Finding the right supplier for your project can have a huge impact on whether you deliver successfully or not. A good supplier will work with you to create a positive partnership with the shared goal of getting the work done on time and to the required specification.
A not-so-good supplier will make it harder to work collaboratively and creates a tension in that working relationship that you could really do without.
As choosing a supplier is so important, it’s important to ask the right questions.
You are likely to have several vendors to choose from, all of which who look equally good on paper and can do what you want. Here are 5 questions to use during your vendor selection that go above and beyond this to help you establish who you want to work with.
1. Can they use your tools and methods?
Let’s say you use earned value management on your projects. Does the supplier that you are considering have an understanding of what this means for them?
If earned value is a deal-breaker for you it’s better to have these conversations up front. Failing to do so could leave you disappointed when the vendor doesn’t understand the
Is there software compatibility?
The same goes for online software. Many project management teams rely on collaboration tools to help them manage their projects, and these often involve uploading files and instant messaging-style chat between team members. Does the supplier have experience of using the same tools as you do, or are they at least willing to learn?
This is also a question to ask your IT department. Your supplier may be willing to use your version of Viva Engage or to upload documents to your networked tools, but can they be granted access to do so?
For security reasons, this type of product is often hosted on your company network and is not available to outside groups. IT may have to arrange guest or privileged access for suppliers if this is a necessity for your project’s success.
Do you share the same project delivery values?
Finally, do they have experience of using the same project management approaches as you, or are you willing to support them? You could, of course, decide to adapt your working practices for this project to compromise based on how they work. All of those options are fine, but again it is worth discussing this with them before you are thrown into the busy work of projects and don’t have time to explain the change management procedure.
2. What is really included in the quote?
The supplier’s proposal will include a list of things included in the quote. Share this with your project team and make sure that nothing obvious is missed out. It’s often easy to overlook:
- Taxes
- Training (even if training days are included they still have to prepare the training materials)
- Training for your own user acceptance testing team (how are they going to test the system if they haven’t had any training on how it works?)
- A realistic budget for travel expenses that isn’t simply a % calculation based on the overall proposal cost
- Attendance at steering group or project board meetings by some of the senior people on the account (the day rate for these people might not be billed to you, but it’s definitely worth asking how that would work, especially is they can be very expensive)
- Interfaces with other systems or software
- Hardware to make their (software) solution work, such as a new server.
It is also sensible to ask them to estimate a budget for
Interfacing extras
Remember, if you are implementing new software and it needs to connect to existing software, you’ll also need input from that software manufacturer. The two vendors will have to work together in order to make their tools ‘talk’ to each other.
I have worked on projects where both suppliers have said how easy this would be and it has turned out to be anything but. Even with a willingness on both sides you can still hit problems and that equals a higher cost. Try to take estimates of this work from interfaces the supplier has created before or your own internal project expertise.
3. What other costs do they foresee?
Let’s have that conversation about extras now. Before you sign on the dotted line, or at least in the really early days of your project, you should make time to discuss additional or hidden costs.
Hidden costs don’t have to always be something that the supplier will charge you. They may have experience of doing similar work for other clients and have insights into the kind of things that cause budget overruns on this type of project.
Pick their brains. What other projects have they worked on that were similar and went over budget? Why? This is a good exercise to build a positive and long-term trusted working relationship with a supplier and will help you with contract management going forward.
Areas where projects often go overspent include the following:
Licences
The project team find out that a lot more users have to be licenced, or the licence model for the software doesn’t meet their needs after all, and they have to choose a different (more expensive) model.
Training
Consultants often put a few days in their proposal for training. In my experience, this is rarely adequate as it leaves you with a huge group of people to cascade the training to. Do you have the team members to do this or would you want your supplier to do it?
Go live support
Depending on your project, a few days of go live support isn’t normally enough. What do they expect you to do afterwards? Find out how the go live period will be managed, and think carefully about how much support you think you will need for hypercare.
4. What experience do they have of your industry?
They might be experts in this particular widget, but what do they know about your industry?
Say you’ve got a choice of vendors. One has excellent industry knowledge but limited experience of the solution you want to use. The other has deep solution knowledge and has used this technology all over the world but hasn’t ever worked in your industry.
I’ve faced this decision before, and in the end, we decided that we could work together on the technology, but explaining our industry was complicated. A vendor with industry experience was a necessity for that project.
That might not be the right decision for your project, but it is worth considering whether it’s easier to teach someone the nuances of how your industry works or if you need to find someone who has experience in the sector already. Both options are valid and have advantages and disadvantages specific to your situation.
5. Can they provide references?
Before you sign the contract, it’s a good idea to get feedback from past or current clients. The vendor should be happy to share this information with you. They probably already have a number of customers who are willing to be used as reference sites or contact points.
In some cases, they’ll even earn credits towards their maintenance or support agreements if they host potential clients and explain about their project, so don’t feel as if you are asking too much.
If you want to visit someone who has used this supplier’s products or services before, just ask. It’s often a lot more useful than reading a glossy case study brochure (although that has its place too – they can give you a quick overview of whether this vendor can meet your needs).
Plan your time for a reference visit
Be clear about what you want to ask the referee and how much of their time you anticipate needing. That will help them and the supplier prepare, and you’ll get more out of the conversation.
Have your list of prepared questions as well but don’t be afraid to ask something different if the discussion feels like it has naturally turned that way. Those questions should include what they found difficult about their project and what they would do differently if they did it again.
Take advantage of the time with them to ask about their lessons learned so you don’t make the same mistakes!
Read next: 12 ways to manage project quality without the drama
Your next steps
These 5 questions alone won’t help you choose the best supplier for your project, but they will certainly give you lots of background information about ways of working, transparency, and whether they would be a good fit for your project and corporate environment.
Sometimes, finding people who you can work with effectively is more important than them knowing everything there is to know about the technology, situation, or industry. You can work things out together and draw on their resources and expertise as you see fit while both sides concentrate on doing what’s right to bring the project to a successful close.
Making the decision about a vendor is important as it can be the start of a long-term relationship, so do your homework and choose wisely!
