In this series, guest columnists respond to one of three topics selected by ELGL Co-founder Kent Wyatt. This week, Tonya Frank, Account Executive for Strategy, LLC, shares tactics to improve relationships with consultants.
Imagine this scenario
You’re trying to print off the latest packet for today’s meeting and a black line prints straight down the page. On every page. You’ve checked the file, turned the printer off and on, resent it. You even try sending the file from a different computer, and still – the black line haunts you. But now there is no time, and you need to get to the meeting with the documents. So, you walk in with a line down all the pages. After the meeting, someone tries to resolve the issue internally. Eventually, it is decided to reach out to an external resource – consultants.
After weeks (or months) of internal meetings and/or committee discussions, you know exactly what you want. The issue has been identified (printer), a budget has been set (about $500), and you need this done quickly, so the timeline for submitting the Request for Quote (RFQ) is in 2 weeks. Everything is in order, and you’re ready and excited to remove the black lines from all your papers!
But is there a better way?
Lead with the Pain Point
The proposed scenario appears to be simple. The printer has started to print a line on all the pages. It didn’t do it yesterday, so if you swap out the printer, the problem is solved.
You’ve identified the desire for a new printer in the RFQ. But there isn’t an explanation of what is happening which is resulting in the need for the new printer.
When you give an outline of the issue, consultants will be able to think through causes for the black line to appear – and it may not be the printer.
Be open to alternate solutions
It’s a human foible to repeatedly use what you know over and over again. It’s why we have the adage “if all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” People try to fix things within their knowledge. This isn’t a bad thing, but it may mean you don’t arrive at the proper solution.
Once the consultant is allowed access both to the printer and the team to ask questions and investigate, they may see the printer works fine. In fact, they’ve printed off a 20-page document without lines, and no need for a new printer!
The consultant discovered the real culprit was the program in which the document was written. There was a universal update 3 years ago which hadn’t been installed, and now anyone on the old version has the black line running down their pages.
Set Up Q&A discussions for RFQs
Fortunately, most RFQs invite people to send questions to an email address. Then, on a specific date, all questions and responses will be compiled and made available to the general public. But what if we took it further?
Let’s replace the email address with a date/time and a link to a digital (or phone) Q&A discussion. The event could be recorded and sent to those who missed the event but want to submit a proposal.
For the open Q&A discussion, start with a recap of the RFQ. Lead into the problem(s) you’re experiencing, what your proposed solution is, what the guidelines are, and then open the floor for questions. By reading the initial request, you will answer some of the easy questions currently received.
But the open Q&A discussion allows time and opportunity for the in-depth questions needed for consultants who look beyond the initial request and want to offer the best solution.
In our scenario of the printer, Consultant A could ask what has been done to resolve the issue. Consultant B may ask about the computer, when it was last updated, does this only happen on one printer or from one machine? And Consultant C may ask what program the file is in and ask about the version used.
After the conversation, the budget may still remain ($500), but instead of a new printer, the consultants are quoting to upgrade the program.
Essentially, this would be set up to quote the proper solution to the problem.
How can these changes be made?
I’ve never been one to beat around the bush – change is tough. Minds need to be ready for the change, the right people need to get on board, and processes need to be updated and rewritten.
If possible, the very first step would be to include the pain point in the RFQ. Outline why this RFQ was written and list the problems you’re running into. Don’t assume your knowledge of the nail means the solution is a hammer.
Allow the vendors a glimpse into the causes of the requests and look forward to better solutions.