The following questions example could prove useful in the design
of a vendor appraisal form:
Provide us with some examples of your business corporate
strategy, such as mission/vision statement, critical success factors,
etc. How are you achieving these goals?
How long has your business been in existence?
What is your current level of turnover and scale of
debts?
How many employees does your business employ?
Can your business cope with meeting our demand schedules?
As a percentage of your annual turnover how much will our
contract represent? (figures of 20%+ of vendor turnover should be avoided as
the vendor will become too dependent on your business)
How does your business deal with customer complaints?
Does your business have a process for dealing with
customer complaints in terms of looking at complaints and ensuring
corrective and preventative action takes place?
How does your business maintain performance?
Has your business achieved any quality and environmental
control awards?, if so, please provide proof.
Does your business use any continuous improvement
measures?, if so, What are they?, How effective are they?
Does your business use any sub-contracting firms?
If so, How does your business use these sub-contracting
firms?, How does it analyse and manage the performance of these contractors?
In designing a vendor appraisal form you may wish to give the current and
prospective vendors a scale by which to tick against, using header titles like
these: