First time client managing an RFP. Coming from an agency background, I want to handle feedback and selection in the kindest and most professional way (we all know how much it sucks to lose a pitch). What advice do you have for me in letting an agency team know they haven’t advanced or weren’t selected?

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Do not ghost.

Understand that within minutes to an hour of you deciding on a winner and formally conveying that to them, word and gossip will get around the industry anyway, and the losing teams will remember how long, and how, you deliver the message to them. Meaning your personal reputation is entwined with the delivery of the news.

Do not write an email; news should be delivered verbally and promptly, as that’s the professional and respectful response.

Avoid wishy-washy, vague phrases like, “We decided to go in another direction,” “We just felt more comfortable with another team,” or, “Another team was a better fit.”

If and when pressed on why another team was chosen, because the losing one does deserve meaningful feedback, use the written evaluation criteria in the RFP as your guide.

If there was no written evaluation criteria in the RFP in the first place, ask yourself why.

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Love this — all points well taken. Thank you for taking the time to write this!

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Best move is to tell the losers first. Only after that you celebrate with the winner. This way, as mentioned above, they won’t hear the bad news from somone else.

You just need direct tell them , maybe they not really want to work with you as well , they may find better agency soon . Anyway you do not need worry about it

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