Sign Minnesota RFP Fast

Document type sign rfp minnesota fast

[Music] hi and welcome to another episode of here's the deal with me jane nguyen there's the deal as a podcast by cesar purchasing where we fight to level the purchasing playing field for wisconsin schools i'm joined by my partner and co-host mitchell lilly hey jane our guest on today's episode is purchasing expert lisa truax lisa is with cooperative purchasing connection in minnesota minnesota you may be wondering well yes these are purchasing is connected to 29 states across the country through the association of educational purchasing agencies otherwise known as aepa exactly mitchell because aepa and cease purchasing provide wisconsin districts with nationally bid contracts which allows for incredible savings and at the same time they're awarded locally and that's the biggest piece the awarded locally piece lisa has 10 years of procurement experience and has a wealth of knowledge so let's dive right into rfps [Music] hi everybody um i'm here today with lisa truax who is probably one of the more knowledgeable people that i know that i am aware of when it comes to rfps and we're going to talk about a couple things because we chose lisa because not only does she know from a local view in the state of minnesota but she also looks at it from a national view with the affiliation we have with aepa so lisa correct tell me a little bit about yourself absolutely thanks dean yeah i've been in procurement world probably close to nine years now the first couple years started off with just being kind of a program representative and working with our vendors and members across the states of minnesota north dakota and south dakota but for the last seven i've really spent on the procurement side of the house so developing and researching categories to go out for solicitation conducting the full competitive procurement process and then the contract management side of the house and are you um are all nine years there at cpc in minnesota yes yes they have been okay so for wisconsin's sake minnesota and wisconsin partner up on several of our of our agreements and contracts the biggest one everybody would be aware of is tyranny brothers so um we have a partnership but we also have a commonality at the national level and then a friendship so lisa and melissa were very integral in helping me get onboarded when i came into piece of purchasing and aepa so lisa tell me so we're going to talk about rfp there's a difference between an rfp an rfi and an rfq today we're going to talk about an rfp so for those of you that are acronym saturated it's request for proposal and one of the things that we see a lot here in wisconsin is that it's so time consuming there's a lot of research that needs to go into it but it's also the setup part of it so there is more to an rfp than there would be to just a general three bids and a buy and in the state of wisconsin lisa we can do three bids and a buy for up to a certain dollar amount and then we can do we move into an rfp or an rfi and that is based on the school district so how let's talk about what is an rfp first so give me your best definition of an rfp well my definition with an rfp is essentially a competitive process that is based on more than pricing so maybe it's an agency that is not quite sure what they're looking for but they need to have xyz in order to fulfill their solution so all of the variables maybe aren't there and that's where you know we would tend to look at a request for proposal versus when you're doing a bid you know exactly what you want you want product x y and z and you know how much and when and where you need it um so it's very defined and definitive so that's kind of the big difference for us between a bid and an rfp is that bid you're going specifically for price and price alone you've outlined your parameters rfp again you know we're not quite sure what we want we have an idea um we're looking way before a solution versus just one particular product but also wanting to take in account service capabilities of the vendor who might be doing an installation um past performance how they've worked with other agencies similar to yourselves so those are things that can come into play with a request for a proposal is that big technical component of it beyond pricing thank you because and i think the biggest piece of this is is that it's okay not to know what you're going after that you are actually going after either a solution or an idea or a section of something it's okay so for a lot of times when we go out to buy especially the higher dollar amounts we want to know exactly what we're going to get and exactly when we're going to get it and exactly how it's going to be delivered and a lot of times instead of knowing that piece of it we really need to know what's going to happen before we get there so the cost may be up to fifty thousand dollars or up to a hundred thousand dollars but it's not guaranteed it may be something that as you're in the middle of it you can get a little bit of a change that could be happening so a couple of years ago lisa i did an rfp for some larger equipment for nutrition coolers the ice cream servers all that kind of thing let's talk about let's um we're going to use that kind of an example and the reason i say that is because you can literally change the wording of an rfp for a cooler to an rfp for turf or an rfp for lighting or an rfp for um i have a couple of schools that are looking for rfps for filtration systems right now so let's set that on the table as so some kind of a an