Managing Indirect Spend. Joe Payne

organization?

      3 How can you help us distinguish ourselves from our competition?

      Through asking these questions, you can get a sense of whether or not conversations should continue.

      Bypassing the RFI

      Sometimes an RFI isn't necessary. As long as an exhaustive, in‐depth Research phase has taken place, your organization may be able to bypass the process.

      Most importantly, try to avoid developing this mind‐set: “It wouldn't hurt to issue an RFI.” Issuing an unneeded RFI is inefficient and does not help you find the quickest path to savings. Furthermore, it is important to be considerate and respectful of a potential supplier's time and effort. Suppliers may have a sincere interest in working with you, but overwhelming them with unnecessary requests may cause them to lose that interest. Remember to use the RFI process to begin establishing a good working rapport with potential suppliers rather than scaring them away.

IN SUMMARY

      Depending on the types of products or services you purchase, you may find suppliers' offerings to be fairly generic. In addition, independent research may have uncovered everything you need to know about the suppliers. If this is the case, an RFI may not be necessary. Regardless of how you have collected your market intelligence, once you have acquired it, you are ready to develop your final sourcing strategy.

      The final sourcing strategy identifies the cost savings opportunities you believe are available in the marketplace and details the steps you'll take to capitalize on those opportunities. This might include requesting quotes from a group of suppliers, asking for full proposals that detail alternative technologies or processes, or bypassing alternatives altogether and requesting unit‐cost concessions from your incumbent supplier.

      Not all markets lend themselves well to an RFP process, and not all suppliers respond favorably to a direct negotiation, but your research should determine which approach or approaches have the most merit. Regardless of the final strategy, the likelihood is that you are now ready to engage in the next phase of the Strategic Sourcing process—the RFx (or “bid”) phase, which often features all three forms of the RFx process.