Establish Vendor Selection Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles

Partner

Partner with internal teams, such as Procurement, Finance, IT, Legal, and business operations.

Partner with your procurement team to define an evaluation process that:

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    Is clearly articulated in your RFP or JITDE™ Brief.
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    Treats all potential vendors fairly.
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    Emphasizes quantitative scoring as a basis for vendor selection.
  • ●
    Ensures its objective supports your expected business outcome.

The evaluation process may vary based on organization and procurement policies.

Define Minimum Requirements

Define the minimum requirements a vendor needs to meet to submit a proposal.

Specify these requirements clearly and concisely.

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    It saves time and money for your organization as well as the vendors.
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    It saves the project team time from not assessing proposals that don't meet a minimum quality and need threshold.
Winnow Vendors

The evaluation process consists of a series of assessments, each representing a decision gate to narrow the options to the most viable vendor(s).

A visual metaphor to communicate the evaluation process is the Cone of Uncertainty.

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    The cone of uncertainty narrows as more information is known and quantified about each vendor, from RFP or JITDE™ Brief assessment to the completion of site visits.
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    As depicted in the image, that additional information is used to winnow vendors further after each stage is completed.

Your minimum requirements aren't specified sufficiently if more than ten vendors respond to your RFP.

Apply Consistently

Create the proper framework upfront and use it consistently throughout the evaluation process:

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    Flexible but structured
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    Supports your organization's procurement process
Interact with Vendors

Every interaction with a vendor is an opportunity to evaluate and quantify fit:

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    RFP or JITDE™ Brief
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    Vendor interviews and demos
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    Site visits
Select the Right Team Members

Select the right people to score, contribute, and evaluate the vendors and their solutions.

Confirm they have a good knowledge of the solution space.

Do Due Diligence

Complete the required due diligence at each evaluation stage.

Engage in research and peer networking to understand your operating ecosystem.

Score

Score to the extent possible.

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    Use multi-layer weightings that emphasize vital needs.
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    Weight each evaluation stage and design scoring that blends strategic and tactical perspectives.
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    Select the vendor with the highest cumulative score.

Emphasize quantitative scoring in your evaluation processes. Scoring as much as possible results in better selection decisions and minimizes biases influencing decision-making.

Initiate preliminary negotiations (RFP approach) soon after your recommendation to leadership is accepted.

Minimize Bias

Team members bring their unique experiences, relationships, and perspectives to the project. Diversity in thinking and perspective is good. However, team members must surface material biases to leadership.

Examples of biases include:

Leadership should assess and decide when bias may harm the vendor solution decision process and make appropriate team member changes.

Previous employment or work history with a particular vendor is an example of a bias that may be beneficial. Deeper insight into a vendor may uncover critical pros and cons that the evaluation team should know. Consider assigning the team member with the vendor history as a contributor, not a scorer.