What questions should you ask agencies in an RFP?
The questions you ask in an RFP matter just as much as the brief itself. Too often, RFPs are filled with recycled questions pulled from past processes or shared templates. The result are long, polished proposals that look comprehensive but don’t actually help you make a decision.
A better approach: only ask what will materially inform your choice.
Start with your decision criteria
Before writing a single question, get clear on how you will evaluate agencies.
Your questions should map directly to what matters most:
The type of thinking you need
The way the agency will work with your team
The specific capabilities required for the assignment
If a question doesn’t tie back to how you’ll choose a partner, it shouldn’t be in the RFP. This is where many processes break down. The questions and the decision criteria drift apart, which leads to a lot of information and very little clarity.
Focus on how the agency works, not just what they’ve done
Case studies and credentials have their place, but they’re rarely the deciding factor. What often matters more is how the agency will approach the partnership.
For example:
How would you approach discovery and onboarding while demonstrating progress in our first 90 days?
How would you structure the account team to balance senior oversight with day-to-day execution, given the realities of our scope and budget?
What would you do to keep this work moving when faced with multiple stakeholders and competing perspectives?
How would you adapt your approach if priorities shift or the scope evolves midstream?
These types of questions move beyond generic credentials and get to how the work will actually happen.
Use prompts to see how they think
Not speculative work. Not free ideas. Just a window into how they approach the problem.
For example:
Based on what you know, what feels like the most ownable territory for this brand, and what feels undifferentiated?
What would you need to understand about our customer/audience before shaping a direction, and how would you go about getting there?
When you think about work like this at its best, what separates the ideas that land from the ones that fall flat? How would you apply that here?
What would you prioritize solving first, and what would you sequence later?
You’re not looking for finished thinking. You’re looking for how they frame the challenge, where they start, and how they make decisions.
Be intentional about what different stakeholders need
Not everyone reviewing the RFP is looking for the same thing. Procurement, for example, often emphasizes detailed staffing models, hourly allocations, and cost breakdowns. But if those details won’t materially influence how you choose an agency, don’t ask for them.
Every question should reflect what your organization actually needs to evaluate, not what another company required in a different process.
Encourage clarity and brevity
No one has time to read a 50+ page proposal. If your RFP invites long, exhaustive responses, that’s exactly what you’ll get.
Instead:
Ask focused questions
Be clear about what you’re looking for
Signal that concise, thoughtful responses are valued
You’ll get sharper thinking and make the process easier for everyone involved.
Pressure-test your questions before you send
Before finalizing your RFP, review each question and ask:
Will this directly impact our decision?
Are we asking for this out of habit or necessity?
Do we already know this, or can we learn it in conversation?
If the answer isn’t clear, cut it.
The bottom line
A strong RFP isn’t about asking more questions. It’s about asking the right ones.
When your questions are focused, intentional, and tied to how you’ll choose a partner, you get better responses, clearer comparisons, and a much higher likelihood of making the right decision.