Will You Be Able to Drive Your New Sourcing Platform in a Week?
Shouldn’t you be able to drive your new sourcing platform in 5 working days or less?
- The sales rep might have assured you that you can.
- The demo made it look easy to navigate.
- Your power users loved all the cool features.
- Even casual users gave a thumbs up.
- At last check your team of four has 16 RFPs due to launch in the next 60 days.
- These RFPs range from super simple to extremely complex.
This may be a recurring nightmare for you as you evaluate multiple sourcing tools.
Let me share some questions for your consideration based on feedback from clients:
Initial System Setup
- Can you provide an implementation schedule including tasks, hours and dates?
- What information/data will be needed?
- In what format will data be required for loading into the system?
- How many hours should be allocated by my team?
- Will all members of my team be expected to participate?
- How many working days does this normally take once the agreement is signed?
Event Creation
- How is training conducted?
- Is any training provided one-on-one?
- Do you utilize the same steps for power and casual users?
- Will the training include creation of simple events like three bids and a buy?
- How do you structure training on complex events?
- Is there a set list of steps that must be completed regardless of the type of event?
- What is an ideal time block for training sessions?
- Will there be real-time phone and chat access for functional questions?
- How many people in your organization will be providing the training?
- How long have you used the current training approach?
- Based on the number of events we have in the pipeline, how realistic is it for us to be able to launch all of them as planned?
- Does your team provide strategic ideas based on their experience helping other clients?
Let’s assume that you ask these or similar questions and you are comfortable with the answers.
I have several additional suggestions for you to consider:
Speak with or meet with the key trainer(s).
Provide a couple of basic events and have them provide a live training to set them up. The training should be scheduled for 30 minutes or less.
Provide a more complex set of requirements and ask them to describe their approach including the information typically needed.
Ask to speak to a power and a casual user at two client companies – consider these to be references.
There are many competing solutions available in the market.
Finding the solution that helps each type of user should be high on your list. The power user should be able to adapt quickly.
If you want widespread adoption, the casual users must feel confident too.
In my experience, ease of use is far more important for most users.
If the provider is balking at your questions or requirements, they may not be the right fit.
I have been told that many solutions are easy to buy but difficult to implement and costly to maintain.
Before you make your selection, you and your team should feel confident that they will be able to launch events in weeks not months or years.
Ask better questions, make changes and 2020 will be your best year ever.
Action Step: If you are uncertain where to start the process of change, a procurement professional like myself can provide guidance and expertise to help your organization achieve the results you want.
If you want to go explore this topic in greater detail, please contact me. I invite you to request 30-minute discovery conversation. In my experience the next step will be apparent at the end of the call. I never assume that what I have to offer will be right for everyone, so don’t expect a sales pitch. You can reach me at 973-936-9672.
If you would like to know more ways to reduce costs without changing the way you do business, simply give me a call or send me an email with your contact information and the best time to reach you.
You Won’t Drift to Success©
Commit to taking the next step.
Until Next Time, I Wish You Great Success in Your Business and in Your Life
Mike Jeffries