Step Four - Select preferred supplier

Supplier presentation

The next stage could be to call the 2–3 suppliers in for each to give a presentation and to answer the questions you have about their tender. You are advised to structure this to avoid a simple sales pitch. One approach is to split the meeting into sessions. One session can be a run through their tender and their approach.

The second should address the questions and issues you have with their approach and any areas where clarifications might still be needed. As far as possible advise the supplier of the areas you want to cover here in advance so they can research the answers.

The third session might be a demonstration of key elements of the solution.

Reference site visits

You may also wish to attend reference site visits to hear from a customer what they think about the software and services they have been provided by the supplier. Try and get to talk to them on their own and allow time for this as it can take several weeks to fix up such visits.

Final selection

You will then typically have another meeting to discuss the 2 - 3 suppliers and select the preferred supplier based on the original evaluation and the feedback from the presentation and reference site visits. Again you should document the reasons for your decision.

Even though you have gone down the fixed price route there may still be a need to carry out some final negotiations with the supplier so you are then in a position to draw up and sign the contract.

Agreeing the contract will be a relatively simple matter if you issued a standard contract out as part of the ITT. If you were unable to do that you will have to spend more time at this stage working through terms and conditions.