Project Selection Process S210

S210 - Confer with Vendors (Suppliers)

DEFINITION

Various contacts with the vendors aimed at examining their responses and the selection issues in further detail.

SUMMARY

Contacts with vendors come in many forms and at different times during the selection exercise.  This process relates primarily to contacts made during the evaluation of the proposals and the choice of a preferred solution.

The forms of contact typically include:

• telephone conversations,
• letters requesting/providing clarification,
• presentations by the vendor,
• demonstrations of the proposed system.

The selection team should only engage in these contacts where they are likely to assist in the evaluation process.  For each contact, whether formal or informal, there should be:

• an understanding of the objectives of the contact,
• a prepared approach for how this should be achieved, and
• some form of notes to show the outcome.

PATH PLANNING GUIDANCE

This process is normal practice.

DEPENDENCIES

This process normally runs during the evaluation of tenders received in response to the Invitation to Tender (ITT).

Prerequisites (Finish-Start):

• Receipt of tenders (S190)

Dependent procedures (Finish-Finish):

• Agree final marks and issues (S230)

RECEIVABLES

• vendors’ proposals
• selection issues and zero scores etc

DELIVERABLES

• System Demonstration Agenda
• System Demonstration Questionnaire
• Updated Issues lists / logs
• Visit reports

TOOLS

• Examples: System Demonstration Agenda
• Examples: System Demonstration Questions
• Examples: Selection Issues List

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TASKS

Objectives and General Approach

The objectives of any contact with the vendors should be to improve the quality of the evaluation or to improve the quality of the final solution.  There should always be a specific purpose for any contact although that purpose may be general in nature (eg a better understanding of the proposals).

The vendors may have entirely different objectives.  Frequently they will see contacts as an opportunity to influence the evaluation in their favour.  This can lead them to distort the facts or to focus on aspects where they are good and conceal aspects where their proposed solution is less satisfactory.

The selection team members must, therefore, be proactive in their approach.  They must try to set the agenda and steer the discussions to meet the team’s objectives.  They should prepare in detail the specific points they wish to have answered and take steps to see that the points are covered.  They should make sure that their findings are documented and reported back to other members of the team where appropriate.

Forms of contact

Contacts with the vendor should efficiently provide exchanges of information, ideas and views.  They should take the most effective format to meet the objective of that particular required contact.

 

Form of contact	Comments
Telephone calls	These are ideal for clarification of queries.  It is important that a file note is written immediately to record any significant points.  If new  facts or offers emerge which could become contractual in nature, the vendor should be asked to confirm in writing immediately.
Conference calls / teleconferencing / video conferencing	Similar to telephone calls (see above) but allows a number of people to participate in the discussion.  Can be useful for a remote “clarification workshop”. With state-of-the-art video conferencing, it may be possible to conduct the entire presentations and demonstrations from a remote location - however, such facilities are currently rare.
Vendor visits to the client organisation	Vendors may offer to visit to discuss their proposals.  This is usually because they see it as an opportunity to influence the influencers in the evaluation.  Unless there are particular points requiring significant discussion or clarification, it is usually best to decline these offers.
Clarification workshop	If there is a large number of points requiring clarification it might be appropriate to hold a “clarification workshop” at which the vendor responds to specific issues identified by the team.  Where possible advance notice should be given of these issues and any significant responses should be minuted and agreed in writing by the vendor.
Vendor demonstration and presentations	This is usually an important factor in the evaluation process.  It is the opportunity to illustrate the proposed system to key influencers.  Very often they will be disproportionately influenced by the quality of this demonstration.  It is important that the demonstrations and presentations address the selection team’s needs for information.  The team should seek to set the agenda and have prepared questions and topics that they feel should be explored based on the issues identified during the evaluation.
Social contacts / entertainment	Vendors may offer to entertain potential clients and the selection teams.  This may be a direct offer of entertainment (eg customers’ day out at the races) or it may be more subtle (eg see the demonstration at the development centre on the other side of the Atlantic and discuss the proposal over dinner at your hotel).  It is not normally advisable to accept any unusual form of entertainment, although, clearly some forms are genuine in nature, eg providing lunch when attending the vendor’s premises for a demonstration.  The position may vary according to culture and local law, and note that there are some circumstances in which any form of entertainment whatsoever is considered improper.
Building a relationship with the vendor	Despite the dangers of undue influence and improper entertaining etc, it is a good idea to begin to build a relationship with the potential vendors.  Try to develop a friendly relationship with the senior management, sales staff and technical experts that you meet at this time so that you will have easy access to them at later stages in the project should their proposal be accepted.  Being able to call the chief executive when you have a major problem can be much more effective than waiting for their support desk to respond.
Written communications	Written communication tends to be slow.  Even if facsimile machines or electronic mail are used, the time taken to prepare and transmit an answer can lead to delays.  Written communications are therefore most valuable for: minor matters that need to be communicated, eg extension of time scale, confirmation of date for demonstration etc matters where a large amount of information is required, eg detailed file layouts requested matters requiring written evidence, eg change in terms and conditions, corrections, new statements.

Demonstrations and presentations

Vendors usually have standard presentations and demonstrations.  They will normally customise these to provide a session for the selection team.  Although this may be of value, it is usually better to define to the vendor the precise information and aspects of the system that you wish to see presented.  This allows the selection team to investigate the issues which have been identified and to focus on the areas of concern.

Even so, it is usually worthwhile including some general overview of the vendor and the vendor’s proposed solution during which the vendor will be free to present whatever general facts they feel are of most benefit.

The selection team should normally prepare an agenda for the demonstration and/or presentation sessions based on the specific issues relating to that vendor’s proposal.  Try to give reasonable advance notice of the team’s requests to give the vendor time to prepare a demonstration based on the team’s concerns and interests.

In addition to the agenda, it may be useful to prepare a detailed questionnaire.  This is of particular value where not all the selection team will be attending and where the attendees are not fully conversant with all the issues.

Where a detailed questionnaire is not prepared and completed, the attendees should prepare a visit report noting the significant findings and their general feelings about the vendor and the proposed solution.

The results from these sessions should be circulated throughout the team and the issues list should be updated to reflect any new information or changes.  The results will be of particular importance during the final assessment of the competing solutions.

Some considerations concerning the logistics of the sessions might include:

• In a small team it may be practical for all members to attend all the presentations and demonstrations.  More often, it will be necessary to delegate.
• Try to cover the range of skills required for the session, e.g. both functional and technical specialists may be required, and it may be necessary to cover several separate functional areas.
• It is a good idea for the project’s sponsor or key decision makers to attend, but this may not always be possible.  If senior staff who are not part of the selection team do attend it is important that there is at least one regular team member to guide them and report back, and they should be briefed and debriefed accordingly.  The use of questionnaires can be of particular value in such cases.
• If the vendor’s system is portable or can be demonstrated on the client organisation’s existing equipment or can be presented through a remote link, the demonstration may be held at (or near) the client’s premises.  This can make it easier for key influencers to attend.
• There are some major networks and systems installations at which demonstrations can be held away from the vendor’s own location, for example, some vendor's demonstration centres are linked worldwide.
• Although it is convenient to see the system at the client organisation’s location, there is a value in the team seeing the vendor’s own facilities, to judge how effective they are at providing quality service, training facilities etc.
• So far as is possible, similar conditions should be provided for all the demonstrations so that the team’s perceptions are not distorted by environmental factors.  For example,  a system running through old character based terminals using a slow processor at the client location might look substantially worse than the same system seen running with colour, graphical user interface (GUI) workstations at the vendor’s site on an unloaded fast computer.