Let’s discuss ways to make a possibly complicated event less challenging!
Today’s post is by Sarah Kouse a Project Manager at SafeSourcing.
Having a complicated event, whether it contains a lot of line items or items that require a lot of details, can get challenging. If you follow some of these steps, it could simplify the process.
Details – Knowing all the details about the event and the items involved is very important because the more the vendors/suppliers know about the items they are bidding the more accurately they can quote. This can be challenging because sometimes all those details are not always easily available, but once you have most of the details, you can then try to locate more information and details to be able to provide the vendor/suppliers. The more details you provide, the less questions tend to arise during an event and the more you can obtain an “apples to apples” comparison.
Timeline – Setting a realistic timeline for any event is important. You don’t want to set a timeline that is too long because it could cause participants to set things aside and potentially forget about it. You also don’t want to set a timeline too short because it causes everyone to rush things and potentially leave out important details. Vendors may also not be able to obtain all the information they need to provide their most accurate quotes.
Simplicity – Making a complicated event as simple as possible could help an event go smoother for the creator/administrator and the participants as well. The more complex an event, the more complicated it can be, resulting in a higher risk of issues and the probability of potential participants to decline to participate because they just “don’t want to deal with it.” An example of this is would be to focus on the items making up the top 80% of your spend and then collect market basket discounts for the other items.
In the end, the more realistic the timeline and the more details you can provide the suppliers the greater the likelihood of a smooth event that produces great results. For more information on how we can help you with your procurement needs or on our “Risk Free” trial program, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service Representative. We have an entire customer services team waiting to assist you today.
We look forward to your comments.
