RFI Workflow Stages

An RFI automates a complex business collaboration that can have many steps, but it breaks into three primary stages:

• In Progress
• Sent
• Archived

In Progress

During this phase, suppliers are unaware of the RFI. An individual can create the RFI and attach suppliers to it. Other colleagues can be invited to collaborate, review and comment on the suppliers.

Sent

During this phase, suppliers can be invited to participate in the RFI. This includes having them review and respond to the opportunity. During this phase, each supplier invite goes through many steps.

• Suggested: Supplier has not been approved.
• Approved: The team has approved the supplier to be invited to the RFI.
• Invited: The supplier has been invited to participate in the RFI.
• Open: The supplier has opened the invitation.
• Interested: The supplier has expressed interest in the RFI.
• Declined: The supplier has declined to respond to the RFI.
• Accepted: The supplier has accepted the mandatory requirements.
• Submitted: The supplier has submitted a response.
• Chosen/Not Chosen: At the end of the process your team will choose whether or not to include the supplier in the opportunity.

Archived

RFIs can be marked as complete or cancelled at the end of their lifecycle.

• Complete: The RFI is complete.
• Cancelled: The RFI has been cancelled

RFI Dataflow

This data flow diagram provides an overview of how the information moves between the buyer and supplier

Creating an RFI from the Supplier List

The simplest way to create an RFI is to select suppliers in the Supplier List and then use them as the basis for an RFI

1. Build the list of suppliers on the Supplier List
2. Select the Start an RFI option from the list of actions below the selected suppliers
3. Click OK
4. Provide the project name for the RFI and an optional summary.
5. Click Continue

The RFI will open showing the Detail tab so you can complete the rest of the definition.

 

Providing Details

The details tab provides internal context on the RFI. Information on this page is only visible to users within your company:

• Name: The RFI name is the most important. You should always provide a brief, descriptive name so that you and your colleagues will be able to quickly determine the purpose of the RFI.
• Summary: The summary is a short description of the RFI, its purpose, and its goals.
• Department: Select the department that originated the request.
• Category: Select the category of product or service being investigated.
• Project Background: Attach a document, or slide show, describing the background for the project to your internal team.
• Budget: For budget and planning purposes, you can identify the type of spend and the spend range for the project. If a specific amount has been approved for the budget, you can set that as well. Remember, this section is not visible to suppliers. 
• Planned Completion Date: On the right side of the screen, you will see an area where you can provide a planned completion date for the RFI. This will help prioritize the RFI and let you track progress.
• Team: The team section on the right side of the page allows you to invite other members of your team to collaborate on the RFI. 

In addition to the details that are shared with the team for context, users can capture two other fields for reference:

• Keywords: These are keywords that reference the capabilities required for the RFI. They provide a way to present the RFI anonymously and can be used to tag participating suppliers in bulk for later reference.
• Reference ID: This is an internal reference ID. It can be used to link the RFI to a request in a third-party system that is entered manually or received through the API.
• Link To (Concierge Only): Identify a third-party system being linked to.
• Minimum Number of Suppliers (Concierge Only): Captures instructions from the client on the minimum number of suppliers for the RFI.
• Type (Concierge Only): This allows the concierge to specify the type of support the client has requested.
• Full RFI
• Supplier Search
• Contact Request
• General Assistance
• Other

Privacy Information: Contents of the Details area, other than the RFI name, are kept private to the authoring organization.

Collaborating on an RFI

tealbook is designed to help users collaborate with suppliers and with their colleagues. You can invite your team on the Team tab of the RFI. Once a team member is added, they will receive a notification with a link to the RFI and the RFI will show up on the My RFIs tab of the RFI list.

If the person you wish to invite is not shown in the list after you type in their name, you can click the Invite link at the bottom of the list to invite them.

Adding Suppliers to the RFI using Search

On the Suppliers tab, you can use the full power of the tealbook search to add new suppliers to the RFI. You can then add suppliers directly to the RFI by clicking the RFI+ icon.

As you add each supplier, it will be shown in the list of selected suppliers on the right-hand side of the page under the Suggested category.

The number of contact icons below each supplier entry indicates how many e-mailable contacts that supplier has. You can click on the icons to see the details of the list and to add others if you know the supplier.

Adding Suppliers to the RFI using an Email

On the RFI, below the list of selected suppliers is a control to help you add a supplier based on the email of contact. Type in the email and click the Add to RFI button. tealbook will try to find the supplier and present it for selection. 

Building an Invitation

RFI can be used to get information from suppliers. You determine the context the suppliers get using the Invitation tab. When you first open the tab on a new RFI you will see a toggle to “Enable Supplier Communications”. Switch that on to start.

