How to Write a Winning RFP for Healthcare Website Redesign

Transcription

1 How to Write a Winning RFP for Healthcare Website Redesign Helpful tips to guide healthcare marketers before you embark on the RFP process.

2 ccording to recent research, the average healthcare organization goes through a website redesign or changes a content management system (CMS) every three to four years. Issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) often goes along with those changes, as organizations look to the find the best partner or CMS for their needs. But crafting an RFP that gets valuable responses isn t always easy. In this white paper you ll learn what to include in an RFP, as well as how to identify possible partners and select finalists. You ll also find a helpful outline to guide your RFP creation process.

3 Getting Started The goal of an RFP is to help your organization narrow down a group of potential partners to two or three finalists. Before you start writing, consider what you are looking for so you can ensure these priorities emerge throughout the RFP. Ask how important each of the following are to your team: Healthcare experience Post-launch support Experience with a specific CMS Ability to meet timeline or budget Culture fit Once you know what is most important, be sure to share that with your potential partners in your RFP overview. Also, when you re done creating the RFP, review it and make sure you ve written it in a way that allows your top priorities to emerge. For example, if your main goal is partnership and support, and you ve created an RFP that is very technical, that quality might not shine through. Another tip before you get started be sure to check-in with your organization s legal team in case there are any legal requirements you need to follow as you go through this process. The RFP Process Although every organization might add their own unique steps and will likely move at different speeds, most organizations that issue a formal RFP go through the same basic steps. It s important to allow enough time for agencies to put together a customized proposal for you. Best practice recommends that you allow 4-6 weeks between issuing the RFP and the expected deadline. Typical Proposal Process for a Website Redesign Research Goals, Gather Metrics, and Determine Stakeholders Identify Recipient List Write RFP Respond to Vendor/ Agency Questions, If Needed Evaluate Responses with Scorecard Select Finalists (And Schedule In-person Interviews) Evaluate In-Person Interviews with Scorecard Notify Selected Partner Begin Contract Process HOW TO WRITE A WINNING RFP FOR HEALTHCARE WEBSITE REDESIGN 1

4 What to Include in the RFP Although there is no universal standard format for an RFP, most successful RFPs include the same core elements. Share an Overview It helps to have a solid understanding of where you re at today, both as an organization and as a digital marketing team. If you don t truly understand why you re going to RFP, where you current site is falling short, or what your digital goals are, it s hard to plan for success. Sometimes, this requires doing some research on your side before writing the RFP. When you feel you have a solid understanding, you ll want to include the following type of information in your RFP: Organization background: Add information about your organization and give a brief history of your digital initiatives. Be sure to share what s the driving force behind going to RFP. Information about your existing website: Explain what s working and what s not working with your current site. Include any top-line metrics you ve uncovered. Share your website s main audiences intended goals. Project goals: Include the goals for the new site and how they align with overarching digital and organizational goals. Project scope: What exactly are you looking for? A website design and CMS platform change can also include many other aspects, such as content strategy, copywriting, content migration, hosting, etc. Be transparent if you have aspects of the project you plan to handle internally or outsource to a different agency. Partner expectations: You ll also want to include partner expectations, for example do they need to have experience in healthcare? Do you expect your partner to visit your organization onsite, or hold regular meetings via phone? Platform requirements: Explain what you re looking for in a new platform, or if you plan to stay on the current platform. If you re unsure of what platform is best for you, ask the vendor to recommend the best option based on your goals and team skillset. Technical requirements: Outline your expectations for hosting, third-party integration, and security (such as HIPAA and PCI compliance needs.) Functionality requirements: List what functionality you re looking for either current functionality that you want migrated over or recreated, or missing functionality you want your new site to have. Timeline: Address when you expect the project(s) to be complete. Evaluation and selection guidelines: Include information about your decision-making process and when you plan to select a partner. Submission guidelines: Include information on how to submit the proposal. Make sure to provide contact information and any rules for submitting questions. HOW TO WRITE A WINNING RFP FOR HEALTHCARE WEBSITE REDESIGN 2

