What you’ll learn about in this episode:
- How the buying process typically differs between private and public higher education institutions
- How institutions use an informal RFI process (request for information) to collect information about vendors or an industry at large
- Why clear requirements, communication, and expectations from your institution make up important components of the next step, the RFP (request for proposal)
- Why you should ask questions, express concerns, and open a dialogue with organizations who submit proposals to you
- Why the RFP process is time-consuming and how to allow enough time for your partners to create proposals and for your institution to evaluate them
- What factors will make an RFP necessary and how a project map can help keep an overhead view of a project
- What a “direct purchase” is and how it can help you avoid the RFP process for smaller purchases
- How the RFI step may help you vet and limit the number of proposals you receive for a project to only firms you have hand-selected
- How “sole sourcing” can help you accelerate the buying process if there is only one partner for your needs
- Why you should build a relationship with your institution’s procurement officer or procurement team
Additional resources:
