Stop Rolling the Dice on Video Vendors

You are getting pitched glossy reels while your CFO keeps asking one question: how does this move pipeline? That gap between pretty footage and business impact is where most video vendor choices go wrong. The result is RFP fatigue, endless pitch decks, and a stack of showreels that all look the same.

The real risk is not an awkward edit or a missed deadline. The real risk is a partner that does not understand your revenue model, regional realities, or sales motion. Misaligned video partners burn budget, slow launches, and create content that fights your brand instead of scaling it.

What you need is a hard-nosed, weighted scorecard that turns opinions into numbers. A framework that aligns your CMO, CFO, sales leadership, and procurement on what actually matters. In this article, we are sharing a practical vendor scorecard, an RFP template, and a scoring rubric shaped for complex organisations.

At Viva Media, we are a cinematic video production agency in Toronto that works with enterprise and Fortune 500 teams. Our focus is simple: co-own outcomes like revenue, adoption, conversions, and enablement impact, not just hand over a pretty file and walk away.

Why Your RFPs Keep Producing the Wrong Partner

Most RFPs for video work reward the wrong things. They overfocus on price and aesthetic taste, and underweight strategy and performance. That is how a team ends up picking the lowest bid with the flashiest montage, then wondering why campaigns underperform.

Common RFP traps include:

• Overweighting reel “vibes” instead of category expertise  

• Asking for generic showreels instead of KPI-tied case studies  

• Treating video as a one-off asset, not an ongoing performance engine  

• Ignoring sales enablement needs, internal comms, and post-sale journeys  

The business impact shows up fast: slower sales cycles, disjointed content across regions, media spend that does not convert, and assets that cannot be repurposed without painful rework. By the time Q4 rolls around, the budget is gone and the content library does not match what sales actually needs.

If you are running a June procurement cycle, the pressure is even higher. This is when teams retool vendor ecosystems ahead of fall and early winter campaigns. Pick the wrong partner now and your Q3 and Q4 targets carry that weight.

The mindset shift is this: you are not buying a video. You are selecting a performance partner. That partner should be able to speak clearly about MQLs, SQLs, ACV, deal velocity, adoption, renewals, and category leadership, not just colour grading and camera kits.

How to Build a Weighted Scorecard CMOs Actually Trust

A scorecard that leadership will trust rests on clear pillars tied to outcomes. For most enterprise teams, 5 to 7 major categories work well. For example:

• Strategic Alignment, 20 to 25 percent  

• Creative Approach, 10 to 15 percent  

• Production Quality & Reliability, 15 to 20 percent  

• Performance & Analytics, 15 to 20 percent  

• Enterprise Readiness, 10 to 15 percent  

• Sales Enablement, 10 to 15 percent  

• Commercials & Scalability, 10 to 15 percent  

Weights should match your business model. A B2B SaaS CMO might push Sales Enablement and Performance & Analytics to the top. A retail CMO with seasonal pushes might increase weight on Production Agility, fast turnarounds, and multichannel adaptation.

Use a simple numeric scale, like 1 to 5 or 1 to 10, for each criterion. Define what each score means. For example, on a 1 to 5 scale:

• 1: Does not meet expectations  

• 2: Partially meets, high risk  

• 3: Meets expectations  

• 4: Exceeds expectations  

• 5: Best-in-class, strong advantage  

To reduce bias, have marketing, sales, procurement, and one or two regional leads score separately, then meet to calibrate. If someone scores a vendor very high or very low, they should explain why, with reference to the same criteria.

Treat the final scorecard as a decision artefact. Attach it to your internal business case for vendor choice, share it with finance and keep it on file. If leadership or direction shifts mid-year, you can show the logic behind the decision instead of debating from memory.

