Are RFPs a valuable tool or a waste of time? What if they were both?

Ken Robbins' "Why we quit participating in RFPs" on his blog, Ken Robbins: thoughts on business strategy, marketing, ideas. Robbins is a marketer, not a lawyer (and not even a legal marketer), but his post on RFPs is no less relevant to the legal profession. It's clear that more and more clients are using RFPs as a tool for hiring lawyers. And it's equally clear that they aren't going to stop anytime soon. You may love RFPs or you may hate them, but sooner or later, you're going to have to decide whether or not a particular RFP -- or RFPs in general -- makes sense for you. Robbins' perspective, and those of his readers (as articulated in the comments), will help you sort through the pros and cons of that decision.