About a year ago we introduced a small eBook on this blog called “Hire the Right Consultant: 6 Tips for Public Agencies to Write a Killer RFP.” The eBook was our attempt to help agencies write proposals that are clear and will elicit the strongest responses from consultants.

The request for proposal (RFP) process is like a dance, with the public agency and the consultant acting as the dancers. Each member has a distinct role to play in making the dance successful. As a consultant, our role includes: following the format in the RFP, respecting page limits, including only the staff who will work on the project, and - as a commenter on that original post said so well - telling the agency what it needs to hear rather than what it wants to hear.

We're posting "Hire the Right Consultant" again, and we hope agency personnel will find the tips helpful when preparing an RFP. We’d also love to hear your feedback on how we as consultants can better improve our role in the RFP dance.

Click the image below to read the eBook.