Hello and welcome back to your VendorPanel guided tour.
You may notice that VendorPanel is looking a little different after a recent update. Most items are in the same place – but if you are unsure, please get in touch or reach out to VendorPanel directly. I am a big fan of their inbuilt Help centre (Top of screen) and Help / chat functionality (bottom right) when I need a hand. These appear on every page while in the portal.
I want to start working with you on the next step of using VendorPanel, the Request For Quote (RFQ). The idea here is to create a detailed record of the services, goods or information you need within VendorPanel, send that to a selection of LGP-approved suppliers, evaluate & engage the approved supplier you feel best meets your criteria. The added benefit is having a complete audit trail of the project for future reference with everything you need in the one place.
Have you got a confirmed & approved budget?
Let’s get started!
Point your cursor at My Requests which is found at the top of the page. It will bring up the below choices. You can Create a practice Request if you want to investigate first & build up some confidence, I know I did!
When you click on Create a new Request you will be relieved to know that there is a Request Wizard – a step-by-step guide designed to help you through the process.
Name
Give your request a name and add a reference number. You may have an internal process or code to use here, so check with your procurement policy. (Many councils use the internal project name or number here.) When happy, click Save and Continue. Your RFQ will automatically be assigned a VendorPanel reference number starting with VP for future reference.
Select Suppliers
Use the Local Government Procurement lists, these are lists of LGP’s approved suppliers.
*For more information, please see October’s VendorPanel article here.
In the field below Filter Categories type in the service or product you are looking for, e.g.: “Concrete” and then select the categories you would like to use.
When happy select Use these categories.
At each stage during using the Request Wizard you can see exactly where you are up to – which is very reassuring when using it for the first few times.
So after you have selected your supplier list/s, select the suppliers you want to hear back from. You can select the entire page or choose individually. The page defaults to show you the first 100 entries.
Details
After confirming the suppliers you wish to engage, you will see the following three fields.
Provide as much information relevant to the project as possible, especially in the Request Overview.
- Request Overview – Include a description of products, services or information you wish to procure, expected timing & location.
- Further information – Background information/compatibility requirements.
- Desired outcomes – “Nice to Haves”, Conditions & Warranties, SLA’s, benefits etc.
We’ll continue from the Questions tab onwards in December.
For full RFQ / VendorPanel guides please click here.
Questions? Send me an email.
See you next month!