It’s Not Spec Work — It’s Care Work

When we respond to an RFP, we try to remember there’s a real human being on the other side of it. Someone who’s been staring at a spreadsheet full of vendor names, drinking cold coffee, and wondering if any of these agencies actually care. That’s why at Gecko, we like to include something a little extra with our written proposals—something that shows we didn’t just copy and paste. We’re not talking about spec work (we don’t do that). We’re talking about effort. About care. Sometimes that means making a short, unexpected video, like the one we created for The Scratch Foundation:

…or the one we made for Gull Boats & RVs

Sometimes it’s a small creative piece that connects emotionally to the client’s mission. The point isn’t to impress them with flash—it’s to show that we see them.

It’s not “extra.” It’s the work.

Proposals are storytelling tools. The best ones don’t just list services and credentials—they show understanding. Clients might say they want bios, case studies, or pricing, but what they really want is to feel seen. They want to know:

• Do you actually understand our challenge?
• Do you seem curious about our work?
• Do you want this partnership, or just the project?

When we add something thoughtful—a creative video, a small visual twist, a note that shows we did our homework—it communicates that we’re paying attention. That we’re already invested before the contract is even signed.

The problem with “easy.”

These days, anyone can knock out a proposal in an afternoon. Between templates, AI, and Canva-powered pitch decks, the bar for what’s possible has dropped. But the bar for what’s meaningful has not. That’s where human value comes in. If AI can make a proposal faster, the differentiator isn’t speed—it’s sincerity. (We even wrote about that in Why Human-Led Strategy Still Matters, if you’re curious.) Clients can tell when something feels mass-produced versus made for them. A proposal that feels personal—one that makes them smile or feel understood—stands out more than one filled with perfect buzzwords and flawless formatting.

Make them feel special.

At a conference earlier this year, someone said, “Most clients worry agency submissions are boilerplate. They want to feel like the story was made for them.” That’s it. That’s the whole game. If someone on the client’s review team pauses mid-scroll and says, “This one actually feels different,” then we’ve done our job. We can’t guarantee we’ll win every RFP, but we can guarantee that we’ll never phone it in.

Curiosity is contagious.

We never make something “fun” just for the sake of it. It always ties back to their story—to what excites us about helping them. Because curiosity is contagious. Clients don’t just want the best agency on paper. They want a partner who’s genuinely interested, who asks smart questions, who finds their business challenges interesting. That’s not something AI can fake—and it’s not something a template can deliver.

This is who we are.

Putting in extra effort on a proposal isn’t a tactic for us; it’s an extension of our culture. At Gecko, we believe in real humans and real connection. Whether we’re designing a website, directing a video, or building a strategy, we care about people first—the clients, their audiences, and the stories in between. Our proposals are just the first glimpse of that. They’re not spec work. They’re care work.