The Right People In The Room

Wouldn’t it be lovely if we got to a situation where full on formal bids were a thing of the past – or at least the relationship with the client (appreciating this wouldn’t work for new ones) would be such that they don’t want to go to market?  It is something that has recently been discussed between law firms and procurement people as part of the coming together of minds in the Buying Legal Council forum.  Whilst being advocated strongly by lawyers, it didn’t get as much resistance as people thought from procurement colleagues.  Whilst there is definitely a keenness on both sides to consider how it could be done, it may not happen for some time.

Extraordinary from a procurement perspective is having that in-depth working relationship with the supplier that means we are each involved so heavily in each other’s business, it creates a more trusting and open environment.  Whilst some time ago, the best example I had of this was where the relationship sponsors shared objectives and one was agreed for each which pertained how to continue to builds the relationship.   Success – and failure – of the relationship was shared and, as a business partner, the level of interdependence was incredibly strong.  Whilst some behaviour is driven if in a single source relationship, it doesn’t always have to be the case.  Sponsorship and ownership at the right level for both customer and supplier is absolutely key to this, as is having all of the right level and frequency of governance.   If the sourcing strategy is still to keep a level of commercial tension and formal bidding still required, at least it would be done from a position of strength of knowledge rather than assumptions.

Often procurement processes create barriers in themselves, as does not spending enough time before bids with the client/supplier to really get to know what they want and need.  Building up knowledge on the market place, understanding suppliers and their offerings – and more importantly their business strategies too, especially for future business direction – is so important.  Being open to ideas during the bid process would also work wonders, and being clear and specific in bids on both sides would remove barriers too.   It would be wonderful if the process could run to tight but reasonable timescales – if it is needed at all – and recognition of the work that is needed to respond to the level of detail required, is given through the response times.  Having the right people in the room to ask and answer questions – and having the team who will deliver what is being asked present to test compatibility and culture, would be one step closer to utopia.