FEATURE
Here are some essential tips to help balance these demands and succeed in procurement:
Clarity You’ve got to be completely clear on what you need. Understand what ‘good’ looks like. Buying a service is not the same as buying a product, and your specification needs to be as explicit as possible about your requirements, expectations and measurement. A vague specification will inevitably lead to inconsistent pricing from potential service partners due to varying interpretations of service requirements; this naturally favours suppliers who choose to assume that the minimum level applies and price accordingly.
The important things Give some real thought to what’s important to you and make sure your procurement process is designed to consider those things. It’s amazing how often the pre- amble in tender documents talks about what’s important to an organisation but there is no reference to these elements in the tender questions. If sustainability is a key driver, you need to evaluate the credentials of your potential service providers in the tender process.
The right questions Asking tender questions that tell you what you need to know whilst meeting the obligation to do an “apples for apples” comparison is a bit of a dark art. For high value complex requirements, it may be worth engaging a specialist procurement consultant; this will help to ensure that your process delivers the best possible outcome in terms of both quality and price.
Cost and quality Finally, and most importantly of all, think really carefully about the evaluation weightings between cost and quality. If the weightings are skewed toward cost you will inevitably risk falling into the procurement equivalent of
“buying cheap, buying twice” trap. Even at 60% cost, 40% quality the lowest price will always win, which may be appealing in the here and now, but you need to consider if the cheapest price will be sustainable over the life of the contract. If you really want a quality solution, you need to give it a higher rating and use the specification to make your requirements fit the budget.
“Consult with the potential supply
chain, before you are in the confines of the tender process.”
We are now entering the main buying season for grounds maintenance services and this is the time to start pulling your tender together. This is also the best opportunity to really think about what you need from your grounds maintenance service and how this will work within your budget. As well as talking to your key stakeholders and understanding their requirements, why not also consult with the potential supply chain, before you are in the confines of the tender process, to get a feel for the art of the possible from the experts.
This will enable you to accurately articulate your requirements in the tender process and facilitate an evaluation of cost against comparable service levels. Taking this step will allow you to shape a process that can still reveal the providers that are able to deliver the service at a lower cost – or even the lowest cost, but it will also ensure that you can understand how that pricing is being achieved. After all, there’s nothing inherently bad about buying cheap, and if a lower cost is the result of better productivity and efficiency then this is truly the ideal outcome for all parties. That’s what good procurement looks like.
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TOMORROW’S FM | 21
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