a fantastic new dentist with an office just around the corner, conveniently in your company plan—and your world is turned slightly off kilter.
Vendors outside of your daily circle exist? And they offer excellent service, better products and competitive prices? Who knew?
The same tendencies occur in the workplace, and specifically in media-related projects. If you've been working with the same vendor for design needs or advertisement sales since the start of your newsletter or magazine, you're likely to continue to work under the status quo with little thought of changing. Sure, you can change the design of your layout or your font choices—but how often does the idea of a change on a huge scale cross your mind? Probably not too often.
And it wasn't too often for our association—in fact, we too had been using the same designers, same advertising representatives (who also handled event sponsorship and marketing) and same printers and mailers for as long as anyone could remember. But when we realized the upcoming expiration of the contract with our sales and marketing team—and in lieu of an organizational transition and in light of a challenging economy—we reevaluated our business practices and vendor relationships. The vendors mentioned above, believe it or not, were all completely separate entities requiring three different relationships, different contracts and invoices and entirely different business approaches. It didn't take long to discover that other vendor options were out there—vendors that were able to house all of these needs under one roof.
We put out a request for proposal (RFP) offering two components: outsourcing of sales and marketing activities and/or publication design and printing/distribution. Our number-one priority was to find a vendor who could successfully handle our sales and marketing services at a lower cost. And because so many agencies now bundle such services with design and distribution, we created a second statement of work for the RFP, inviting a packaged deal. The response from the RFP showed that our instincts were correct, and aligning all needs under one umbrella was the way the right strategic business move.
The RFP described our association, our membership and the existing environment relating to both projects, such as advertising revenue for all publications, sponsorship rates, and the financial history of all of our events. We then asked for a detailed history of the proposing supplier, including client references, staff listing, financial processes and deliverables, on top of proposal requirements specific to each project option (i.e. detailed description of strategic plan in increasing advertisement, sponsorship and marketing revenues for project one, and samples of published work for project two).
Upon receiving the RFPs, our company gathered a group of individuals ranging from the communications team, member and conference services team and reaching up to senior management. All proposals were carefully reviewed and rated, and top scorers were asked to pitch their RFP in-person. We went so far as to tour some of the facilities of our top-rated proposals, and after much deliberation and evaluation, drew up a contract with a vendor who offered us services that went above and beyond our needs and satisfaction, at a price that more than aligned with our budget.
We have now been working with our new vendor for almost a year and could not be happier. The staff from both companies happily transferred into a new way of working, and shared the pros and cons from their previous experiences, resulting in one amicable and successful flow of ideas, products and services. Because our advertising and sponsorship representative now works in the same office as our designers, all of our products and services are more streamlined and carry a theme that immediately alerts members to an AAMVA product. This really strengthens our relationship with members and enables us to brand ourselves better in our marketplace. As is often thought of habitual activity, breaking the habit can reap pretty great benefits in the long run.
