How Do You Write a Good RFP?

How do you write a good RFP? A good RFP event is one in which you get a sufficient number of relevant responses to generate competition. You receive enough submissions so that the marginal benefit of the incremental proposal is equal to the marginal cost of evaluating it, as an economist might say. It attracts competition on price and solution from the most relevant vendors.

Should Buyers or Suppliers Pay for Procurement?

More buyers than one might think use a piece of legacy software or some combination of email and spreadsheets to manage their procurement activities. In these cases, the buyer bears the cost.

Should Supplier Networks Be One-to-Many or Many-to-Many?

Buyers get the most out of suppliers when they make it easy for suppliers to give them what they want. Suppliers want the ability to sell with a fast cycle and low transactions costs to as many potential customers who are a good fit and with whom they can develop deep, long-lasting, collaborative relationships.

Procurement Needs to Have Skin in the Game

Buyers who treated their suppliers as vassals who would (and presumably should) do anything for “the business” suffered disproportionately during the Covid supply chain shock of 2020.