The CMO’s RFP Template and Scoring Rubric

Once your pillars and weights are clear, build an RFP that surfaces the right signals. At minimum, your RFP should cover:

• Company context, objectives, and revenue model  

• Priority audiences and key markets  

• Channel mix, from paid social to field sales  

• Success metrics and KPIs beyond views  

• Required formats and versions  

• Budget bands and commercial expectations  

• Timelines, approval paths, and stakeholders  

You want questions that reveal if an agency can operate inside a real enterprise, not just shoot a one-off spot. Ask how they handle:

• Campaign architecture across awareness, consideration, and decision  

• ABM support and account tiering  

• Sales enablement libraries for SDRs, AEs, and CSMs  

• Measurement frameworks tied to pipeline and revenue  

• Cross-functional work with in-house creative, media, and regional teams  

Set performance-first requirements. Ask for:

• Sample dashboards showing how they track video performance  

• Case studies tied to KPIs like pipeline influence, deal velocity, adoption, or average order value  

• A clear view of how they test, learn, and optimise creative over time  

If you are looking for a video production agency in Toronto or another hub city, layer in prompts about hybrid production models, local and location shoots, multilingual and multicultural casting, and comfort with approvals inside large, often global, organisations.

Under each pillar, define scoring criteria. For example:

• Strategic Alignment: understanding of your category, ICP, buying group, and sales cycle, quality of questions they ask, fit with your brand and positioning  

• Enterprise Readiness: experience with legal and compliance-heavy reviews, security posture, documentation, ability to run multiple workstreams in parallel, account management structure  

• Performance & Analytics: clarity of measurement plan, familiarity with your martech and CRM stack, approach to A/B testing and creative iteration  

Different industries will tweak weights. A financial services or healthcare brand might give high weight to Compliance, QA, and security. A global consumer brand might weight localisation, versioning at scale, and regional production networks.

Picture a simple scoring table: rows for each criterion, columns for each agency. Multiply each score by the weight, sum the totals, and you have a clear ranking. You can also set a minimum overall score for a “strategic partner” and drop any vendor that cannot meet that bar, even if their price is attractive.

When you apply this in practice, patterns appear fast. One vendor may score well on price and showreel, but low on Revenue Impact, Sales Enablement, and Enterprise Readiness. Another might come in higher on commercials, but hits strong on category understanding, analytics, and process maturity. Over a 12 to 18 month window, the second often wins on ROI.

What a Strategic Video Partner Actually Looks Like

Once you have the framework, you can spot red and green flags in minutes.

Red flags:

• They talk almost only about visuals, gear, and “cinematic” shots  

• They cannot explain how they would tie video to pipeline or adoption  

• No clear measurement framework or reporting examples  

• No plan for sales enablement content or internal usage  

• Fuzzy on how they work with legal, IT, or procurement  

Green flags:

• Structured discovery, with smart questions about ICPs and sales stages  

• Ability to map a content roadmap across the full funnel and post-sale  

• Clarity on what to measure and how to report it back to your team  

• Comfortable pushing back on a weak brief and suggesting stronger angles  

• Clear process for working with multiple regions and business units  

Location still matters. For enterprise teams based near Toronto, a local strategic partner can be in the room for workshops, leadership offsites, and last-minute executive shoots, while still supporting global markets. That mix of proximity plus scale makes high-stakes work faster and less painful.

At Viva Media, we aim to be that kind of partner. Cinematic standards are table stakes for us. The real work is helping CMOs plan performance-focused content, support sales kick-offs, launch products, and keep a steady flow of assets that actually move numbers, not just win praise for pretty frames.

Lock in Your Scorecard Before the Next Pitch Deck Lands

The smartest move you can make before your next RFP cycle is to lock your scorecard now. Agree on the pillars, set the weights with sales and finance, and turn the rubric into a repeatable internal tool.

When the next wave of decks hits your inbox, you will not be picking based on who had the shiniest montage. You will have a clear, defensible way to select a partner that can handle enterprise reality and share accountability for outcomes.

Get Started With Your Project Today

If you are ready to turn your idea into compelling video, our team at Viva Media is here to help you plan the right approach for your goals and budget. Explore what our experienced video production agency in Toronto can bring to your next campaign, event, or brand story. Share a few details about your project and we will outline clear next steps, timelines, and costs. To discuss your needs directly with our producers, simply contact us today.