It Pays to Give Feedback on RFP Responses

Your RFP is complete and you’ve selected a partner – but the relationships you maintain beyond that choice can be just as valuable.

Once the RFP process concludes, many brands go quiet. A contract is awarded and the rest of the agencies – which have invested serious time and thinking – are left with a polite thank you (or, worse still, no response at all). But skipping RFP feedback comes at a cost.

The truth is, the RFP process doesn’t really end once you select a partner. It ends when you close the loop with everyone else who showed up. Especially the ones you might want to hear from again.

Feedback Builds Relationships, Even When You Say No

Giving feedback doesn’t mean delivering a detailed scorecard or letting vendors interrogate a decision you’ve already made. It simply means acknowledging the work, offering a few clear observations, and treating the relationship as something you might still want to cultivate, even if this particular assignment didn’t go their way.

That’s especially important when you liked an agency but didn’t choose them. Perhaps you feel they aren’t the right fit for this campaign. Maybe their proposed team didn’t align with your internal stakeholders. Or you had an incumbent who knew the terrain best. Whatever the reason, if they did strong work and you want them in the mix next time, silence or a form-letter rejection sends the wrong message. Sending a short, thoughtful note lets them know they were seen, and that the door remains open.

Feedback Improves the Work You’ll See Next Time

Agencies adjust their proposals based on what they learn. If you don’t tell them what did and didn’t land, they have to guess. If you’re seeing the same patterns across RFPs, there’s a good chance some of them trace back to a lack of clarity in the way you issued it. Closing the loop creates a feedback cycle: not just for the agency, but for your own process.

It’s Also a Signal to the Market

Good agencies talk to each other. So do good people. Your reputation as a client is shaped not just by who you select, but by how you communicate with everyone who submitted.

Relationships Outlast Roles

People move. Agencies shift. Today’s runner-up might be tomorrow’s best fit. And the strategist who pitched you last year might end up as your colleague (or your client!) in a future role. Leaving things on a respectful, thoughtful note isn’t just smart for your business. It’s smart for you. In a connected industry, reputations follow people.

A Little Goes a Long Way

This doesn’t mean you owe every agency an extensive debrief. But if you shortlisted them, spoke to them, or reviewed a serious proposal, even a few sentences go a long way. It could be as simple as:

“We really liked your thinking (note: be specific here, or this will read like an AI-generated MadLib), and the team chemistry felt strong. The deciding factor was another agency’s track record in this category. That shouldn’t diminish the quality of your work, and it underscores the importance of context in these decisions. We genuinely want to keep you in mind for future assignments, and we truly appreciate the time you put into your response.”

A short, thoughtful note isn’t just polite; it’s professional. It reinforces your brand’s and your personal reputation, preserves future options, and acknowledges the time and thinking your contenders invested. The industry is smaller than it seems, and how you end a process may well shape the opportunities that come next.

Next up: What a bad RFP really costs you (hint: It’s more than just money).

Smart organizations know that stronger RFPs lead to better partnerships. We help teams clarify what they really need, sharpen their evaluation criteria, and structure the RFP to attract the right response from the right partners. Whether you’re looking for a topline diagnostic, a strategic rewrite, or a full-process tune-up, we can help. Let’s talk.

Featured image by Wilhelm Gunkel via Unsplash