5 Planning to write an RFP? Do this first! Learn five things healthcare marketers should know before you start the RFP process: Ask for Agency Information The goal of an RFP is to help your organization narrow down a group of possible partners to two or three finalists. Before you start writing, consider what you are looking for in a partner so you can ensure these priorities are apparent throughout the RFP. Company background: The agency s history, experience in your industry, competitive differentiators, team member biographies, array of services, etc. Process and philosophy: How they plan to work with your organization, how they approach design and development, their project management philosophy, and how they will work with your key stakeholders. References and sample work: A list of references that are similar to your organization in terms of size or project scope, as well as case studies that describe how the agency has helped other healthcare organizations with similar goals. HOW TO WRITE A WINNING RFP FOR HEALTHCARE WEBSITE REDESIGN 3

6 Sample RFP Outline To help you develop an effective RFP, follow this outline. 1. Your organizational background a. Organizational history b. Organizational specialties and locations c. Impetus for project d. Internal stakeholders e. Target audience f. Competitive environment 2. Details of current site a. Site URL(s) and/or site inventory b. High level overview of what s working and what s not c. Number of pages on current site d. Overview of metrics (traffic, bounce rates, etc.) 3. Project goals a. Digital marketing and/or web goals b. Organizational goals 4. Project scope a. Design requirements b. Platform requirements c. Functionality requirements d. Technical requirements e. Ongoing maintenance requirements f. Timeline g. Budget 5. Partner requirements a. Your proposed solution i. Response to RFP requirements b. Company background i. History and experience ii. Philosophy iii. Competitive differentiators iv. Sample team biographies/resumes c. References and examples i. Three to five references with contact information and URLs ii. One to three case studies from similar organizations d. Price i. Cost of proposed solution ii. Payment options 6. RFP instructions a. Overview of selection process i. Due date for pre-submission questions and instructions for question submission ii. Date to issue responses to vendor questions iii. Due date and time for response submission, including delivery format desired iv. Evaluation criteria and scorecard v. Date to announce finalists to all vendors vi. Date(s) of on-site presentations vii. Date to begin contract process b. Legal or purchasing information that may need to be included HOW TO WRITE A WINNING RFP FOR HEALTHCARE WEBSITE REDESIGN 4

7 Finding and Selecting Potential Partners Now that you have written an effective RFP, how do you find recipients? And, how many potential partners do you send it to? It s typically best practice to send your RFP to approximately five potential partners. Remember, the more you select, the more time and resources the process might take. As you compile your list, consider if you want to include only partners with certain attributes or capabilities such as only healthcare-specific agencies or only vendors that build on a certain CMS or if you want to get a mix of different potential partners to compare and contrast. Keep in mind, the goal of the RFP is to help you narrow a list of potential partners down to a few finalists. Finding RFP Recipients Many healthcare marketers already have a short list in mind, but if you are unsure who to add to your RFP list, consider these routes for finding the potential partners: Industry tradeshows: Tradeshows are a great way to meet potential partners. When you attend conferences or shows, go through the exhibitor halls and look for vendors and agencies that provide redesigns and/or CMS platforms. Tradeshows are also a great place to network with other healthcare marketers who may have had success solving the same problem. As you talk with colleagues, ask whom they work with and get their thoughts on the partnership. Some of the main conferences and shows for digital healthcare marketing include the Society for Healthcare Strategy & Market Development (SHSMD), the Healthcare Internet Conference (HCIC), and the Healthcare Marketing and Physician Strategies Summit (HMPS). Peer groups: Many professional organizations have a list of preferred partners. If you re a member of an industry association, such as the American Hospital Association (AHA) or SHSMD, check to see if they have any digital agencies they recommend or have a list you can use to ask questions of the membership. Also, if you belong to your state s healthcare association, check if they have any resources. Educational resources: Have you seen any agencies speak at industry events, or have you read articles from vendors in industry publications? From white papers to webinars, educational resources are a great way to connect with potential partners, learn a bit about how they approach website design and development, and see examples of their work. Eye-catching sites: If you see a hospital website you like, contact their marketing team or web manager to ask who they partnered with and what their experience was like. Also, check out industry award-winners. There are specific awards just for healthcare, such as the ehealthcare Leadership Awards. Many industry-agonistic award competitions have a healthcare category you can review, such as MarCom. Also, check with your state associations as many have award competitions that feature website design as a category. HOW TO WRITE A WINNING RFP FOR HEALTHCARE WEBSITE REDESIGN 5

