Most Popular Forms used by Purchasing [3 free samples]

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What are the Most Popular Forms used by Purchasing Professionals today?

In order to manage the need to purchase supplies and services, purchasing professionals turn to certain forms, templates or documents to obtain the internally requested products or services.

Some standard forms you might be familiar with include: Request for Quotation (RFQ), Request for Proposal (RFP), Request for Information (RFI), and  many others.

While most of these procurement forms are relatively straightforward, the RFP is a form that has continued to evolve since it first started to appear in the early ’80s. Since then, RFPs have become more prevalent, refined and in some cases are all many companies issue (not what we recommend!!). Regardless, companies that purchase goods and services need procurement forms to help them manage their business. These forms are a necessary evil and ultimately will help you complete the task of getting to the stage for an award.

Work flow and players involved when you issue an RFP / RFQ

Before we detail the templates most used by purchasing professionals today, we think some background on the process would be helpful. Typically, there are 3 or 4 role players in the RFP or RFQ process. There is a Tenderer, aka, Bidder / Offeror / Supplier / Vendor (a seller of materials and/or supplies who submits a proposal or quotation against your requirements); then there is the Owner, which is the parent company issuing the document and paying the bills — the user or internal department making the request or the fellow employees needing the material or service to complete the project — and lastly the procurement officer, who is the person managing the RFP / RFQ. The procurement officer or purchasing agent often generate the documents, issues the RFP, analyzes the supplier quotes, makes a recommendation, and finally manages the award to the supplier of choice. There are others, like the accounting department, which will pay the supplier, and so on.

Now back to the most popular forms used today:

RFP – (Request for Proposal). Without question, this form is considered the go-to form for procurement professionals on larger dollar spend and when your selection criteria might use additional factors other than price, like service capabilities or technical support.

Free RFP Template is included in our Welcome Pack

RFQ – (Request for Quote). To some this is up for debate, but depending on the organization, sometimes the Buyer is simply looking for price and delivery on a simple material request.  We need six widgets and here is the part number, so in this instance an RFP is overkill and is not worth the cost or effort.

Free RFQ Template is included in our Welcome Pack

EOI or RFI – (Expression of Interest) or (Request for Information).  An EOI or RFI is used to gauge interest from potential suppliers for a potential upcoming project on the drawing board or hope to officially tender in the near future. An EOI gives you the opportunity to prequalify vendors to ensure they are capable of completing the work under the restrictions or specifications outlined in your document.

Free Simple RFI Template > 8 pages

LOI or LOU – (Letter of Intent) or (Letter of Understanding). Often the next document to be used by the purchasing department, if the spend warrants it, versus going right to a PO.  It captures the summary terms negotiated by both parties during the award process, and these details will eventually make their way into the formal contract. Simply put, the Buyer is looking for a document they can use to bridge them over until a formal contract document can be executed.

There are many documents a Buyer or Purchasing Agent relies on in their day‑to‑day purchasing activities. If you, like many of us, find the RFP process overwhelming or too time‑consuming, the RFQPro Step‑by‑Step RFP Guide will make your workflow significantly easier.

This new guide simplifies the entire RFP process by providing a clear, start‑to‑finish roadmap complete with sample forms used at each stage of issuing an RFP. All templates are delivered in fully editable Microsoft Word format, ensuring you can customize them to suit your organization’s needs.

As a bonus, this comprehensive guide and template pack will be offered at a discount to all subscribers, with additional savings for returning customers on top of the standard subscriber discount.

Evolution of the RFQ

by RFQ - Request for Quotation

Acronyms are a part of everyday purchasing lingo. Here are just a few we are becoming accustomed to: RFQ, RFI, RFP, LOU, LOI, ABC, SPC, TCO. It does seem like every year there is a new term being introduced into the purchasing arena. For the experienced purchasing agent, the most familiar of the above terms would be the RFQ and it is a document which has evolved and become more complex over the years.

Understanding the Acronyms

TCO is Total Cost of Ownership.
SPC is Statistical Process Control, used in manufacturing.
ABC relates to classification of your inventory.
And RFQ is a Request for Quote.

The good old RFQ is something all of us COPs (Crusty Old Purchasers) understand very well, as it was the only document utilized in early purchasing. A request for quote has been around the longest, and in the old days everything went out as a request for quotation or quote. It was sometimes called an invitation to quote or invitation to tender, and both are part of the RFQ family.

When the RFP Entered the Picture

Then came the RFP which is a request for proposal. This is where the vendor is asked to provide what they believe is the best possible solution to my need. Personally, I think some engineering types did not want to spend the time to properly develop a scope or specify requirements so they opted to put the onus on the vendors. Just kidding, many of my business associates and colleagues are Engineers so I enjoy taking a poke at them whenever I get the chance. Okay, maybe not exactly how the RFQ evolved or developed into a RFP but sure seems that way.

When an RFP Actually Makes Sense

If the expertise is not present in your organization or if you are dealing with a specialty area, a RFP does makes sense. You can also opt to hire a consultant to assist you with the scope, evaluation and a recommendation. I personally have used consultants when it came to generating a VoIP RFP and required their expertise to develop the specifications and evaluate the technical component of bid responses. A VoIP is a voice over internet protocol and by its very nature has many technical communication aspects to it. Not my area of expertise and attempting to generate a meaningful RFP was not likely.

