LittleBig Connection is a platform that allows you to manage all your Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and intellectual services projects. You can create both time and materials, and fixed price RFPs, in order to find the experts you need. Let's see in this article how to create and publish a fixed price RFP, and if necessary modify it.
Within this article
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Create and publish a fixed price RFP
To start creating your RFP, go to the RFP tab and click on Create an RFP.
On the first page that will appear, you will have to decide if you wish to:
- Create a new request for proposals from an empty form : You can choose between two RFP types in the dropdown menu
- Time and materials : this is an RFP for which there is an obligation of means, where you agree on the price of a resource per day or per hour and for a given duration. To know more about creating a time and materials RFP, please read our dedicated article.
- Fixed price: this is an RFP for which there is an obligation of result and where you agree on a monthly or total price pack for a given deliverable.
- Use a template, i.e. use the template of an RFP form that you have previously created in order to prefill some information of a time and materials RFP.
- Resume from a draft, i.e. resume a form that you have already started to fill out and that has not yet been published.
Among these options, please select the option to create a new RFP for a Fixed price project, then click on Validate. You will be redirected to a form broken down into several steps. You can navigate the steps using the stepper menu at the top of the form. On the right side of the screen you will have a summary of the RFP information, which will get filled in as you complete the RFP form.
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You can only access the next step once the previous one has been completed. A step is considered complete if all mandatory information for that step has been filled in. |
Below are the 5 steps to complete to publish your RFP:
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1. Company
Select an entity among those to which you are attached and for which you wish to issue the RFP.
| In order for an entity to issue an RFP, it must be active and have at least one associated active spending line. |
When the entity is selected, the Operational Manager, Spending Line and Buyer fields are automatically filled with the information available for the entity. You have the possibility to modify these fields if needed.
| The Buyer is responsible for validating the expense linked to the application to be retained when such expense exceeds the amount mentioned in the spending line. |
When you have completed this step, click Continue at the bottom of the page.
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2. Project
In this step, several parts must be completed in order to provide as much information as possible on the content of the mission and thus, ensure that you receive the most relevant proposals:
- Selection of a project template: this allows you to prefill the fields in this step. To do this, click on the dropdown menu and search for the template by typing its name in the search bar. If you do not want to use a template, leave the field set to Create a new mission.
- Project title : It should accurately represent the expertise you are looking for. This is an important element because it is what will be displayed first to potential suppliers.
| If you are using multi-mission RFPs, a field will be displayed to allow you to indicate the number of profiles you seek. |
- Context of the project
| This field is prefilled if the Entity Presentation is filled in the entity configuration. |
- Roles and responsibilities of the project
- Project goal
- Location of the project : Indicate where the project is taking place (mandatory even if the project is full remote).
| The location can be prefilled if project locations have been set up in the entity's settings. |
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- If travel is required, activate the corresponding toggle button and indicate the location and frequency of travel
- Remote project type: Indicate if the project will be full remote, occasional remote or no remote
When you have completed this step, click Continue at the bottom of the page.
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3. Skills
In order to receive the most relevant proposals possible, it is advisable to indicate the hard skills, soft skills and languages to be mastered for successful completion of the project. For each added skill or language, you will also need to specify the desired level of expertise.
| If you want each supplier who responds to your RFP to specify their level of expertise on each skill, activate the corresponding toggle button at the top of the step. |
To add skills:
- Choose the category of the skill and click on Add. The possible categories are the following:
- Computer skills
- Functional skills
- Mechanical engineering skills
- EEEA engineering skills
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General facilities engineering skills
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Transverse engineering skills
- A popup window will open, where you can browse the skills in the category, which are arranged in subcategories:
- If you find yours, check the corresponding box (you can check as many boxes as you wish)
- If you can't find the skill you are looking for, write it down in the Add another skill field of the relevant subcategory, and click on (+)
- To confirm the addition of the selected skills for each category, click on Validate at the bottom right of the window
- Indicate for each skill the level of expertise you are looking for, choosing from the following options in the dropdown menu: no knowledge, beginner, experienced, skilled, Guru (publications/award)
- Lastly, you can add language skills:
- Write the sought after language in the search bar, within the Languages section
- Select it from the list of results
- Select the level of language proficiency from the dropdown menu: no knowledge, beginner, intermediate, professional, fluent
When you have completed this step, click on Continue at the bottom of the page to proceed to the next section.
