Your Client Just Quietly Issued an RFP
Your CMO contact let it slip - procurement is shopping you. You weren't told.
"procurement is just doing due diligence, looking at a few other shops."The line that opens this conversation
Applies when · a renewal, QBR, or budget conversation puts the same line — or a near cousin — in front of you. Substitute your client name, ARR, and tenure mentally; the move stays the same.
Patterns drawn from real conversations. Names, numbers, and details are stripped. These are situations to work from.
You're the account director on a 3-year agency-of-record relationship. Over coffee, your CMO contact mentions "procurement is just doing due diligence, looking at a few other shops." You weren't told formally. The RFP went to 4 other agencies last week. You have one QBR booked next Thursday to make your case before responses come back.
AOR retainer covers SEO, content, and AI visibility - competitors are pitching just SEO at 40% less
Brand has hit every quarterly KPI you set, but the CMO has been quiet for two months
A new CFO joined 90 days ago and is reviewing all retainers above $250K
How you pitch
3 minutes at the top of the QBR to reset the conversation from "are you still worth it?" to "why switching costs more than it saves." Don't acknowledge the RFP directly unless they raise it.
What makes it exciting
Classic agency retention moment. The brand is being courted by cheaper shops who don't know what you know. Win by making the depth of context you've built impossible to replace in a 90-day onboarding.