Prolay ChaudhuryPractice Lead & Lead Solution Architect| Chaudhury, Inc.Bangalore, Karnataka, India
The situation - The client has sent you the Fixed price RFQ with an estimated project timeline with requirements. After going through the requirements, you understood that the requirements are complex and it cannot be delivered by the proposed timeline of the client.
What will you do? Accept the proposed timeline and suffer later on. Or negotiate with the client to defer the deadline by reasonable time with your findings. Saving Changes...
MAEN QADDOURAHProject Director| AJ SAUDIJeddah, Saudi Arabia
held a meeting with the Client to investigate Saving Changes...
Bala S DuvvuriProject Manager| ShellBangalore, Karnataka, India
I will have a discussion with the client but before that as a project manager i will do my homework because without having supporting facts i cannot discuss with my client and you may lose the project.
1.You need to brainstorm with your team members/experts and come up with proper estimates.
2.Before explaining your facts client should be given the opportunity to explain the basis of the estimations.
3.Identify the gaps between client estimates and your estimates and be able to explain with supporting facts.
4.You should not be arguing but should be assertive and if required little flexible/adaptable if it is a priority project and your company doesn''t want to lose the client.
5.And also client may be rigid so based on your company''s priorities you should be able to explain the facts to key people in your company who should be take a decision.
Thanks
Bala Saving Changes...
Prolay ChaudhuryPractice Lead & Lead Solution Architect| Chaudhury, Inc.Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Hey Bala,
Please read my situation properly. The client floats RFP with the project timeline. If you do not accept it you are going to lose the project. As I stated after winning the RFP with the offer when it came to the implementation team from the Sales department.
We are expert in our field i.e cloud computing. It is the fault of the Sales department to bid for such RFQ.
And what make you think that we are going to do this with the client? "You should not be arguing "
As MAEN QADDOURAH suggested that it can be taken with the client for further investigation. Saving Changes...
Bala S DuvvuriProject Manager| ShellBangalore, Karnataka, India
Sorry for jumping straight away without seeing the question fully. Saving Changes...
In such situations, you need to discuss with customer and if there is no option than you will have to opt to lose the project. If you organization is willing to do it without much of profit, you must go for it. You never know, this project may get you more clients. Saving Changes...
Prolay ChaudhuryPractice Lead & Lead Solution Architect| Chaudhury, Inc.Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Yes, Pravin. That is one of the wise decision. Saving Changes...
Stéphane ParentSelf Employed / Semi-retired| Leader MakerPrince Edward Island, Canada
It sounds like the client may understand the requirements differently than you do, Prolay. As Maen suggested, you need to clear up the difference in opinion. Perhaps the client is looking for less than what you are reading into the RFQ.
If there is still a disagreement between the perceived scope and the expected timeline, you will have to find out if the scope or the timeline is more important. You then negotiate on the less important of the two. Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
The question to answer is this: why do you say that the estimation is wrong? When you answer that then you have the solution to the situation. It could be because the situation @Stephane stated above or for a lot of some other situation. As you know when you estimate the final duration depends on a lot of factors (eg: resource (all type) productivity). If for any reason you will accept the RFQ somebody in your team has to accept the risk you will record to publish this situation. Saving Changes...
Chintan Jariwala, PMP, CSMProject Manager, IT Business Analyst| Sailfin Technologies India Pvt LtdSurat, Gujarat, India
As it''s RFQ, There should be in depth requirement specification mentioned in it. Ultimately, It is up to you to justify your stand. As it is a fixed price, Your stand will be considered or they would agree to discuss only if there is no other bidder withing the Fixed price mentioned. IMO, You should consider the Risk Reward Ratio before taking any decision. Saving Changes...
Dominic LawProduct Manager| PCCW GlobalHappy Valley, Hong Kong
Business is not won or lost just by responding to RFQ. There should be customer relationship before the RFQ, during the process and afterwards. And one important aspect of relationship is to share experience, and the communication is both way. Even talk to more stakeholders within the customer; maybe they are arguing internally about the project scope too! From your side it is important to understand the reason behind the timeline. The customer seldom make a wrong timeline on purpose to kill its own project. And if you decide the timeline is unreasonable at the end, then do your risk analysis to decide if go ahead with the bidding. It is ok not to bid if you know you are going to make a loss. Saving Changes...
