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If you give a supplier an extension...
April 1, 2008
Laura Joffe Numeroff has created a wonderful kids book series depicting animal characters with human characteristics and an unsuspecting child involved in a series of requests. The stories often begin with a line such as, “If you give a pig a pancake, she’ll want some syrup to go with it.” From there, the story goes through a whole series of adventures with the child continually trying to fulfill the pig's requests and make her happy, when finally, the story ends right back where it started: “if you give a pig a pancake…” I have enjoyed reading these humorous stories over and over to my own boys. With my apologies to Ms. Numeroff and my appreciation to colleague Dave Lutz who offered his feedback, I have adopted the truer than we care to admit, circular plot for the buyer/supplier relationships that we know so well.
If you give a supplier an extension...
If you give a technology supplier an RFP, he'll ask you for extension. After that, he will ask you for another. In addition, he will also ask for a demonstration. Once you approve the demonstration you will need to modify the interview process to allow for presentations.
When the supplier submits his standard proposal rather than answering your specific questions, you will need him to resubmit the document. He will ask for more time.
The proposal will indicate his pricing is valid for only three days, even after you had clearly defined a response in thirty days.
When he copies your boss on a request to schedule a project kick off call, you will want to purchase more antacids.
During the presentation, he will claim a 2000% return on investment. When you ask for an explanation on the ability to achieve these results, he will just smile and state that after you hire them, they will prove their value.
When they do not make the final selection, he will call to ask why not. You will try to let him down easy and suggest that he can respond to an RFP for another scope of work. And if you give a tech supplier an RFP, he will want an extension…
Posted by Stephen Nold on April 1, 2008 | Comments (0)
