The Debate
HAVE RFPs OUTLIVED THEIR USEFULNESS?
Over complicated and not fi t for purpose, or an essential part of the buying process? Has dynamic pricing made RFPs redundant? We ask a buyer, hotelier and solutions provider to pass judgement
THE BUYER Nicola Lomas, Director, Corporate Travel Services, Strategic Alliance Services, International, Omnicom RFIs and RFPs for the travel industry have matured significantly over the past ten years, and I think it was a good thing that the travel industry has aligned itself with other markets in using more structured Request For Proposals; the structure drove us all to up our game, both buyers and suppliers. RFPs remind us of the basics we need to
keep in mind when entering into a business agreement, and allow us to cast the net wide and do the best job possible to include all relevant suppliers early in the process. However, when RFPs become over-complicated
or are not customised to the buyer’s specific needs, they can lose some of their focus and therefore benefit, unless you are buying only with regard to price.
There is so much noise within the travel industry on RFPs. I wonder if we are so jargon driven that we have forgotten that before you can 'do' an RFP (an oxymoron in itself) you have to request information from the supplier. I’d say I use a slightly unconventional approach to the RFP process and have found that a hybrid of old and new ways to select suppliers, customised into each buying sector, works well for me. I sit in the finance department and have a procurement mindset, but Omnicom’s companies are diverse and, as such, have diverse requirements. I have to extract those which are common and align suppliers and services. In general I’d say that the heavy lifting is done
at the RFI stage. Some suppliers are reviewed more frequently than others; hotels for example. However, unless a supplier meets the needs of the specific project they won’t pass the RFI stage because to keep them involved just wastes
everyone’s time. An amazing rate with a supplier we can’t support is worthless. This is not because we are locked into a supplier due to relationship, it is because we really understand what and how we buy, and we don’t want to waste people’s time. I don’t agree with running the RFI/RFP process simply to check boxes or to satisfy a protocol: unless a buyer is serious about objectively looking at all suppliers that respond to the request and (given a fit) give each one a fair chance at winning the business, they should not initiate the process. And, at the same time, if a supplier doesn’t genuinely want the business they should opt out early. Omnicom companies balance long term relationships with solid suppliers and commercial terms based on our group spend and our loyalty. Reputation is important to us, and we’d never want to promise business we can’t deliver on. Alongside that, once we are in
16 I THE BUSINESS TRAVEL MAGAZINE
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