Could having a website really be a requirement in business today? I see the many great benefits in having a web presence, yet I continued to question it being a “requirement”.
Why did this question come to mind. A call from a client, in obvious panic. They had a unique opportunity, but in this instance, a website was part of the requirement on the RFQ. It was felt having a page would meet that requirement.
After the RFQ was submitted, I couldn’t get the word “requirement” out of my mind. In my career, having a website had never been a requirement or even a factor in the supplier qualification process. Decisions were based on a number of factors, depending on the commodity or product. Source requirements were not thrown out as a series of hoops, for suppliers to jump through, as if they were performing in a circus. They were based on necessary factors to maintain the integrity of our products and services.
The internet changed the rules? What would be the relevance of this being a requirement? I think too much, probably far too much, yet I knew until I had a I couldn’t get this so called “requirement” off my mind.
I decided to seek the opinions of other professionals and the good news is I didn’t miss the memo. Standards were intact.
Professionals agreed, a website was not “requirement” in the supplier qualification process, although a highly visible advantage if done correctly.
Jon W. Hansen wrote the statement that “having a website was part of a RFQ submission requirement”, demonstrates that the “
Jon went on to say, while it is not a “requirement”, having a web presence can play a role in today’s business strategy.
Another good point was made by Scott Furlong
. Regardless of how irrelevant a RFQ/RFP request may appear, excluding it can technically disqualify your submission.Scott went on to share some examples of using your website, to create easier customer access to valuable information, such as at the same time saving natural resources. (more on that on another post – a supporter of Green).
Having a website, may not be a “requirement” supported by industry standards, but it most agree, having a web presence is a benefit to any business.
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Tags: Branding, Purchasing, Web Development
Tawny,
I’m catching up with your blog since finding you on Twitter. Which statement should likely go towards another of your posts.
We host two geotechnical firms that routinely do business with local, county and state governments in California. They were both strongly encouraged to have an Internet presence by their customers for two reasons:
(1) information during the RFP process and during the project would be exchanged primarily through email; email addresses that were generic and did not reflect the firm’s brand were considered unprofessional and cast doubt on the firm with purchasing agents
(2) increasingly, checking a proposer’s website was part of the background/qualification process
So, while not having an Internet presence with one’s own domain reflected both in email and the web would not disqualify a firm, i.e. not a “REQUIREMENT”, one could be scored lower.