You can then provide the suppliers with:

• Summary: A summary of the purpose and goals for the RFI
• Budget: Optionally, you can provide a budget range to suppliers so they can get a sense of scale for the eventual opportunity.
• Location: If the location for delivery of the products or services is important, provide details.
• Response By: Provide the date and time when you require a response by. Suppliers will be able to respond, and adjust their responses, at any time up until this date. After you send out invitations, you will only be able to adjust this date forward… providing suppliers more time to respond.
• Decision Date: Provides the date when the supplier can expect a decision on whether or not they will be proceeding to the next stage of the procurement process.
• Would you like a Detailed Response:  If you select this option, you will get a field to enter the details for what you would like the supplier to provide back to you. Otherwise, they will only be able to indicate their interest and ability to meet the mandatory requirements.
• Attachments: Provide one or more file attachments for context or completion.
• Terms and Conditions: The terms and conditions are displayed to the suppliers before they see the details of the RFI. You can use the standard terms, or adjust them if that is necessary.
• Critical Criteria: These are the mandatory capabilities or qualifications that the suppliers must have to participate in the eventual opportunity. They will have to explicitly confirm that they can meet each of these to respond.
• Request Pricing: If you want pricing details, turn on this option and provide information about the items you need pricing for.

Invitation Details

The details of the invitation are captured on a set of fields. Mandatory fields are marked with a red asterisk (*)

.

Attachments

You can attach up to ten (10) files to the RFI. Suppliers will be able to view and download these files once they are invited. 

Terms and Conditions tealbook has default terms and conditions available for RFIs. Each client can override this tealbook default with their own selected default text. This configuration is done by our Concierge in the Admin Settings for the client. Clients can also override the default terms and conditions on any specific RFP, just click the down arrow to expand the Terms and Conditions section, click the Custom option and enter your text.

The terms and conditions control support limited formating.

Critical Criteria

The Critical Criteria area allows the user to identify one or more critical criteria that suppliers will

have to accept to be able to respond to the opportunity. Each criterion should be stated in a clear

sentence.

As criteria are entered, each one will be numbered. Existing criteria and be edited or removed.

Pricing

In the Pricing area, a buyer can specify one or more items for which suppliers should provide

pricing.

Activate the Pricing component by moving the Request Pricing slider to the active position.

Select the currency for responses to be provided in.

For each item, enter a name, quantity, unit of measure (UOM) and description then click the Add Request Item button.

You can add as many items as required. There is no edit facility, so remove any that have errors

and add them again.

Additions

Prior to, or even after an RFI is sent out to suppliers, the buyer can release Additions. These are

clarifications and/or new materials that the buyer wants to provide to all the suppliers. Additions

are required because after the first supplier is invited to an RFI most of the other fields are locked

to ensure an equitable process.

Once an addition is created, it cannot be edited. For this reason, a confirmation step is included

in the create addition process.

To create a addition:

1. Select an Addition type
2. Provide a title, description and upload an attachment.

3. Click Add, this will display a confirmation dialog.

4. Click Add again to confirm, this creates the addition and displays a preview.

Supplier-Related Actions

For suppliers in the selected list for an RFI, there are a set of actions available from the … menu

next to their names. The actions vary based on the status of the supplier.

Remove: Removes the supplier from the list of suppliers for the RFI. You can only remove Suggested and Approved suppliers.

Approve: Approves a supplier, changing their status from Suggested to Approved. Only available for Suggested suppliers.

Invite: Invites a supplier, changing their status from Approved to Invited. Only available for Approved suppliers.

Contact Inquiry: Request Concierge find a contact for the supplier. Only available for Suggested or Approved suppliers.

Mark as Do Not Contact: Labels the supplier so that they will not be contacted for this RFI. Only available for Suggested or Approved suppliers.

Mark as Incumbent: Marks the supplier as an incumbent supplier.

Approving a Supplier

Each client can determine in their configuration whether suppliers require approval before they

are invited to respond to an RFI. This configuration is done by the Concierge on the Admin

Settings page.

If approval is required, then any user with the RFI Approver role can approve a supplier by:

1. Opening the RFI

2. Reviewing the list of selected suppliers in the Suggested Category, and either

a. Clicking the Approve All link to Approve all the suggested suppliers

b. Clicking the … next to a single supplier and selecting the Approve action

Approved suppliers will move to the Approved category in the list.

Supplier Contact Management

Before you invite a supplier to an RFI, you need to ensure that the supplier has contacts available

which can be emailed. That is immediately apparent when you examine the list of suppliers on

the RFI, as any without contacts will have a warning message beneath their status.

To manage/view the contacts for a supplier, click on the contact icons. This will show you a list of

names and an Edit link.

Click the Edit button to manage the supplier contacts.

From this location you can identify which contacts should be primary and/or secondary. You can

remove contacts from the distribution list and add additional contacts.

Inviting a Supplier

When you invite suppliers to an RFI, tealbook will lock the majority of the fields related to the

invitation. This is to ensure that all suppliers see the same information. After sending out the first

invitation, you will only be able to create Additions or defer the response date to a later time.

