Most Popular Forms used by Purchasing [3 free samples]

Most Popular Forms used by Purchasing Professionals today (3 free samples)

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 would be: Request for Quotation (RFQ); Request for Proposal (RFP); Request for Inofrmation (RFI); and there are many others.

While most of these procurement forms are relatively straightforward, the RFP is a form that has continued to evolve since its first started to appear in the early ’80’s. Since then, RFP’s 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 a 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 submit 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 last the procurement officer who is the person managing the RFP / RFQ. The procurement officer or purchasing agent often generate the documents, issue the RFP, analyze 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 6 widgets and here is the part # so in this instance a 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 Expression of Interest (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 pre-qualify 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 (vs 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, 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 other documents a Buyer / Purchasing Agent will use in their day to day purchasing needs and if you, like many of us, find the RFP Process overwhelming or too time consuming the RFQPro Step by Step RFP Guide will make these tasks easier and will be released soon. It will simplify the RFP Process by providing a step by step guide c/w with sample forms typically used at each stage when issuing a RFP — a start to finish guide c/w templates. All templates will be provided in edit friendly Microsoft Word format. This comprehensive guide and template pack will be provided at a discount to all our subscribers and with returning customers receiving additional discounts over and above discounts offered to our subscriber base.

Evolution of the RFQ

Evolution of the RFQ:

Acronyms are becoming a part of everyday purchasing lingo. Here are just a few we are becoming accustomed to: TCO, RFQ, RFI, RFP, LOU, LOI, ABC, SPC. 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.

Well TCO is Total Cost of Ownership, SPC is Statistical Process Control and it is used in manufacturing, ABC relates to classification of your inventory and RFQ is a Request for Quote.   The good old RFQ which all of us COP’s – 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 or was issued as a request for quotation or quote. It was sometimes called an invitation to quote or invitation to tender and these both are part of the RFQ family.

Then came the RFP which is a request for proposal. This is where the vendor

How To Succeed With Tenders

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.