templates Archives - RFQPro: RFP and RFQ Templates for Buyers and Suppliers

The Dreaded RFP Response

Mark Bell — Wed, 03 Jul 2013 16:06:41 +0000

As a vendor or supplier of product or services, one of the biggest challenges in today’s marketplace is finding the time to respond to the constant stream of information requests arriving in your inbox each week. Your responses need to be professional, representative of your organization, accurate and detailed enough to ensure you are shortlisted for potential projectsThese information requests may include price and delivery inquiries, product specifications, tenders or quote requests, and-most time-consuming of all-the dreaded RFP response which is likely the most time consuming task out of all the inquiries presently filling up your inbox. RFPs continue to rise in popularity because many organizations now use them as a catch all tool for handling internal requirements submitted to the purchasing department.

When the purchasing team doesn’t receive a clear scope or specification, they often issue an RFP in hopes that a vendor will propose a solution. What is frequently overlooked by the Buyer is the amount of time and effort required for the Vendor to prepare a strong RFP response. You can’t blame them—purchasing teams have their own fires to put out—and most suppliers accept that responding to a request for proposal is simply a cost of doing business. Can you reduce the cost of responding to RFQs and RFPs? Yes and no, and we’ll address that shortly.

As a vendor you should keep track of your success rate and the approximate cost of preparing your response. If you are spending $10,000 to submit a response and being awarded a $150,000 contract then you can clearly justify your ROI. If you are spending the same $10,000 to be awarded a $15,000 contract then not so much unless it leads to further work or a long term relationship with a new client.

I am not sure most companies can answer how much it costs to deliver a RFP response or tender call however I do know that if they can find a way to do this quicker, save money and achieve better results then everyone would consider doing it. Having a clean versus cluttered response is a start and taking the time to have more than one person review the RFP request are two solid ways of improving your chances. While every RFP response requires a unique approach, many components can be standardized.

Your company references, testimonials, company bio, contact coordinates, past project successes, financials, safety and equipment lists can be prepared ahead of time. Other areas like your cover letter can also be saved in a format which allows you to tweak and go. All these pieces will help you get your responses out quicker and quicker means cheaper.

Since 2008, RFQPro has been helping both Buyers and Suppliers succeed with the request for quote and request for proposal process by providing web-based RFQ Software and editable procurement related word templates to help users expedite this process and improve departmental productivity. Why start from scratch? Visit the RFP Response Page for more details.

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Vendor Evaluation Questions

Mark Bell — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:51:38 +0000

Using Structured Questions to Drive Vendor Improvement and Collaboration

The process of evaluating vendors is an ongoing task which every purchasing department should be performing at regular intervals. In this process, you are inviting dialogue or communication with your vendors, which is always good.

What types of questions should you ask your vendors? Ask questions directly related to areas which require improvement and do not neglect to mention areas which the vendor is excelling or performing well at.

Remember, the goal is to help your vendor improve their service levels and how they do business with your company. In return, the vendor might even offer something which will make both your organizations more efficient!

In Part A, we have provided a verbal question you might ask during your interview. In Part B, we have some examples of questions which are asked internally and completed prior to the actual vendor interview. See Delivery issue in Part B.

Part A

Do you have a recognized Quality Assurance program implemented?

Is system in effect?_________ Is procedure written? __________

Other questions can be related to the internal review. Example:

Out of XXX shipments this year we have identified a poor performance rating in the Delivery category because you have used an incorrect carrier. Have the vendor explain why.

Maybe, the carrier you are requesting on your purchase order does not service that region or possibly the message is not getting to the vendor’s shipping department. In the latter, our experience is if you refuse to pay freight charges because the vendor did not ship as instructed, they quickly get the message and future shipments will be as instructed.

Part B

1.	DELIVERY	Points	Weight	Total
	On time arrival or service	90	.18	16.2
	Conformance to packaging specifications	89	.10	8.9
	Correct carrier used	59	.02	1.12
	SUB TOTAL		.30	26.3

2.	QUALITY
	Conformance to specifications	90	.15	13.5
	Commitment to improve quality	90	.12	10.8
	Quality of information (documentation)	90	.03	2.7
	Claims and credit returns	87	.02	1.74
	Environmental	92	.08	7.36
	SUB TOTAL		.40	36.1

Rating Points

0 – 19	Not Applicable
20 – 39	Not Acceptable / No Compliance
40 – 59	Poor Performance
60 – 79	Good / Minimum Expectation
80 – 89	Very Good
90 – 100	Excellent Performance

Weighting Vendor Performance to Reflect Operational Priorities

Any effective vendor performance evaluation relies on a clear weighting system and rating scheme that measures Price, Delivery, Quality, Quantity, and Service. These categories form the backbone of most procurement scorecards, but the relative importance of each one cannot be standardized across organizations. Only the owner or procurement lead can determine the appropriate weighting, because they best understand which product classes and service elements are most critical to operational viability.

The emphasis placed on quality versus delivery, or service versus price, will vary not only from company to company but also from vendor to vendor. A supplier providing mission‑critical components may require a heavier weight on quality and delivery reliability, while a commodity supplier might be evaluated more heavily on price and service responsiveness. The weighting system should reflect these nuances so that the final score accurately represents the vendor’s true impact on your operations.

Open and honest dialogue should be completed annually with your primary or key vendors and should be documented to allow for review and accountability. If you are interested in a comprehensive Vendor Performance Template you may wish to review RFQ30 which is in our Premium, Vendor and Mega packs.

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Service Contract Template (5 important points to cover)

Mark Bell — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:57:54 +0000

Service Contract Template

Our latest addition to the template library would be used in the event you need to hire a temporary contract employee or any fee for service type personnel. This is a contract template for service, covers 5 important points and its free!

Sometimes you need to hire a temporary employee or bring back an employee in a consultancy capacity and you want to cover the bases with a simple contract to manage their responsibilities and the commercial components of your agreement.

This free service contract template will help you get the ball rolling and complete this task quicker and easier than starting from scratch and will identify the five important points you should always cover in a services contract.

Our free template covers the parties, compensation, scope, duration, safety and more. Whenever generating a contract for service it is important to capture:

The name, address of the individual and or company.
Second the duration or time period you require the services of the employee.
Third the scope or work they will be performing for your company.
Fourth the amount they will be paid.
The benefits if any and the additional conditions like safety or workers coverage.

This four page employee services contract is simple, clean and will work for most of these temporary or basic requirement. Ensure you replace the RFQPro.com text with your own company name, address details.

Download service contract template PDF here >>> RFQ4 – Service Contract

Want this in an editable format like Microsoft Word? Please Click Here

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