example and i'm going to ask you the one question that everybody thinks they know the answer to and we all have different answers what what makes an rfp so difficult so mind-boggling um so dreaded the number one thing that comes into play that is really not accounted for are the soft costs and that's the time and effort and energy it goes to put towards learning about what you're going out for competitive solicitation for so you know in your example of a food cooler or things like that so many variables can change just in what you actually need at your one site let alone district wide if you have multiple sites you may have natural gas versus electric all of these different variables you need connectors on the left side not the right side so that's kind of you know that basis of which route do i go but that's where you have to put in all of your time and energy is up front and that's a lot of the costs that aren't kind of really figured into the cost of a solicitation or doing the solicitation process is who's doing it who's doing the research who's going to be drafting the specifications in that language is there anything that we can do to simplify it so we here since i've come on board have taken what used to have language that changed from every single solicitation to be templated so as we change categories or specifications for a category only only minimal areas of that template actually change the rest is all stagnant and templated language that is you know required for coverage in our three states that we serve right yeah so lisa the one word that you used was required um and i think this is going to be the piece that's it's more nerve-wracking when you're not a purchasing person so with with wisconsin having a heavy amount of rural schools they may not have a designated purchasing person it may fall to an admin assistant it may fall to even the principal or to the department head whatever it is if i even have a couple of curriculum directors that are also involved in them and the first question that i get asked when they call me is what do i need inside my rfp what do i how do i write it what do what do i post to say is there anything if i put it in there is it illegal and so i was beginning to think about an rfp and we and you said that it's templated i think the biggest piece for me is to tell people that borrow language borrow a footprint from another school call your css see if they've done something um if you're if you need to get further help call me and lisa how do you guys handle that and and how do you see that as kind of edging the fear or taking away the mystery of an rfp that's kind of the thing borrowing language doing your research looking to see what other districts or agencies have done in that realm or that category that you're seeking as well the web is a wonderful place it's kind of scary as well but there's a lot of great documentation of solicitations that have already been done and conducted that have had great results and you can um and then verify you know that that language meets the requirements within your state and you know continue to build that template it's not going to happen overnight but you have a good starting base we take a look at our templated language almost quarterly just to make sure it's accurate and concise and kind of takes into all effects of what we're trying to do in regards to cooperative purchasing and you know when i came on board almost five years ago one of the things that i brought with me was from the private sector so when you're talking i've written rfps that took us almost a year to write that were things as large as multi-location soda and and that when you think about that it was daunting for me to come to wisconsin and think if i do this incorrectly a school is going to lose out on x y z or if it has to be a closed bid and the reason i'm saying this is because there's a time when you should know when to go rfp and there's a time when you can just say you know what it's three bids and a buy and at the same time there's there is a a different situation for every person in every school district and every even even if you're doing it at a a non-profit level it's different and so lisa what's the what's been the hardest thing for you and your organization cpcc to convey when schools districts nonprofits want to take on an rfp by themselves you know i don't try to deter them from them i just really emphasize the point that make sure you're following procurement regulations you have the language in your documents to protect not only yourself but any entity that might be using your contract and really it comes down to you know making sure that you are writing it in a way that allows for free and open competition which is what procurement is based all about and that would essentially get you the best value for your your project um on our end you know food service is one of our biggest and most complex because we are following federal regulations state regulations and you know 100 plus school districts participating in the program so it's very complex versus a single school district going after a specific solution it's a little more it's easier to handle versus you know those complexities of doing a cooperative procurement but you also again going back to that research phase is you have to kind of know what you're going after as well um you know if someone's looking to do a new scoreboard the big heavy hitters in the industry are daktronics well do they already have a contract in place with cooperatives yes so would doing my own solicitation for a scoreboard