No.

Well… maybe.

It may seem like a simple ask, requesting a full agenda or course outline in your RFP for training presentations – but are you fully aware of what exactly you are asking of the small business you’re requesting this info from? If you don’t truly understand the hardship that is put on a business when an agenda is requested, please continue reading and it’ll become quite clear why you shouldn’t do it.

1. Intellectual Property (IP) IP is very important to any business; why would a company give away their property? Possibly an even more pertinent question, why would another business ask for someone to give up their intellectual property?

I could list out the number of times that an RFP has asked for detailed agendas and course outlines, only to have the hiring company decide to do the training in-house, using the best of the agendas submitted as their own course outline. If you’ve taken the time to create a course and an accompanying outline, you should be compensated for that outline. (More on that later.)

2. Customization of Content If your firm has different clients in an array of industries, chances are your presentations and trainings will be tailor-made for your specific client and relevance to that specific field or industry. As an example, safety training for a utility client will look entirely different from a safety training for a client in the restaurant and entertainment sector.

3. Pay for Performance “Performance” as in the entirety of the service being rendered. Let’s say you get to the point where contracts are signed, and you are creating specific content and making a presentation to deliver to a group of people. However, something happens and the hiring company needs to perform the training in-house so they ask for the outline you’ve created. Unless they have agreed to compensate you for the work that you have put in, it is completely reasonable for you to decline the request. If a business chooses to agree to terms, like creating and presenting a training, then have a change of mind and asks for an outline of the presentation, the business should compensate the firm for creating that for them.

While we completely understand that you’ll need information about the training/presentation, a more palatable ask would be for a course overview and learning objectives - producing these items is less time-consuming, does not involve IP and won’t be as strenuous for the firm to provide. (But really, just do the right thing and don’t ask for free labor.)