8 Evaluating Responses From reviewing the proposals to inviting potential partners for in-person presentations, evaluating responses is a big undertaking. Here are some ideas to help you make the process as effective and painless as possible. Develop a Scorecard Choosing the right partner can be hard, especially when numerous people are involved all with different opinions. An effective way to even the playing field is to develop a scorecard that allows you to evaluate each response using the same criteria. The scorecard can be as complex or as simple as you require, but best practice scorecards have a maximum of six to eight criteria that are ranked by each evaluator. You can assign different weights that align with the top priorities you are looking for in a partner. Sample criteria in a typical website redesign scorecard for an agency may include: 1. Industry experience: Are you comfortable they can operate with expertise in the healthcare space? 2. Design skills: Do you like their design abilities and portfolio? 3. Platform: Do they have the skillset to build on your platform or do they have a platform you like? Are the requisite features offered? 4. Team: What do you think of the team and their skillsets? Are these people you will enjoy working with and you can trust to get the work done to your standards? 5. Overall value: What s the total cost, potential ROI, and level of ongoing support? 6. References: How did reference calls go? Review the scorecards with your stakeholders to help narrow your finalists to two or three. Weighting # Criteria % 1 Financial stability 10% 2 Geographic reach 25% 3 Breadth of services 15% 4 Pricing 40% 5 Service level 5% 6 References 5% 100% Ranking 1 (worst) - 10 (best) Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Vendor Scoring Vendor 1 Vendor 2 Vendor HOW TO WRITE A WINNING RFP FOR HEALTHCARE WEBSITE REDESIGN 6

9 Face-to-Face Presentations After you pare down your potential list to two or three prospects, it s time to invite the finalists to your organization for in-person presentations. It s important to invite the right stakeholders to the in-person presentation. Including too many people often hinders the decision-making process, but having the wrong people in the room can have the same effect. Try to have the CEO involved in the in-person meetings if you can get your CEO on board from the beginning, it will help improve organizational buy-in from others. You can use the same scorecard again for in-person interviews, or tweak it based on what stakeholders are in the room. For example, if I.T. must sign off on your selected partner, you may need to include a line item addressing hosting or HIPAA compliance. Dos and Don ts Do Request all presentations be the same length. Don t Make it your goal to trick or surprise the agencies. Include time to discuss each potential partner s presentation immediately after they finish. Bring the wrong stakeholders or too many stakeholders to the in-person interviews. Establish common criteria for evaluations. You can create a scorecard similar to the one used to evaluate proposals. Be sure to use high-level categories all stakeholders can use to assess the potential partners. Be elusive about your selection process. Remember: The in-person presentation is much like a job interview. Your team is evaluating the potential partners, but the agencies are evaluating you as a potential client, too. Be upfront about expectations, stakeholders, and unique agendas that the potential partners can address. Invite vendors onsite that you re not excited about. This is a big investment for both you, your colleagues, and the agency. Choosing Your Partner After evaluating the presentations, you ll either have one clear winner, or two agencies that are close, but usually for different reasons. If you re deciding between two partners, consider the long-term value they bring to your organization. Because the last thing you want to do is go through this vendor selection process again in two or three years. Find a Partner that Delivers Value Taking the time beforehand to understand your goals and create a well-crafted RFP will save time, money, and headaches. But the RFP is just one step in the process of finding the right digital marketing partner for your organization and creating a collaborative relationship. You also need to look at partner relationships in a strategic way and choose an agency that will help your organization long-term. Remember, the definition of success is not just awarding the contract, but finding a partner you can trust and who will deliver on their promises. HOW TO WRITE A WINNING RFP FOR HEALTHCARE WEBSITE REDESIGN 7

10 About Geonetric Geonetric helps healthcare brands thrive through effective marketing and distinguished websites. As a marketing agency and software developer with deep technical and creative expertise, Geonetric provides hospitals, health systems, and medical groups with a healthcare-specific content management system, and creative services optimized for the unique needs of the healthcare industry. hello@geonetric.com