How to Write an RFP or Agency Brief (With a Scoring Matrix)

When you send three agencies a vague email and get back three proposals with different scopes, different pricing models and different assumptions, you cannot compare them. You end up choosing on gut feeling or on the lowest number. A short written brief and a scoring grid you fix before the answers arrive solve most of that.

This guide gives you a brief template you can copy, the questions to ask providers, a weighted scoring matrix with a worked example, and the red flags to look for in proposals. It works for marketing, digital, consulting, engineering or any other service purchase, in any country.

Brief, RFP, RFQ: which one you need

Document	Use it when	What you get back
Brief	The project is small or medium, and you are talking to 2 to 4 providers you already shortlisted	A proposal with approach, team, timeline and price
RFP (request for proposal)	The project is larger, several people decide, or you need a written record of why you chose	Structured answers to the same questions, scored on a published grid
RFQ (request for quotation)	The scope is fully defined and only price and delivery terms differ	Prices for an identical scope

In practice, a good brief and a light RFP are the same document. The difference is how strictly you ask providers to follow your format. Industry bodies such as the ANA and the 4A's in the US recommend giving agencies a brief at every phase of a review (2013), not only at the start.

Step 1: Write the brief (template)

Keep it to two to four pages. Every section below answers a question providers would otherwise ask you, or guess.

1. Context: who you are, what you sell, who your customers are, what has been tried before and what happened.
2. Objective: the business result you want, with a number if you have one (for example "increase demo requests from the website", not "a new website").
3. Scope: what is included, what is explicitly excluded, and what you will do in-house.
4. Deliverables: the list of outputs you expect, with format and volume.
5. Constraints: deadlines, tools or systems to use, brand rules, legal or sector requirements, languages, locations.
6. Budget: a range, or at least an order of magnitude. Without it, you receive proposals sized for very different projects.
7. Timeline of the selection: question deadline, response deadline, shortlist date, decision date, start date.
8. Response format: the sections you want, a page limit, and a price table to fill in (see Step 3).
9. How you will choose: your criteria and their weights (see Step 4).
10. Contact and Q&A rule: one contact person, and a commitment to share every answer with all providers.

Checklist before you send: is the objective measurable? Did you write what is out of scope? Did you give a budget range? Can a provider who knows nothing about you understand the brief without a call?

Step 2: Choose the questions you ask providers

Ask fewer, sharper questions. Each one should help you tell good answers from weak ones. US federal rules make the same point for public buyers: evaluation factors must support meaningful comparison between proposals (FAR 15.304, 2026).

• Understanding: "In your own words, what is the problem we are trying to solve, and what would you need to know to start?"
• Approach: "Describe your plan for the first 30 days and the main phases after that."
• Risks: "What could make this project fail, and how would you reduce that risk?"
• Team: "Who exactly will work on it, with what share of their time? Who is the day-to-day contact?"
• Relevant experience: "Describe one comparable project: the starting situation, what you did, and the measured result. Can we speak to that client?"
• Assumptions: "List every assumption behind your price and timeline."
• Terms: "What are your payment terms, change-request process and notice period? Who owns the work produced?"

Use closed questions (yes or no) for must-haves such as insurance, data handling or availability on your start date. Use open questions for approach and quality. The UK government's bid evaluation guidance notes that open questions are the ones most likely to differentiate between good bids (2021).

Step 3: Make prices comparable

Most "incomparable quotes" come from different scopes, not different rates. Give providers a price table to fill in with the same rows: each deliverable or phase, days or hours per role, rate per role, expenses, optional items, and taxes shown separately where they apply (VAT in the UK and EU, GST in India, sales tax in some US states). Rates vary by country and seniority, so compare like with like.

Ask providers to state their pricing model. A fixed price, a day rate and a monthly retainer carry different risks for you; our guide on hourly, fixed price, retainer or value-based pricing explains how to compare them.

Step 4: Build a weighted scoring matrix

Fix the criteria, weights and scoring scale before you open any proposal, and tell providers what they are. Public buyers are often required to do this: in the US, solicitations must state all evaluation factors and their relative importance (FAR 15.304, 2026), and the UK guidance says the evaluation methodology, criteria and weightings must be disclosed to bidders (2021). Private buyers have no such obligation in most countries, but the same discipline protects you from choosing first and justifying later.

