Market Research RFP Template: Hire the Right Agency

Use a practical market research RFP template and weighted scorecard to brief agencies consistently and choose the proposal that best fits your needs.

When to use a market research agency RFP

Use a market research RFP template for hiring an agency when you need comparable proposals for a defined piece of work. Give every invited agency the same decision context, response format and timetable, so you can compare substance rather than presentation.

A short written brief may be enough for a small, low-risk study with an established partner. Use an RFP, formal question period and scorecard when the appointment is material, several agencies are under consideration, or the work involves complex recruitment, participant data or multiple stakeholders. If you are still deciding whether to bring in external support, read when to outsource user research.

An RFP asks suppliers to propose an approach and price. A request for information (RFI) helps you explore the market before defining scope. A request for quotation (RFQ) seeks a price for tightly specified work. These are practical distinctions, not legal procurement advice.

Set evaluation criteria before inviting proposals. GOV.UK states that supplier-selection criteria and the offer-evaluation method should be established before offers are invited, including priced and unpriced elements (GOV.UK). For wider planning guidance, visit the Research Operations hub.

Prepare the decisions your research must support

Start with the decision, not the method. “Understand customer needs” is broad; “decide which of three onboarding propositions to pilot by 15 June” gives an agency a decision it can design research around.

Before issuing a research agency RFP, confirm:

[Decision owner, decision and decision date]
[Business context, product or market situation]
[Known hypotheses, uncertainties and risks]
[Target participants, markets and inclusion criteria]
[Existing research, analytics, recordings or findings]
[Budget, timing, access and stakeholder constraints]
[People who must use or approve the findings]

Keep the decision, research questions and preferred method separate. You may expect interviews, but invite agencies to recommend another method where they can justify it as more proportionate to the decision.

Define useful outputs too: for example, a debrief, findings report, selected clips, anonymised dataset, repository-ready artefacts, prioritised recommendations or stakeholder readout. This makes scope differences visible.

Use a user research plan template if the study is not yet clear enough to brief externally. A research intake and prioritization process can help align demand, capacity and decision ownership first.

Copy-and-paste market research RFP template

Copy this market research request for proposal template into your document and replace each bracketed field.

1. Project summary
Instruction: Explain the situation in plain language.
[Organisation/team: ___]
[Project name: ___]
[Why this work is needed now: ___]

2. Business decision and objectives
Instruction: State the decision, owner, deadline and questions research must answer.
[Decision and owner: ___]
[Decision date: ___]
[Objectives and research questions: ___]

3. Audiences, markets and recruitment
Instruction: Define who must be represented and eligibility requirements.
[Participant profiles, markets, languages and sample parameters: ___]
[Recruitment source, exclusions and accessibility needs: ___]

4. Available inputs
Instruction: List evidence and materials agencies can use.
[Prior research, analytics, prototypes, materials and access: ___]

5. Scope and desired deliverables
Instruction: Define activities and usable outputs.
[In-scope activities: ___]
[Deliverables: debrief, findings, clips, dataset, repository artefacts and readout: ___]
[Agencies may recommend a reasoned alternative methodology proportionate to this decision.]

6. Timetable and milestones
Instruction: Give fixed dates and dependencies.
[RFP issue, questions, proposal deadline, start, fieldwork and readout: ___]

7. Budget parameters
Instruction: Share a range or ask for priced options against defined scenarios.
[Budget range or pricing scenarios: ___]

8. Proposal format
Instruction: Request the same information from every bidder.
[Maximum length and required sections: method rationale; named delivery team; recruitment plan; timetable; assumptions; dependencies; exclusions; risks; subcontractors; references: ___]

9. Questions
Instruction: Set one route and deadline for questions.
[Contact, question deadline and response date: ___]

10. Evaluation process
Instruction: Publish criteria, weights and selection stages.
[Mandatory requirements, scorecard, finalist process and decision date: ___]

11. Commercial and data-handling requirements
Instruction: Request itemised fees and explicit governance assumptions.
[Fees; incentives/recruitment; travel; tools; translation; other pass-through costs: ___]
[Data roles, storage, retention, access, sub-processors and recording/AI-tool use: ___]

Filled fictional example: A product team is deciding whether to explore a new B2B segment. Its RFP names the commercial lead as decision owner, sets a decision date, asks agencies to assess recruitment feasibility for buyers in each priority segment, and requests separate pricing for recruitment, interviews, analysis and stakeholder readout. The agency must explain its method, name its delivery team and identify assumptions or exclusions. For related planning considerations, see B2B market entry validation with buyer interviews.

