Is the Juice Worth the Squeeze? Rethinking the RFP in Healthcare Marketing
RFPs for new business opportunities are thrilling. They have the kind of energy that pulls a team out of routine and drops them into possibility. Suddenly, we’re diving headfirst into a new company, a new brand, and a new challenge. We take the deep knowledge and experience our team brings and start shaping a story that could become the foundation of a real partnership.
It’s exciting. It’s demanding. And yes, it’s a little addictive.
At SFC Group, we approach every RFP with equal parts curiosity and scrutiny. Is this truly a good opportunity for us? Does the work spark something in our team? Can we compete, win, and deliver?
At first, it feels like pure opportunity. A connection to the business and belief in what could be built together. But at some point, we need to ask the uncomfortable question. Does a multi-agency pitch process actually lead to the best agency for the business?
The hidden price tag of RFPs
When you step back a bit, the answer isn’t as obvious as our industry likes to pretend.
An RFI-to-RFP-to-in-person pitch process rarely takes less than two months. More often it stretches to four or even six. That’s half a year of momentum paused while everyone performs the ritual.
For the host company, the effort includes aligning stakeholders, writing the RFI, reviewing dozens of 50-page submissions, narrowing the field, and reading multiple 100-slide creative decks. By the end, the people choosing the agency are often running on fumes — the exact opposite state you want when making a high-stakes, long-term decision.
Agencies feel the weight too. Shops that bill hourly (not us, but I’ve been there) estimate that a major pitch costs at least half a million dollars in billable time. This is all for roughly a 20% chance of winning new business.
That’s a lot of investment for a process that may or may not reveal what truly matters.
What the pitch can’t show you — and where the real insight lives
The most critical ingredients of a successful agency partnership are largely invisible during the pitch — chemistry, trust, how people listen, and how conflict is handled (not to mention whether the team genuinely likes working together or not).
Plus, most of the information needed to evaluate an agency already exists. Experience, category depth, creative recognition, leadership background, case studies, client lists — they’re all accessible before a single pitch meeting is scheduled.
What’s harder to find — and much more valuable — is how it feels to work together.
That’s what the selection process should focus on. Spend an hour in conversation with the actual team who would run the business. Ask questions that don’t have rehearsed answers. See whether curiosity shows up naturally and whether connection happens without effort.
Talk to current and former clients. Ask what day-to-day collaboration is like and how the agency behaves when timelines slip, results disappoint, and pressure rises.
The encouraging news is that some companies are starting to rethink the outdated RFP model. We’re seeing shorter, more focused RFPs that zero in on the specific capabilities that matter. We’re also seeing live working sessions where agencies tackle a real challenge in real time, revealing how they think instead of how polished their slides look.
This is smart evolution. And it’s overdue.
Partnership over performance
In healthcare marketing, the science is complex, the regulations are real, and the stakes are human. Partnerships aren’t a nice-to-have — they’re the whole game.
The best agency relationship isn’t won in a pitch theater. It’s built in the moments that follow.
Of course, RFPs will always have a place. Structure matters. So does fairness. But if we want stronger partnerships and better outcomes, it’s time to challenge the assumption that longer and more expensive automatically means better.
Sometimes, the boldest move in healthcare marketing is simply choosing clarity over ceremony.
seriously