If You plan to pitch this year, it’s time to start with a requirements analysis
The importance of defining requirements cannot be overstated. Requirements form the foundation for creating the right processes and frameworks for your pitch. The more quality you invest in your requirements analysis, the more quality you’ll receive in return during your tender process. I assure you, well-defined requirements lead to less work, fewer iterations, and lower effort during the pitch process
A thorough requirements analysis establishes the groundwork for a successful tender process and helps identify the best agencies to meet your company’s unique challenges. For instance, do you really need an agency to provide an in-depth strategic concept when your primary need is flawless execution of your campaigns? Remember, the “jack of all trades” is rare. Defining more than four or five requirements risks attracting average agencies rather than the experts you need.
This document serves as a guide to clearly defining and structuring the essential requirements for a marketing agency.
Why Requirements Come Before the Briefing
Before drafting a briefing, it’s essential to clearly define the requirements. These must originate from within the company itself and represent the fundamental needs and expectations to be addressed. While the briefing outlines specific details and tasks for the pitch advisor or agency, the requirements set the strategic framework.
The Difference Between Requirements and Briefing
Requirements: An internal analysis outlining the company’s objectives, challenges, and expectations. It answers the “Why” and “What” of the project.Briefing: An external document detailing specific instructions and tasks for the agency. It addresses the “How” and “When.”
What Are Requirements?
Requirements are expectations or conditions that must be met to achieve a goal. For example, if data is a key driver of your business success, a requirement for an agency might be the “ability to interpret complex data.” While initially broad, such a requirement can be operationalized to be systematically measurable. For instance, this might involve evaluating references, tool demonstrations, or cognitive tests during the pitch process.
Three Key Advantages of Thoughtful Requirements
1. Clarity and Focus:
A well-defined set of requirements helps maintain focus on essential goals.
Example: A company that understands the value each agency contributes can allocate resources more effectively.
2. Efficiency in the Selection Process:
Clear requirements optimize the search for suitable agencies.
Example: A company seeking expertise in campaign optimization through analytics can directly compare agencies specializing in this area.
3. Long-Term Success:
Early engagement with requirements lays the foundation for sustainable collaboration.
Example: A company aligned with its strategic goals can ensure the selected agency supports and drives these objectives.
Overcoming Skepticism About Requirements Analysis
Some may argue that a requirements analysis is time-consuming, resource-intensive, and potentially restrictive. Critics might also say that rapid market changes can render a detailed analysis outdated. However, I firmly believe in the power of clarity!
Skipping this step is tempting, but that’s where the magic of requirements analysis lies—it’s more than a process; it’s a compass in a sea of possibilities. With a thorough requirements analysis, you embrace clarity and focus, turning challenges into opportunities and minimizing surprises. It’s your strategic partner in matching your needs with the best agencies.
The better your requirements are articulated, the better your pitch outcomes will be. To help you get started, I’ve developed a framework for creating strong requirements.
Three Approaches to Defining Requirements
To comprehensively identify your requirements, use all three approaches within the process chain:
1. Attributes: What essential skills and traits should the agency have?
2. Behavior: How should the agency act in critical situations?
3. Tasks: What should the agency do?
How Many Requirements Are Necessary?
For optimal performance, aim for fewer than six requirements to encourage specialization. A long list of requirements often leads to generalist agencies with less specific expertise. If broader requirements are necessary, consider an “Agency Operating Model” that offers competencies through various organizational setups (e.g., specialized teams).
Examining the Three Approaches
A. Attributes
What qualities should an agency possess? This depends on the value-driving areas relevant to your business, such as strategic consulting, process management, or data analytics. In Cheat Sheet #1, you’ll find examples of requirements, attributes, and their operationalization.
Operationalizing requirements transforms them into observable criteria for evaluation during the tender process.
Example:
Requirement: Expertise in data analysis and reporting.
Operationalization: Measured through references, tool demonstrations, or cognitive tests.
By clearly defining and operationalizing requirements, you ensure a structured and objective evaluation, paving the way for a successful pitch and partnership.
| Requirements | Operationalization Examples |
|---|---|
| Utilization of Analytics and Tracking Tools |
|
| Ability to Interpret Complex Data |
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| Creation of Understandable Reports and Dashboards |
|
The level of detail shown here may seem complex at first glance. However, it is very useful for testing or assessing the expected behaviors during the pitch using the chosen methods. For example, a tool demonstration might be appropriate for evaluating tool usage, an RFI (Request for Information) may suffice for dashboards, and scientifically validated tests could be suitable for assessing analytical interpretation skills.
B. Behavior
The second approach focuses on the agency’s behavior in achieving work results. Reflect on past effective or ineffective behaviors of your previous agencies. By describing the situation and the behavior in question, you can derive attributes similar to the first approach. These attributes reflect critical incidents that are highly relevant to agency performance. Positive and negative critical incidents are listed in Cheat Sheet #2.
Example of a Critical Incident:
Above-Average ROI Improvement
Critical Incident:
The media agency achieves an exceptionally high return on investment through optimized placements and creative strategies. The results significantly exceed expectations.
Significance:
The agency is a key driver of business success.
Requirement:
Data-driven decision-making.
C. Task
The last approach is perhaps the most common method for defining agency requirements. Here, tasks and associated activities are described. This can easily result in over 100 individual items, which is not practical in itself.
From a pragmatic standpoint, assessing the significance of individual tasks has proven effective. This weighting can be done using existing contract documents or the standard contract templates provided by the Organization of Advertisers in the Brand Association (OWM). Cheat Sheet #3 includes a comprehensive task inventory, though not exhaustive.
Consolidating Information into a Requirements Profile
The next step is to distill the collected information into a coherent requirements profile. This phase involves a shift in perspective. So far, you have analyzed success-critical aspects of the agency’s work. Now, the focus shifts to specifying the attributes necessary for the agency to perform successfully.
Two additional steps need to be completed:
1. Elimination of duplicate requirements.
2. Prioritization of the remaining requirements, for example, through an individual scoring system involving all relevant stakeholders within your company.
The resulting requirements profile is crucial for selecting and designing the appropriate methods needed during the pitch phase. By completing this step, you have laid the foundation for an ideal pitch process. Requirements serve as the basis for developing and applying suitable methods to make them measurable during the tender process.
I look forward to your feedback and am excited to hear about your experiences with requirements analysis. Feel free to share your thoughts with me!