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4. Budget and duration
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If the entity you have selected at the beginning of the form has been set up with profile codes and rate grids, you must select the profile code corresponding to the expertise you are looking for. In the same way, for project codes, you will have to select the one corresponding to your search among those set up for your entity, if that is the case. |
- Maximum budget: Indicate the maximum estimated budget per unit of work that you consider for this project, then choose whether it is a monthly package or not. You have the option to display or hide this estimated budget to the suppliers who will see your RFP, by using the toggle button to either activate the visualisation of the budget or not.
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The package is a total budget allocated to the project and the monthly payment depends on the choice of your supplier when filling in the Activity Report. The monthly package is a fixed amount that will be paid each month of the project to your supplier, after validation of the Activity Report. |
- Estimated project duration : Indicate the desired starting and end dates of the project to calculate the number of working units or vice versa, by clicking on Compute end date from the duration or Compute from ending date
| The duration of the project is an indicative duration for which you think you will need the supplier. It allows them to have visibility on the project. |
- Purchase Order (PO) duration : Indicate the desired starting and end dates of the PO to calculate the number of working units or vice versa, by clicking on Compute end date from the duration or Compute from ending date
The dates of the Purchase Order condition the period available for filling by the supplier on their Activity Report.
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5. Publication
- Expiry date of the Request for Proposals (optional): Allows you to prevent responses to your RFP after the date specified, while still leaving your RFP visible to suppliers. You can change this date at any time to prevent or accept new proposals. This date can therefore allow you to manage the flow of proposals you receive in two ways:
- If you receive too many proposals and you can't qualify them all, you can use this date to prevent new proposals (temporarily or permanently).
- If your deadline has been reached and you have not found the expertise you were looking for among the proposals received, you can extend the deadline to receive new proposals.
- Attach a document (optional): 5 documents maximum
- Type of request for proposals:
- New search: you will have the choice to publish your RFP to your preferred suppliers and/or on our marketplace depending on what is allowed for the entity you have selected. If the RFP is won by a preferred supplier, the Rise Offer will be applied. But if it is won by a supplier from the marketplace, then the Connect Offer - Sourcing will be applied.
- Known resource: you will be able to send your RFP directly to the company that won the project in order to regularize it in LittleBig Connection and to be able to follow-up the project and the invoicing on the platform. If the winning company is one of your preferred suppliers, then the Rise Offer will apply, but if it is not among your preferred suppliers, then the Connect Offer - Portage will be applied.
- Validation workflow: You can view or select the validation workflow for the publication of your RFP. The validation workflow settings are linked to your Customer account settings.
| Intermediation fees may be applied depending on the publication criteria and the selected supplier. |
When all the steps are complete and you feel you have filled in all the essential information, all you have to do is click on Publish, at the bottom right of the form.
| If you are missing some information, you can save the form as a Draft, by clicking on Draft, at the bottom right of the Publication step. |
Your RFP will be published once all the steps of the validation workflow have been validated. You can follow the progress of the workflow and send reminders internally if needed.
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Modify a fixed price RFP
To modify an RFP already published:
- Go to the RFP tab, then click on My RFPs
- You will be redirected to the table containing all the RFPs in your scope. Click on the three dot menu on the right of the table for the RFP you wish to modify, then click on Modify.
- You can now modify the information for each step of the RFP: company, project, skills, duration and budget, publication.
- Once you have made your changes, click on Publish at the bottom of the form.
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If you modify the maximum budget and/or the publication criteria of your RFP, it will be unpublished, and will be published again after validation (according to the selected validation workflow). |