Categories: procurement
When you are preparing to select a new supplier for your project you want to make sure that they are a good fit for you and your organisation. As well as the cost management aspects of getting a quote and setting up a procurement process to select a vendor, there are some other things to consider when you are making your final choice. These should all be part of your selection criteria – don’t forget that as well as technical requirements for your project you’re also ‘interviewing’ them to gain some confidence that they are actually going to work well with your existing project team.
So what do you need to know about your project supplier? Here are some things to consider.
Solvency
Solvency is important because you want to work with a business that is credible and stable. It’s not fun to be in a situation where you are halfway through a project and you find out that your supplier is on the verge of bankruptcy. Ask your finance or legal team to carry out their standard background checks on the businesses that you are considering working with (they should have access to the information to do this, although they might outsource the checks to a third party).
You’ll get back information about how the company has performed financially and whether or not it is considered a going concern. If you are at all bothered by the results, talk to the supplier. Some things could be explained away but if not, this simple solvency check will help you avoid a lot of problems in the future.
Size of business
How big is the company? It’s a very different experience working with a major multi-national to working with a small design studio that could essentially be one person working from their kitchen. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t engage small and independent firms, but be aware if you are doing so.
Taking on a big contract is also a risk for a small firm. If you decide not to continue to use them (say, after the project has finished) then they will lose a large deal and could potentially struggle. If you do need them for some kind of ongoing support then make this clear.
With a big company you could find the opposite: your project is so small in the grand scheme of things that you don’t get the customer service you expect because they don’t prioritise your problems.
Estimation techniques
Find out how they have prepared their estimates. There should be a list of assumptions somewhere in the proposal document. These should explicitly say if the proposal includes taxes and expenses. Some vendors will also expect per diems for their staff. This is a flat rate to cover the cost of working away from home or on a client site, and is supposed to be used to cover things like lunches, laundry, phone calls and so on. It’s paid directly to the staff member so it is different from expenses and often it’s explicitly excluded from a quoted price.
How do I know? I’ve been caught out with those before.
Working hours
The working hours are particularly relevant if you are working with international partners. They will have different national holidays to you so it’s worth finding out when they are. You can also write into your contract that you expect them to be available on all workings days in your country. Personally I think this is a bit mean and it’s nicer to be able to work around their availability rather than make them skip their local holidays, although I have seen it done.
You might also want to check what hours they are going to be available. While no one would expect the team in New Zealand to stay up all night in case someone calls, it is worth discussing what would happen if there was an urgent problem during your working hours and the overseas office was closed.
Staffing and experience
Talk to them about who is going to be allocated to your project. You’ll want confidence that the consultants they put forward have the relevant experience to be able to complete the work. Everyone, of course, needs to start somewhere and you may find that you also get less experienced contractors allocated to your account. That’s fine, as long as you know they are being adequately supported by more experienced colleagues. You’re paying for someone to do the job and provide expertise in a field that your own company doesn’t have. You’re not paying for someone to learn on the job.
While you are at it, get references of where they have delivered similar projects for other clients. They should be able to evidence the fact that they are experts in this area because that is what you are engaging them for. If they haven’t got a lot of experience in your sector but you still want to use them, talk to them about you can help them build their knowledge quickly.
What else do you consider when selecting and securing a third party to work on your projects? Let us know in the comments.
