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their completing the RFP; this is called a bidder conference. This meeting usually

occurs right after the RFP is published, and all prospective vendors are invited to the
meeting in order to ask questions and clarify issues they may have identified with the
RFP. The bidder conference helps assure that vendors prepare responses that address
the project requirements.

At the time the procurement documents are distributed (or earlier), you need to
develop the criteria the selection committee will use to evaluate the bids, quotes, or
proposals you receive.

Vendor Selection Criteria

Most organizations have a procurement department that will assist you with vendor
solicitation and selection. They will advise you regarding the information you need to
provide and will usually assign a member of their team to manage the vendor selection
process and the contract for your project. Some organizations have approved vendor

lists made up of vendors that have already met the basic criteria the company requires
to do business with them. If that’s the case, your solicitation and selection process will
be easier because you’ll be working with preapproved vendors that have already
crossed several of the procurement hurdles required to proceed.

If you’re responsible for vendor selection, you’ll need to develop criteria to use when
evaluating vendor bids or proposals. It helps to decide up front with the sponsor and
other key stakeholders who will be involved in the review and selection of vendor

proposals. This group should develop the selection criteria as a team and reach
agreement ahead of time regarding the weighting of the criteria. These are some of the
criteria you should consider when evaluating bids and proposals:

The vendor’s understanding of the needs and requirements of the project

Cost

Warranty period

Technical ability of the vendor to perform the work of the project

References

Vendor’s experience on projects of similar size and scope

Vendor’s project management approach

Financial stability of the vendor’s company

Intellectual property rights and proprietary rights

You can use several techniques to evaluate the proposals, including weighted scoring
systems, screening systems, seller rating systems, independent estimates, and more.
One of the most common methods is using a weighted scoring model or system. The
idea is that each of the criteria you’re using to evaluate the vendor is assigned a weight.
Each vendor is then given a score for each of the evaluation elements, and the weight is

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