Participating in an RFQ
This article goes step by step through the entire process of participating in an RFQ
1. Receiving an invitation to participate in an RFQ
Suppliers can use Prokuria without creating an account on the platform.
When a Buyer decides to publish an RFQ using Prokuria, all invited Suppliers receive an email with a link to a secured response page where they can review all the details of the event, fill in the answer and submit their response.
2. View the details of the RFQ. Accept or Decline Participation
Once the invitation email is received, the supplier can click on the name of the event to see the details and submit the answer. When clicking the “View event” button, the supplier is redirected to a private page on Prokuria’s website; this page requires the Acceptance of Prokuria’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, in order to further access the response page.
Once the supplier agrees to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, by pressing the “Continue” button, the event page will open.
When the response page opens, the supplier has two options:
- Participate – if clicked, the Buyer will be informed by email that the supplier has decided to participate in the RFQ
- Decline – if clicked, the buyer will be informed by email that the supplier has declined to participate in the event. However, suppliers can change their minds, and still accept to participate in the RFQ, as long as the RFQ is still active.
3. Fill in a response in an RFQ – Items section
Once you have received all the RFQ details, you can start filling in the Items section & the Questions section.
For the Items, make sure you fill in all the fields required by the buyer, they will be marked/colored yellow. As Prokuria offers the possibility for the buyers to customize the column of the items grid, you may have different columns versus the print screen presented below.
Filling the response for the items can be done as follows:
1. Mannualy for each item you can add the response directly from the platform.
2. Bulk quote (through Excel)
The feature is specially designed for events dedicated towards a great number of items and services. Thanks to it, Prokuria helps you bid using an Excel template. This process can be done in 3 easy steps.
a. Click on the “+ add from file” button. A dedicated window will open that guide you through the appropriate steps.
b. Click on “Download existing records”. The system will download an Excel file in which you complete the “Response” column. A maximum of 6 decimals is allowed.
c. Click on”Upload file” and select the newly created file and Prokuria will take care of the rest.
4. Fill in a response in an RFQ – Questions section
In this section, you will need to answer the questionnaire. Make sure you fill in the response for all the mandatory questions, marked with *.
5. Retract response in an RFQ before the end time
You also have the option of retracting your response. You can click the “Retract response” button.
Upon retracting of a response, the buyer will be notified by email and will no longer be able to see the supplier’s offer (the previous response/quote submitted is removed). Suppliers are still able to access their responses, which will show up as a Draft – and they will need to resubmit their answers, once corrected.
After retracting a response, the supplier can submit a new response by clicking the “Reactivate Response” button. If the deadline for the RFQ has passed, the “Reactivate Response” button will no longer be available.
Every time a supplier submits retracts or reactivates a response, the buyer is automatically notified via email.
6. Communicating during an RFQ
Anytime during an RFQ, a Supplier can communicate directly with the Buyer via Prokuria by using the Message center functionality.
If the reply page is open and the Supplier receives a chat message from the Buyer, a red icon will appear next to the orange “Messages” label.
If the response page is not open and the Supplier receives a message from the Buyer, the Supplier will be notified by email about the new message.
7. Ending an RFQ
Every supplier invited to an RFQ will be notified by email one day prior to the RFQ’s end time. When the end time for submitting responses is reached, the event will end, and suppliers will no longer be able to retract or submit a new response.
Are you stuck somewhere? Don’t worry, we’re here for you. Drop us a mail at support@prokuria.com and we’ll get back to you.