Everybody hates RFPs, I haven’t met anyone in this business who likes them. Now that I think about it I’ve never met anyone who has won a job from one. There is something about spending hours pouring through a potential clients specifications and questions only to find out your competing with forty other people on price. I came across this post about RFPs. The writer talks about growing into the position of being able to turn down RFPs.

I’ve never gotten a template RFP, but every few weeks I get an inquiry from someone looking for some kind of web work. Most are trying to get an idea about price and what I can do for them. Before I can get an accurate quote put together I need to know what I’m building. Is there content that will be updated frequently? Are you looking for some kind of content management system, or will you require me to do updates from time to time? How much creative work needs done? Do you already have a logo? How about photos? Do you need help with the copy?

For me the easiest way to handle these requests is to give them a starting price (a price based on assumptions) and give them a questionnaire to fill out so I can put a real quote together. The problem with that method is that I send out the questionnaire and never hear from them again. My questions are to potential clients what RFPs are to creative professionals. They take a lot of time for a client to fill out but they give me a lot of great information that defines the scope of the project. I’m not a salesman, but I do know where I add value to a project. Unfortunately, my questionnaire doesn’t communicate that value to potential clients.

Craig Minch comes out and says on his website that he won’t quote a job until he talks to the client (see it on his contact page). When he first told me about his policy I saw where he was coming from, but I thought it was a little excessive. The more potential clients I come in contact with the more I realize how important that upfront communication is. It can take two or three hours to put together a proposal, spending ten minutes on the phone before can save everyone a lot of time. In some cases it will let you know if it’s really a client you want. In fact you could say a person who is unwilling to talk about the project with you is a client you don’t want.

There are exceptions to the rule. There a couple folks I work with online without ever calling (they were willing to fill out my silly questionnaire), but those folks are rare. As time goes on the more sense Craig’s recommendation makes. What do you think, what is the best way to handle a potential client who shoots you an email or message with no way to contact other than email?