Face it, using a Request for Proposal to select a real estate partner can be painful. On one hand, you need an unbiased evaluation process to detail service offerings and competitive pricing. On the other hand, much of the evaluation is often based upon issues other than the critical one: How will your firm reduce our operating costs, and how do you intend to prove it?

A list of all of the Fortune 500 companies someone from the company negotiated a branch office lease with since 1968, or a map with a star in every location where they have a property manager sitting in an office building for lease, does little to answer that critical question.

Talk is cheap and many of the traditional commercial brokerage firms are primarily professional sales organizations. As such, they are professional presenters with in-house graphic designers and a “proposal response team”. Because of this, an RFP just does not allow objective evaluation of performance. Rather, it provides a good method to evaluate a company’s presentation and marketing skills. The only real way to evaluate a firm is with experience. Take them for a test drive by using them on actual transactions.

If you must go through the RFP process, here’s my advice:

1. Design your proposal from scratch. Most of your providers will offer you “samples” designed to fit their presentation. Don’t accept them.
2. Make sure your scope description avoids the general “Manage, Oversee, and Coordinate” and includes terms such as “Establish, Maintain, Prepare, Conduct, Reduce, and Define”. So much of the scope is really Process Management and filled with ever-changing details that are hard to pin down. Have clear lines of delineation for responsibilities.
3. Remember that a goal without a definite and measurable result is just a wish. Be specific on your objectives and ask for brainstorming advice on your issues. Make the provider have accountability for reaching goals.
4. Don’t allow the RFP to get bloated based on company information that you can get in their brochure or from their web site. They’ve all been doing it for a long time and can recite a list of big transactions in which they’ve been involved. Who cares? How did that save those clients money?
5. Keep it brief and to the point: How can you help us to reduce costs? Why are you better than the others? How do you charge?
6. Likewise, the response should be limited to just a few pages of summary information so that you can get a clear and simple basis for comparison. Addendum copies of actual forms or sample reports are OK.

Sure, service needs to be cutting edge and prices need to be fair. Most importantly, you need to know that your service provider is someone that you can trust and that, beyond the hype, they will roll up their sleeves and get it done on time, in budget, and at the lowest possible cost.