How to Choose the Right SEM Agency or Technology Partner

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Agenda

• Do’s

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Agenda

• Do’s

• Don’ts

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Agenda

• Do’s

• Don’ts

• Q & A

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Don’t: Delegate Responsibility to a Junior Team Member

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Do: Honestly Assess Your Needs

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Don’t: Think a Technology can Do it All

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Do: Get Proper Buy-in Prior to

Issuing RFP

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Do: Determine Selection Criteria and Evaluation Committee

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Do: Outline a Budget Before Proceeding

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Don’t: Send RFP to More than 5 Companies

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Don’t: Include More than 20 Questions

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Do: Give 3-4 Weeks Lead-time for Responses

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Don’t: Cut and Paste From Another RFP

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Do: Include a Thorough Brief

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Do: Ask What is Required to Implement

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Do: Find Out if the Agency Has a Proprietary Technology

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Do: Ask if any Services are Outsourced

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Do: Ask How Well the Partner Integrates

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Do: Ask what the Partner Looked Like One Year Ago

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Do: Inquire About Research Tools

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Do: Ask About Incremental Costs

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Do: Ask What Other Clients Pay

Do: Get Case Studies

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Do: Ask for References

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Do: Call All References

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•Why did you choose the partner?

•How responsive is the partner?

•How innovative is the partner?

•Has the partner been able to scale your program quarter-over-quarter? YOY?

•Is the partner proactive in giving you new ideas and recommendations?

•What was required of you (the client) to implement the partner’s

recommendations/technology?

•What (if any) aspect of your (the client’s) organizational structure prevented the

partnership from succeeding further?

•How many changes have you had in personnel servicing your account?

•How many times in the past quarter did the partner miss a deadline?

•How often has the partner tried to increase their SOW and fees?

• How often were those requests justified?

•Why did you fire the partner? (if applicable)

Questions to Ask References

Don’t: Pick a Partner that has More Salespeople than Support

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Do: Ask Partners to Present Actionable Items

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Do: Narrow Down to 2-3 Finalists for Presentations

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Do: Give Access to Historical Data

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Do: Meet the Team that will be Servicing Your Account

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Don’t: Get Fooled by Bells and Whistles

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Do: Try Before You Buy

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Don’t: Choose Based on Cost Alone

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Don’t: Pick a Partner that Isn’t Fully Compatible

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Do: Go with Your Gut

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Do: Inform the Losers Why They Weren’t Selected

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Don’t: Rinse and Repeat

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Additional Resources

• TinyURL.com/RFP-DSC– My blog posts on Digital Sea Change about RFPs

• TinyURL.com/RFP-SEL– George Michie’s post on Search Engine Land re: SEM

Agency RFPs

• AG@Connectual.com