be beneficial to the district and cost saving to the district no it would not because essentially those larger household big name brands are typically on some sort of a cooperative contract and usually those contracts allow for some flexibility for if you're you know buying 12 scoreboards versus just one that they'll give you an additional discount off of that let's talk about that how cooperative purchasing can play a part in this then we're going to dissect this down a little bit we're going to end up with effective ways for schools to take on an rfp and then some takeaways for them but right now let's talk about what we you and i do every day when i'm out talking about piece of purchasing and having people get used to the idea of cooperative purchasing there's a couple of things that um they are leery of and then there's a couple of things that they know how to celebrate so the things they're leery of is like getting lost in the masses so i'm a tiny school i only have you know 300 students but we still need a football field and we're going to referendum but i don't really know what to do and that's when i would suggest strongly suggest to any school district any size that you look into your statewide cooperative purchasing um and there's a little bit of a difference between the co-op purchasing that um wisconsin does versus minnesota and i think um lisa i want you to explain to them how what you've seen because you made in the beginning you said it was minnesota south dakota north dakota and i know i partner with you guys also and so kind of explain how while it's difficult to do how can a cooperative purchasing background or a person that's in that can help a school besides just saying here here's an old one or here i updated this for you what else can they learn from something that has a multi-state or a national like we're both involved in an aepa well i think it really comes down to you know the category or the product that someone's looking for um you know taking a look at who the players are in the market who are the vendors that are potentially responding do they have contracts already available and the complexity you know like with the football field if they're looking at artificial turf there's a lot of aspects that need to come into play you need the engineer you need the site survey soil testing all long before you even lay the turf down on the field you know and locally you know if cesa purchasing were to do a solicitation for one school district in the state of wisconsin our cpc were to do a solicitation we don't have the collective volume at one given time to really attract great pricing versus you know a lot of our turf contracts come from our affiliation with the 29 state national organization of aepa now a turf vendor who's global obviously will pay attention to a national consortium because they're grabbing more than one state at one time so therefore that's how we are able to bring in those national contracts with great pricing down to the local level so it's really taking an account of what do we want who are the players and where are they currently at in regards to the procurement world and you know um so when we look at cooperative purchasing and we say to everyone we have this national contract but it's locally awarded i've had people talk to me about how can i use an rfp that is nationally investigated or nationally written so texas had something to do with it and i'm in wisconsin but then when they say it's locally awarded they're like so i've got a guy that has been clipping my lawn at home and he's done the golf course down down the road so can i use that rfp for my guy and and let him use it kind of like as a guideline so that we don't have to do anything else what do you see what do you see as a problem in that statement well first of all the the local guy did not come in under that competitive solicitation so then it really falls back to you know what's your procurement amounts are you falling in a threshold where you have to pursue a specific type of solicitation um you know can you do your three quotes and a buy or three bids and a buy depending on what that that dollar volume is that you're looking at um yeah i know yeah and and it because it's frustrating in purchasing so i've talked i've talked numerous times and used the example of i've got a guy and the reason that i think that is still one of the most dangerous statements that a purchaser can make is because they don't have that research behind them they don't have the answers that happen somewhere else or at some other time they don't have the perimeters of pricing because they literally have a guy we have a guy that you know has been doing roofs for 30 years and we have had leaks for 30 years is your guy really the right one is that a good time to go to rfp so it's all above board and it's all announced or is it a time when you have such a big project you don't know where to begin what are your thoughts on that yeah you know i understand the the guy i've got a guy and you know in in regards to keeping things local obviously the local impact is definitely you know in regards to the construction realm um a bi thing that many small communities want to be cognizant of but also you are doing a lot of these projects with taxpayer dollars so you have to be cognizant and willing to do the right thing with your dollars and stretch them the best that you can and just because that guy is giving you a good deal on this project does not mean that he's consistent in that and that's the best overall value for the school district or