As your team prepares to release an RFP (request for proposal), inviting more vendors will benefit your procurement efforts as well as your company as a whole. More potential vendors drives greater price competition and the ability to leverage and negotiate proposals, leading to more aggressive proposals and fiscally responsible solutions. While you’re in the process of negotiations, it’s important to be transparent with vendors and avoid bluffing, which is unethical and generally sours the relationship. It’s easy, as a result of being lazy or wanting to move quickly, to skip the extra step of reaching out to more vendors (in order to retain more RFPs). But in all honesty, it’s not nearly as painful or time consuming to invite more vendors to an RFP as you might think. In the end, the most important thing is for you to be a good client during the negotiations because ultimately, the best relationships between vendors and buyers are partnerships.
When you invite more vendors, be sure to keep the following tips in mind:
Ultimately, inviting more vendors to respond to your RFP creates more pricing competition and transparency, and will lead to higher quality proposals as well as better technology for you and your company.