Bids, notifying the "losers"

Started by TracieS • 8 replies • 8377 views

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TracieS (Colorado)
Posts: 460

Posted:

When you send out notification of the results of a request for bids/proposals...how do you notify the "losers"?

I just notified a loser, and now he wants to know why the BOD decided to go with another company. Are there legal reasons why I shouldn't tell him?

Honestly, the reason was both price (winner was cheaper by about 30%) and the BOD's desire to support local business (winner was local, loser was about 80 miles away and part of the price was their travel costs).

MaryA1 (Arizona)
Posts: 7,043

Posted:

Tracie,

Just curious as to why you thought you were obligated to notify the losers.

RobertG (Arizona)
Posts: 505

Posted:

I see no obligation to notify losers. However, if they might be a future vendor you might give the courtesy if you want and you can be honest and say another vendor had a proposal that best fit the needs of the HOA based upon the board's discussion. Treat the looser like they were a winner and you can't loose all the way around.

JohnK3 (Pennsylvania)
Posts: 967

Posted:

I agree with Robert.

TracieS (Colorado)
Posts: 460

Posted:

Well, I figure they took the time to respond to my request for proposal/bid, so I owe them the courtesy of telling them the outcome.

I work in the meeting planning profession, for a non-profit corporation. We have a hard time getting quality responses to our own RFPs, and we ALWAYS send out a letter indicating that they were not chosen.

I believe that these kinds of "niceties" are the grease that keeps our society moving (along with "sir/ma'am", "please", and "thank you"). If I had sent out a bid, I would be VERY appreciative of those people who let me know that I wasn't selected. (Trying to put myself in their shoes). Then, I could just close that file and move on to the files that might result in business.

I do like Robert's response that the other bid was just a better fit for us. While it doesn't give them info to fine tune their RFP process, it does give them a real answer.

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

I always send a letter to the vendors who submitted bids, including to those whom we did not select.

Just as it's important for people who apply for jobs to get feedback when they are the unsuccessful candidate, so, too, should unsuccessful bidders receive feedback.

It's rude and unprofessional to leave them hanging.

But remember, this is just business. Be careful not to get to sentimental with "business."

A simple note thanking them for the bid and letting them know that the board has decided on a different vendor for this project is all that is needed.

If they want to know why, simply state, "for this project the board felt this vendor was a better fit." And let it go at that.

You don't burn bridges that way and, if the selected vendor doesn't work out or if you want to have the losing vendor bid on another project, you haven't nailed the door shut.

TracieS (Colorado)
Posts: 460

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By MicheleD on 07/20/2009 11:18 AM
I always send a letter to the vendors who submitted bids, including to those whom we did not select.

It's rude and unprofessional to leave them hanging.

Thanks, Michele. I agree. Of course I don't have an "obligation" to inform the losers, but I just thought it was the right thing to do. I'm glad I'm not taking crazy pills...

I did inform the loser (when asked why we didn't select their bid) that our BOD felt another company was a better fit for this project. I thanked him again for responding to our RFP, though.

SusanW1 (Michigan)
Posts: 5,202

Posted:

Or . . . perhaps a letter saying that their bid has been received, thank you for submitting it, and the winning bid will be announced by (date).

If they don't hear from you by that time, they should know that they don't have the job.

Sending out thank you's after could be a nightmare for whomever does all this communication, in terms of why and why not, etc. etc. and could put the committee, secretary or board in a difficult situation.

MicheleD (Kentucky)
Posts: 4,491

Posted:

Quote:

Posted By SusanW1 on 07/20/2009 2:18 PM
Or . . . perhaps a letter saying that their bid has been received, thank you for submitting it, and the winning bid will be announced by (date).

If they don't hear from you by that time, they should know that they don't have the job.

Sending out thank you's after could be a nightmare for whomever does all this communication, in terms of why and why not, etc. etc. and could put the committee, secretary or board in a difficult situation.

I have to strongly disagree with you on this, Susan. The board, or any board member, is never in a "difficult" situation for not selecting X or Y Vendor. It's just business, it's not personal. But it is highly unprofessional to leave a vendor hanging, even with an "if you don't hear from us by XXX date."

It's not a matter of sending out "thank yous."

It's a matter of being professional enough to recognize the time and effort a vendor puts into submitting a bid and providing the vendor with sufficient status or resolution.

There needn't be a long, detailed description of why or how or even what the board did or didn't like about the bid.

A simple, "we have selected another vendor."

Do you work in an industry that sends out RFQs or RFPs? I did, for almost 20 years. I can't imagine ever not sending all vendors a letter providing them with the status of their bid, win or lose. If we did that, you can be sure that vendors would ultimately stop submitting.

And just because one vendor didn't work out this time doesn't mean they wouldn't be the perfect bidder on another project.

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