Here’s the plan:
We’ll ask a bunch of companies to solve an important business problem for us.
It will be a big problem with large financial consequences.
We’ll give companies a written document on what we think we want.
We wont let any of the companies ask us more about what we want. They just get what is written.
We’ll have a deadline that is immovable. If a company is not inside it, they lose. Even if they are the best.
We wont meet with any of the people we will work with. We wont find out if we like each other.
We’ll only give these companies 1 hour to explain what they think we should do. Even if the project takes years.
We wont tell them the budget, or we’ll give an immovable budget. Either or.
We’ll get a purchasing person to run this thing. Not someone from the department who will work on the project.
We’ll keep certain secrets on the project in house until we choose a partner.
We will go through this process this every X years. Even if our current provider does this for us very well.
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Sound silly? If it does, then maybe it is time we started re-thinking if we want to do business with anyone who believes in the tender process.
You just described BHP Billiton and all the other big mining companies out there mate… So far, looks like they’re doing OK!
Totally with you on this one Steve. Tenders are a waste for everyone. When I was in sales management and a rep came in wanting to respond to a tender, the first question I always asked was “Did you write it for the client?” If the answer was ‘no’, my response was always “Then don’t bother wasting your time, because if you didn’t write it then there’s a greater than 90% chance that one of your competitors did, and they’ll get the deal”. In most cases tenders are simply designed to justify a decision that’s already been made by the customer and they just waste everyone’s time. They’re usually demanded by people who’ve never run their own business or been on the other side of the table. And they’re never fair. To anyone.
Well it’s easy to confuse doing OK, with bad business practice being good business practice. The point is that the tender system generall doesn’t help anyone. The fact that big companies use it and are profitable, doesn’t mean it’s right. I bet GM use a system like it too.
Steve.
Great topic to create a bit of discussion Steve.
Tenders are painful for both parties however i have not seen another thorough process that reduces the time to screen potential tenders and has the legals, costings, timings, penalties etc laid out in them. My thought is that any process to screen potential clients is going to have to be similar to a tender process in that its got to cover all the bases.
As for working with people you like i don’t think that’s critical. If both people/teams are professional and experienced in what they do then they should deliver the contract on time and on budget.
Most tenders i have been involved with we have asked for further clarifications and visa virsa, tenders i have put out contractors have asked numerous questions and had site visits. We have even initiated changes that have reduced the cost to the client.
You need to have some type of deadline in a tender, or else i can see projects rolling on for ever and budgets blowing out.
I would like to hear your alternative that covers all the bases from both tender parties perspective. Maybe there is an opportunity there for you?
cheers
Jamie
Agree that there are some things they make great short cuts for …. personally, I just can’t work with people I don’t like. For me getting along is real important especially given the hours we spend working. Getting along with work partners not only makes the day more fun, but I also believe people go the extra mile when they have a an appreciation for each other.
Steve.