Ask agencies how they will protect participant data

Treat participant-data handling as a response requirement, rather than accepting a generic claim of GDPR compliance. Ask agencies to state:

[Whether they act as controller, processor or another role]
[Where data will be stored, accessed and transferred]
[Who can access identifiers, recordings and transcripts]
[Retention and secure deletion arrangements]
[Sub-processors and recruitment partners]
[Incident reporting and response process]
[Consent wording and recording permissions]
[Whether AI transcription, note-taking or analysis tools will process data]

This is procurement due diligence, not legal or data-protection advice. The ICO says a data protection impact assessment is required where processing is likely to result in high risk to individuals (ICO). Ask your privacy lead whether one is needed before fieldwork.

Require agencies to make assumptions explicit, including consent materials, secure transfer arrangements and retention instructions. Read more about UK GDPR compliance for user research participants and AI notetaker consent and privacy in user research.

Compare research agency proposals with a weighted scorecard

Use a pre-set scorecard to evaluate market research agency proposals consistently. GOV.UK guidance says criteria and weightings cannot be changed after requirements are published (GOV.UK).

Criterion	Weight	What to assess
Decision and methodological fit	30	Whether the proposal addresses the decision with a reasoned, proportionate method
Relevant evidence and proposed delivery team	20	Relevant experience, named people, roles and ownership
Recruitment feasibility and participant safeguards	15	Sample realism, screening, inclusion and data protections
Deliverables and stakeholder adoption plan	15	Clarity and usefulness of outputs, readout and use of findings
Commercial clarity and value	15	Itemised pricing, assumptions, pass-through costs and change control
Working model and references	5	Communication, governance, availability and relevant references

Confirm mandatory requirements first. Score each proposal independently, recording the proposal evidence and rationale for each criterion. Apply the weights, compare totals alongside material risks, then discuss differences as a group. Keep the notes as an audit trail.

Adjust the weights before issuing the RFP to reflect the decision and its risks. A study involving sensitive data may need more weight for safeguards; a fixed launch date may make recruitment feasibility more important. The model is a starting point, not a universal rule.

A defensible process can assess technical quality before comparing price, as illustrated in a World Health Organization procurement document (WHO). Use finalist discussions to test assumptions, delivery ownership, recruitment contingencies, risk response and the priced change-control process. The highest total informs the appointment; it does not replace judgement. Similar evaluation principles apply to research technology; see how to choose AI user research tools.

Send, clarify and select without weakening comparability

Select invitees, issue one version-controlled brief, collect questions by a fixed date and share material answers with every bidder. Score written proposals, hold a structured finalist discussion, check references, document the selection and negotiate the final scope.

Do not change weights after issue. Do not accept unstated scope assumptions. Do not compare headline prices without checking recruitment, incentives, travel, translation, tools and other pass-through costs.

A published RFP guide from Hope Research Group includes core elements such as business context, objectives and key questions (Hope Research Group). This worksheet adds an agency-ready response structure and a reproducible 100-point comparison scorecard.

Complete it with the decision owner, procurement contact and privacy stakeholder before approaching agencies. If the work begins with an earlier product question, review the relevant product discovery methods first.

Frequently asked questions

What should a market research RFP include?

Include decision context, objectives, audiences and markets, available evidence, scope, outputs, timeline, commercial parameters, data requirements, response format and published evaluation criteria. Ask for named team members, assumptions, exclusions, risks and itemised pricing.

Should you include a budget in a research agency RFP?

A budget range or clear parameters can improve scope comparability. If you cannot share a range, ask for priced options against clearly defined scenarios, with assumptions and pass-through costs itemised.

How do you evaluate market research agency proposals?

Check mandatory requirements, score proposals independently against pre-set weighted criteria, record evidence and rationale, hold a consensus discussion, then complete finalist due diligence such as reference checks and clarification of risks or commercial assumptions.

What questions should you ask a market research agency?

Ask why the method fits the decision, whether recruitment is feasible, who will deliver the work, how participant data will be protected, which assumptions apply, what outputs you will receive, what could delay the timetable, how quality will be managed, how fees are itemised and which references are relevant.

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