Use a scale with written descriptions, for example:

Score	Meaning
0	Missing or does not answer the question
1	Generic answer, could apply to any client
2	Answers the question, with gaps or unclear points
3	Specific to your project, complete and credible
4	Specific, complete, and adds something you had not asked for that clearly helps

Set the weights to match what matters. The UK guidance gives an example: an 80/20 quality/price split signals that quality matters much more than price (2021). It also warns that if your quality criteria are so broad that everyone scores the same, price decides anyway, whatever its weight.

Have at least two people score each proposal separately, then meet to agree one score per criterion with a written reason. UK central government guidance recommends that bids are independently scored by at least two evaluators (2021), and that an agreed score should not simply be an average.

Worked example

Assumptions for this example: a company compares three agencies for a website redesign. Weights are understanding of the brief 25%, approach and plan 25%, team and relevant experience 20%, price 20%, terms and risk 10%. Price score = 4 × lowest price ÷ this price. Totals are the sum of score × weight, on a maximum of 4.

Criterion (weight)	Agency A	Agency B	Agency C
Understanding (25%)	4	3	2
Approach (25%)	3	3	1
Team and experience (20%)	3	3	3
Price (20%)	48,000 → 1.83	36,000 → 2.44	22,000 → 4.00
Terms and risk (10%)	3	3	2
Weighted total	3.02	2.89	2.35

Agency C is the cheapest but ranks last, because its plan is thin. A and B are close, so the next step is a short meeting with both to test the points that separated them. Note that agency C's price is about 38% below the average of the three bids: that gap needs an explanation before you go further (see red flags).

One limit of this "lowest price gets full marks" formula: a single very low bid compresses everyone else's price score. The UK guidance advises treating relative price scoring with caution (2021) and describes alternatives such as price per quality point (price divided by quality score; the lowest result wins). Test your formula on dummy numbers before you use it.

Step 5: Spot the red flags

• No questions asked. A provider who sends a proposal without asking anything about a non-trivial brief has probably not read it closely, or is reusing a standard offer.
• Copy-paste case studies. Results without a starting point, a timeframe or a client you can contact. Ask for a reference call on the case they put forward.
• Unexplained price gaps. A price far below the others is not automatically a problem, but the provider should be able to explain it with a cost breakdown. UK public guidance on abnormally low tenders lists warning signs such as a premium service at a budget price, or price breakdowns that are incomplete or do not add up (2026). UK central government departments must refer bids more than 10% below the average of all bids or their cost estimate for central review (GOV.UK, 2026); that is a public-sector rule, but a useful trigger for asking questions in any purchase.
• Team bait-and-switch. Senior people at the pitch, unnamed juniors in the plan.
• Vague assumptions. "Revisions as needed" or "subject to scope" with no limits: that is where the price grows later.
• Ignored format. If a provider skips your price table or page limit, expect the same during the project.

Before signing, run the background checks in how to vet a consultant or agency, and check the company registration with the company check tool.

Step 6: Decide and give feedback

Write a one-page decision note: scores, reasons, and what you will watch during the first weeks. Then tell every provider the outcome, with short, specific feedback. The UK guidance recommends feedback of the same quality for all bidders (2021); it costs you little and keeps good providers willing to answer your next request.

If you need more providers to brief, you can search by specialty and city on Sendbiz's provider directory, or post the need as a subcontracting request or tender. Sendbiz takes no commission on the contract you sign.

Common mistakes

• Hiding the budget. You get proposals for three different projects and cannot compare them.
• Setting criteria after reading proposals. The grid then justifies a choice already made.
• Too many criteria. Fifteen criteria with similar weights make every proposal score the same. Five to seven is usually enough.
• Scoring alone. One person's preference for a style or a person becomes the decision.
• Answering questions privately. Share every clarification with all providers, or the comparison is unfair.
• Taking the lowest price without asking why. Ask for the cost breakdown and the assumptions first.
• Inviting too many providers. Each proposal costs a provider real time; a shortlist of three or four gets you better answers.
• No feedback. Providers who never hear back are less likely to answer your next brief.