September 2008, Government Fleet - Feature
5 Tips To Stage A Successful Pre-Bid Meeting
By Steve Bennett
A productive pre-bid conference helps both purchaser and vendors, but it is to the fleet managers — the host of the event, after all — that responsibility for a successful meeting falls. How can the fleet manager ensure the pre-bid conference is productive for all parties?
To begin, specifications must be well-researched and well-written. Poorly constructed specs can inadvertently shut out some vendors, said David Bragg, former fleet operations superintendent for Fayetteville, Ark. (Editor’s note: Bragg recently retired from his fleet management career with Fayetteville.)
In the pre-bid meeting, adhering to a pre-established format helps keep participants on track. To stray from the meeting format risks the chance that one vendor will commandeer the proceedings and turn other vendors into virtual spectators, experienced fleet managers say.
These issues are among a variety of pitfalls in staging pre-bid conferences for which managers must prepare and monitor during the meeting to keep the proceedings firmly under control.
Government fleet managers offered the following tips on how to avoid the mistakes that often threaten the success of pre-bid meetings.
Write Clear, Comprehensive, Non-Restrictive Specs
"Put in enough detail so there’s no confusion," said Clive Cork, automotive director for the City of Coral Gables, Fla., and write the specs so they can be easily understood, he added. "That’s where most people fall short," Cork said. "It takes time to do it well."
Cork cited an example of a well-constructed spec in contrast to one that would not serve a fleet manager’s best interests: "The fuel capacity must be such that the equipment can operate for 24 hours nonstop without refueling." This precise detailing is better, said Cork, than a spec that calls for a fuel tank that holds "X" number of gallons.
Why? "Because I don’t know what the rate of fuel consumption is," Cork said. "I know I want to be able to operate the equipment for 24 hours continuously, until we can get around to refueling it tomorrow."
Using the cited example, Cork said he would require vendors to document that the equipment has fuel capacity to operate for 24 hours nonstop without refueling. That means "asking them for brochures for every component, so I can look at the engine specs and see that at maximum load, this engine uses so much fuel per hour," he explained.