New clauses on RFPs - Release note 11.86 (August)

This update to the LittleBig Connection platform introduces the possibility for clients to add clauses for suppliers in Time and Materials (T&M) Requests for Proposal (RFPs). 

Within this article

• General introduction 
• Manage and use a clause on entity's RFPs (client)
• Accept a clause when responding to an RFP (supplier)

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General introduction

Mandatory clauses are designed to help you, as clients, ensure proposal submissions meet your internal processes and specifications. Once defined in the entity settings, the clauses become an integral part of the RFP/Proposal process, meaning suppliers must accept them to send their proposals to your time and materials (T&M) RFP. It saves time, reinforces compliance, and enhances the overall proposal management workflow for you and your teams. 

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Manage and use a clause on an entity's RFPs (client)

Set up a clause

Company and entity administrators can set up clauses for the entities within their scope. 

To do so:

1. Go to the Entities tab and click on Entities management
2. For the entity you want to set a clause for, open the action menu and click on General settings
3. On the page that will appear, go to the RFP settings tab. Here you will see that the page has been reviewed for more clarity with the 2 preexisting sections and the new one for clauses:
   • Mandatory clauses
   • Project locations
   • Notifications 
4. Within the mandatory clauses section, click on Add a clause and fill in the following fields:
   
   • Title: The title you add will be used in the RFP and proposal forms for RFP creators and suppliers to know what the clause is about.
   • Description (optional): You can describe more what the clause is about to give more context to suppliers.
   • Document: You can upload only one file in PDF format and maximum 5 MB.
5. Click on Save to create the clause
6. Click on Save at the bottom of the RFP settings tab to confirm changes and make the clause available to the RFP creators of the entity.

Manage an entity's clause

After a clause is created, you will see it in the table within the Mandatory clause section of the RFP settings tab. On the right, you have the possibility to modify or delete it as needed.  

Use a clause when creating an RFP

Once a clause have been set up by administrators, you will see it, as RFP creator, in the T&M RFP creation form. 

They will appear in the Project step, within a section called Mandatory clause with the corresponding file. 

After receiving proposals, you can view the acceptance date and time of the clause in the proposal details, providing clear and concise tracking of compliance.

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Accept a clause when responding to an RFP (supplier)

If a client has defined a clause on an RFP, you will be able to see it in your proposal form. You will have a dedicated banner on which you can click to view the file content and once read, you can activate the toggle button to confirm that you accept it.

In case of renewals, if the clause has been changed by the client in the meantime, you will need to accept the new version.