the agency in the long run so i think opening it up to that competitive whether competitiveness whether it's three bids in a buy or a proposal or a bid you're you're making him put some consistency and actual tact behind his i can do that for you um well you can but you're gonna also go up against others who can also do that and we're gonna evaluate you against others instead of just kind of sliding the job to him perfect so the last thing we're going to talk about here is actionable takeaways that were that we can give schools as they're listening to this this is the time to jot it down so my we're going to do five each so my five actionable takeaways would be first and foremost to contact your local or statewide cooperative purchasing to see what they have and and what they can do to help you second i would say create a team inside your district to help you there's no one writer of an rfp if you need more information so if you are the purchaser grab the coach grab the facility guy make it not a not another meeting team if you don't have that kind of time but just a team and then i would say my third action will take away would be don't be afraid to mimic you use somebody else's go and do um instead of starting from crumbs start from a whole loaf um and that's a really bad way of explaining that but that's what my old always say the fourth thing the fourth takeaway i would say is no one is expecting shakespeare to write rfp literally they're not flowery they don't have to be certain words they don't have to be a certain link they're not a 500 word essay it's really getting the information that you want somebody to give you right so asking the right questions i think the final thing i would say is a takeaway um lisa is how you know how to make that decision if you can't make that decision reach out to an association if you don't know if it's really what you want to do and go to the board and say i have three bids and a buy or i'm going to rfp or do i need to go to rfp can i use someone else's rfp all of those are the questions that i would say those five things for me would be the best way to kick off what are your five you know i'm right in line with you on pretty much every one of those the the other things that i would probably add is is that research phase try to figure out your audience of what you're after the details like you said develop that team because you know sometimes the procurement world doesn't know what's happening and what's needed on the athletic field specifically so they're going to need some help to help develop those specifications depending on the size of your agency or your school district that could be another pressure point deciding what factor or which way you decide to go just for time timing the rfp process is not as fast as the bidding process because you have all those extra variables the research you have to put into it specifications and then the evaluation stage versus a bid you're looking at price what's the bottom line the other thing to consider too is you know always ask for help it's it's a great community to bounce ideas off of network be like hey i saw you did this you know what was your result i've done many solicitations where i found some online and have actually reached out to the person that did that procurement and said what were your pain points what did you learn through the process if you could do it differently what would you have done so those are things you can be proactive about as well versus being reactive when a question is asked by a vendor and you don't quite know how to respond right lisa i can't thank you enough because i know this is and we're not done with this guys rfps and the purchasing process we'll cover several times during these podcasts but please i can't thank you enough for coming on and talking with me because sometimes it's good not only just a different view but a different methodology of having people talk and i appreciate you giving that to the districts of wisconsin thank you so much and um everybody this is again jane wynn was purchasing and lisa truax is an amazing amazing purchasing person but she's also an amazing person so thank you lisa for joining us today and i'm sure i will be asking you again to give me more information we appreciate it absolutely thank you so much for having me and it's been fun and as i always say if you have questions uh feel free to reach out and it's great it the procurement world is a great network to learn from one another and we've all had pain points along the way so hopefully we can help each other get get from one procurement to the next thanks lisa we appreciate it absolutely have a great day guys you too stay warm i feel like i just got a crash course in rfps lisa is so smart she's one of my heroes really even with all of my experience and procurement i still feel like i always get something out of our conversation right and for me someone that doesn't have much experience with rfps that conversation was super helpful i loved the actionable takeaways in particular at the end well we hope all of you listening also took something away from this conversation if you need any support with rfps or procurement please don't hesitate to reach out you can find all of our information at csupurchasing.org thanks for listening to here's the deal the podcast by cesa purchasing please subscribe to here's the deal wherever you listen to podcasts music in this episode is brought to you by adam trebold vocal music teacher for the school district of athens in athens wisconsin we'll see you next time [Music] you