When you’re working on lining up vital services for your business, it’s imperative to put together a comprehensive bid analysis. Before you enter into any type of contractual agreement for ongoing services or any type of single project, you need to get estimates from several providers.
Verify that You’re Getting Reasonable Rates
The main advantage of putting together a bid analysis for any project, product, or service is confirming that you won’t overpay for something that you need. Ideally, you should get a minimum of three bids. In fact, you may be legally required to get more than three bids if you’re working on behalf of a business that represents a membership or a board of directors, such as a condominium or a nonprofit organization.
Ensure that You Need What You Think You Need
First things first, you need to be certain about exactly what you need before you draw in bids. When you’re getting quotes for a business phone service for example, you need to be certain about the number of lines that you need and what features are most important to your operations.
Get More than One Quote from Each Provider When It’s Helpful
Don’t be reticent to have a provider prepare more than one quote. Ultimately, it’s not a bother to them when it can mean the difference between getting a contract and not. One quote can consist of the bare essentials and the other can include the things that you’d like to have but may not necessarily need.
Recognize that the Least Expensive Quote Isn’t Necessarily the Best Quote
With many types of services, the cheapest quote isn’t necessarily the one that you should jump on. This is particularly true of building and construction contracts, supply vending agreements, and insurance policies. The caliber and scope of services may vary greatly from one provider to another.
Monitor Your Contract Expiration Dates
At least three months before a contract for services expires, you should work on collecting new bids. This will give you enough time to connect with the right companies and it will give them enough time to turn around a customized proposal. Let the people who are providing you quotes know when your contract expires and how soon you’ll be making your decision so they don’t chase after you until then. When you make your decision, the best etiquette is to respond to the person who was helping you with a polite and thoughtful email thanking him or her for his or her help and explaining that you’ve selected another provider
Include Descriptive Line Items
When you’re synthesizing an analysis, you need to include basic information about the company and its services, but you also have to take care to highlight any differences in what is being offered. If providers will use different materials or systems, you should note it in your bid analysis. Likewise, if one provider has substantially more experience than another or has been referred to you personally by a satisfied customer, you should include this information in your description of their business.
Verify Insurance Coverages
If anybody with whom you are entering into a contract will be working onsite at your business’ physical location, you need to confirm that they have all necessary insurance coverages such as general liability insurance and workers compensation coverage. Failing to do this could mean having to stop a project after it’s already started.
Creating a well put together bid analysis requires that you be very thorough and have strong attention to detail. It must be readily understandable by a third party reading it, and it has to include key information to help guide important decisions.