At the recent SPBT Conference, I had the privilege of co-facilitating a workshop on optimal vendor selection (Right-Sourcing 101). I thought I’d write up a few posts based on this content.
First off, here are some typical ways that vendor selection decisions get made. Some of these have weight; some are ridiculous; none of them, by themselves, are necessarily a basis for a good decision:
“We’ve used them before.”
“They made a great pitch!”
“They had a big list of clients.”
“They’re on our Preferred Vendor list.”
“I found them on the Internet.”
“So-and-so used to work with us.”
“They’re cheap.”
In the sessions, we had lively discussion around these (and other) not-necessarily-so-great reasons to select a vendor for a training project. Yet questionable decisions are made all the time, leading, at times, to project overruns, poor quality, or outright failure. Trouble always seems to follow a “pin the tail on the donkey” method of choosing suppliers.
Putting in place a well-thought-out vendor selection process (Impactiviti can help you with this), and/or using our vendor recommendation/matchmaking service (free to clients, by the way), can help you avoid the trouble that comes from outsourcing your projects to the wrong people. Give us a call at 973.947.7429 and let’s discuss your needs.
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