Why COPs Still Prefer RFQs

Us COP’s prefer RFQ’s as they are straight forward. This is what I need so price it and send her back! Many of the other procurement forms are not as straight forward and can pose to be a challenge when it comes time to evaluation and award. You really are not comparing apples to apples as the saying goes.

The Expansion of Procurement Documents

Next came the Expression of Interest (EOI), Request for Information (RFI), Request for Qualification and so on.  Each have their own purpose and each document slightly differs as to how they are issued and what type of responses you can expect to receive. A request for qualification might be for an art display in a commercial space and your document might pay the artists a nominal fee for their submissions and if their work is selected for the commercial space they will then be paid the quoted fee. So, in this instance you can see the benefit of a request for qualification versus a request for quotation.

LOU and LOI: Bridging the Gap After Tendering

A Letter of Understanding (LOU) and Letter of Intent (LOI) are used post-tender. These help bridge the gap between the tender and when you get around to the formal contract.

Large organizations with big spend often use an LOI to keep the ball rolling and to inch the process along. Some legal experts reinforce the importance of not saying too much in your letter of intent or understanding, as you might run the risk of exposing yourself to a legal challenge.

There are many forms of documents and creating them all from scratch might not be something you want to spend your work day or weekends on. This is where we can help. We have a number of RFQ, RFI, RFP, EOI, LOI and LOU templates available to help you expedite the process.

Related topics:

Sample Letter of Intent (LOI) or (LOU)

Sample VoIP RFP

Request for Qualifications

Sample EOI Form

How To Succeed With Tenders

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Nine (9) Simple Suggestions to Improve Your RFP Response(s)

Preparing outgoing tenders are skills which are a critical component of the professional buyer’s job description, however, responding to a tender or RFP is a critical component to the success of any business. If you fail to succeed at receiving the award as a result of your tender responses it is  likely you will not be in  business very long.

Nine (9) simple suggestions which will increase your chances at winning more tenders.

  1. Pre-Game Preparation: We love the sports or game analogy and preparing to respond to a RFP or a tender is no different. Prior to the game, athletes are practising and completing training to ensure they are successful on game day.  Responding to a tender request is no different. Preparation is key and there are many areas you can prepare ahead of time or prior to responding to a RFP or RFQ request.
  2. Training or investing in learning will always result in a great rate of return and improve chances! Keep all certifications and credentials current and readily available.
  3. Tender responses almost always require details or specific profiles on your team, approach and methodology, management, price and past experience.
  4. With the often restricted timelines to complete the tender response, it is crucial that time is allocated to ensuring the best possible solution to the project’s requirements is presented at the best possible price.  Most effort needs to be dedicated to providing a solution and not a re-hash of past experience.
  5. Obviously, a successful track record of implementing or past experience in similar activities will be evaluated and contribute to your success or failure for any tender.  But this doesn’t imply spending countless hours to locate and compile a summary of past experiences is time wisely spent – this can be done now and on an ongoing basis.
  6. All tender requests are likely to call for an array of details which exhibits your experience in past or similar activities.  Information required almost always consists of the activity name, location and duration, client, project value, key personnel by name and title, and a synopsis of the activity.
  7. Aggregating this activity is clearly destined to be a challenge if it requires searching for staff and past associates for details, relying on memory, etc.  The answer is to encourage the habit of compiling relevant information as soon as a project begins, and keeping the information current.
  8. This can be made even easier by capturing information from the start of a project consistent with how a future tender might require the information presented.
  9. Major organizations request a Project Data Sheet (PDS) for each project example that you are including with your tender response.  This is often a single page that captures all the information required in the evaluation of your response.

Can I use each PDS just as it is for any tender I submit?

Keep in mind that although this template is consistent with what is currently requested, it is important to check exact tender requirements before submission to ensure compliance.

Secondly, each tender has different considerations because each project is often unique, so a standard response is rarely successful.  Likewise, each project your company has completed would have contained a range of activities or approaches.  So, instead of simply adding a PDS example to a (RFP) tender response, consider what the tender’s (project’s) focus is, and ensure your PDS examples emulate this.  Often a slight re-write to place greater emphasis on a key piece of relevance is important. So customize your response to reflect the client’s needs and wants.

The information that the PDS template captures is ideal for submissions direct to client, or as a data capture tool for drawing information from for developing capability documents, case-study information and the like.

Frequently, when dealing with small to mid-sized corporations, the RFP response process can be quite nerve-racking, time-challenged, and often lacking a process. Responding to RFQ’s or RFP’s can become the most unpleasant task, however, whether preparing a response for a complex project, or a proposal directly to a client, it is important that time is spent coming up with the best possible approach or solution to ensure implementation produces the very best results.  Taking time away from this critical aspect of proposal development to prepare Project Data Sheets or other typical response details is not time well spent.

See VR220-Product Data Sheet.doc in the Vendor Pack if you are interested in looking at a sample template. Our  pack has a variety of tender response templates which will help you produce a professional (RFP) tender response and help you improve your chances of winning more tenders.