Never Do Another RFI or RFP!

Stakeholder engagement is critical to our success. Unfortunately, the fastest way to scare away a stakeholder is to suggest doing an RFx. To people outside of procurement, nothing screams “delays and loss of control” more loudly than those three letters. 

Instead of an RFx, do a thorough review of the supplier landscape. Leverage your professional network and third-party market information services to identify a diverse list of suppliers worth considering.   

Have a friendly conversation with your stakeholder(s) about they what they are looking for from a product or supplier, and what they want to avoid. Take that input and solicit the relevant information from that list of suppliers you put together.

Consolidate and summarize their responses. Share that information with your stakeholders, get their feedback, and suggest further conversations with a small number of those suppliers who seem most worthwhile.

Have those conversations, facilitate a guided discussion with your stakeholders about what they liked and didn't like, and help them weigh the relative importance of those things they liked and disliked. Take all that and come to a consensus on what to do next.

That may sound exactly like an RFI/RFP, but it’s only an RFI/RFP if you call it one. Instead, it is a series of highly valuable consultative actions taken on behalf of your stakeholders, with minimum effort on their part, and zero perception that Procurement is slowing them down, or telling them what to buy or who to buy it from.

Note of caution: Whatever you do, however you package it for your stakeholders, make sure your suppliers understand that they are participating in a formal competitive engagement. They overwhelmingly tend to behave better that way.

One more note, for the Lawyers and Internal Audit Guys: I know; in government, or regulated industries, or places with hyper-specific SOX compliance rules, you have to do formal RFPs and call them that. In those places, stakeholders have no choice, Procurement has a mandate, and all this is somewhat moot. Still, the point holds; make the process as painless and transparent as possible, and everyone will be happier.