Completing Solicitation

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Solicitation is the processing of inviting sellers to solicit the business of the performing organization. There are two primary tools needed to complete this process:

• Bidder conferences A bidder conference, also called a contractor conference or vendor conference, is a meeting with prospective sellers to ensure that all sellers have a clear understanding of the product or service to be procured and are all on equal footing. Bidder conferences allow sellers to query the buyer on the details of the product to help ensure that the seller’s proposal is adequate and appropriate for the proposed agreement. At this point of the process, all sellers are considered equal.

• Advertising In most circumstances, advertisements inviting bidders are expected. These advertisements can run in newspapers or trade journals specific to the industry of the organization. Some government agencies require advertisements inviting sellers to solicit the project work, attend a bidder conference, or present a proposal for the described work.

On the Job 

A standard of procurement is that bids and quotes are looking for sellers to provide a price. Proposals are asking the sellers to provide solutions.

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