Before you invite a supplier, ensure they have contacts. You can see the number of contacts by

referring to the Supplier List on the RFI and seeing how many icons are shown below the

supplier. Each one represents a contact.

Once you have confirmed there are contacts, the RFI owner or any user with the RFI Approver role can invite a supplier by:

1. Opening the RFI

2. Reviewing the list of selected suppliers in the Approved Category, and either

a. Clicking the Invite All link to Invite all the suggested suppliers

b. Clicking the … next to a single supplier and selecting the Invite action

3. Read the warning and confirm if the RFI is ready to be locked down.

Invited suppliers will move to the Invited category in the list and the status of the RFI will change

from Preparing to Sent.

Supplier Status Changes

After the invitation is sent, the supplier status on the RFI will go through these states:

• Invited: Invitation has been sent

• Opened: Invitation has been opened, supplier has accepted T&Cs and seen the overview

• Interested: Supplier has reviewed the RFI and is interested.

• Meet Criteria: Supplier has reviewed the mandatory criteria and meet them.

• Accepted: The response has been sent from the supplier to the buyer.

• Declined: The supplier has declined the invitation.

RFI Q&A

The Q&A area allows suppliers to ask questions related to the RFI and the buyer to publish

responses to those questions.

To enable Q&A, go to the Q&A tab and move the enable slider to the active position.

When a question arrives from a supplier, an email is sent to the team to notify them.

To answer a question, click the Answer button. You can then type in the response and specify

whether it should be shared only with the supplier who asked or with all suppliers. Even if a

response is shared with all suppliers, the name of the supplier that asked it is not shared.

The answer is then shared with the selected audience. The answer remains editable, but if it is

changed a notification will be sent to the audience.

Reviewing Responses

Once the first response is received back from a supplier, the status of the RFI is changed from

Sent to Reviewing. To view supplier responses:

1. Open the RFI

2. Click on the Review tab.

3. Click on the Supplier whose response you with to review

Note: If it is before the response deadline, the response should be treated as a draft. Suppliers

are allowed to amend their responses at any time up until the deadline.

Internal Attachments

In the internal attachments area of the review page, reviewers can attach documents that will

only be visible to the team at the buyer organization, not to the suppliers. There is also a link here

to Download the File so a reviewer can access it.

Internal Comments

In the internal comments area of the review page, reviewers can share comments about the

supplier and/or their submission.

Up/Down Vote

By Clicking on the up or down arrows, each reviewer can cast a vote for each supplier. The

number will change and adjust color as reviewers cast their votes. The tally for each supplier is

added to their entry on the Supplier List within the RFI.

To change your vote, click on the opposite arrow once to return to neutral and then proceed.

Selecting Responses

From the list of responses, you can select which submissions have qualified to continue to the

next stage of procurement and which have not.

1. Open the RFI.

2. Click on the Review tab

3. Select the supplier from the list on the right

4. Click the Include or Exclude button

a. If you selected Include: fill in the message and next steps for them. When you select Send they will be marked as status Qualified.

b. If you selected Exclude: fill in the Reason to be sent to the supplier for your decision. When you click Send they will be marked as Not Qualified.

For either outcome, the supplier will receive a notification of the outcome and can review it on

their view of the RFI.

Activities and Milestones

The Activities tab lets you track the progress of the RFI through milestones and record comments

or events that occurred during the process. The milestone timeline is shown on the right side of

the page.

The activities and comments are shown with the ability to add a new one by typing a comment or

description into the provided text area and clicking the Add button. Each comment or activity is

logged with the person who created it and the date and time.

Exporting

There are three export options for an RFI. All are available from the … link on the RFI page.

● Export RFI: Exports the the details of the RFI and the selected suppliers.

● Export Suppliers: Exports the list of suppliers on the RFI in CSV format.

● Export Emails: Exports the contact email addresses for the suppliers on an RFI into a text file. You can specify how the emails are group and whether to include all emails or only the primary/secondary contacts.

Exporting Suppliers

Closing an RFI

RFIs should be closed once they are completed. You can close an RFI by:

1. Open the RFI in tealbook

2. Click on the … icon in the upper right of the page

3. Select Close

4. Confirm

The RFI is still available for reference.

Canceling an RFI

Only cancel an RFI if it has been created in error. You can close an RFI by:

1. Open the RFI in tealbook

2. Click on the … icon in the upper right of the page

3. Select Close

4. Confirm

If any suppliers have been invited to respond to the RFI, they will receive a notification that it has

been canceled. The RFI is still available for reference.

Deleting an RFI

Only canceled RFIs can be deleted. You can delete a canceled RFI by:

1. Open the RFI in tealbook

2. Click on the … icon in the upper right of the page

3. Select Cancel

4. Confirm

All records of the RFI are now removed.