Meeting with procurement

I had a great meeting with the CIPS Group on Valentine's Day last week.  They listened to my concerns and had some interesting thoughts and suggestions around the matters I raised in my previous blog.  They also had some concerns of their own, mainly regarding the creative agencies and their poor response times, lack of preparation. 

What did come out of all of this is that there is lack of resource on both the supplier and client side which doesn't help the process and indeed delays the result. They were surprised to hear that it can take from the issue of a tender to a supplier earning revenue as long as 18 months. What company (client or supplier) in these times of recession has 18 months to invest with the possibility of no return? 

But more importantly there seems to be lack of clarity as to what the client is trying to achieve which leads to confusion.  So whilst there may be a clear process outlined, that process tends to crumble under the weight of questions or issues arising that were not expected.  

There is no easy solution here, but we have to make a start.  Define what it is you are trying to achieve and engage all stakeholders.  Discuss your thoughts with a handful of suppliers that can help flesh out the issues you will face along the way.  Only when you are certain of the outcome you want to achieve, should you proceed with the tender.   This all sounds logical and sensible but it seems that with the recession biting at all of our heels, the tendency to react, and perhaps badly, rather than think has been our response so far.