The old system felt like an incomprehensible electricity subscription. When Randstad switched to Cobrief they were given more control over their spending, while at the same time getting a tool that actually helps them choose the right tenders.
Randstad handled 158 tenders last year with a small team of three people. Now they have changed their bid tools and gained better control, both on time, costs and what tenders to deliver on.
Randstad has a joint tender team that writes tenders across the different areas of the company, from recruiting and staffing to digital consulting services.
“The old system was very expensive,” says Kyrre Engelund, Strategic Sales and Bid Manager at Randstad Digital. He had spent far too much time trying to understand what they were actually paying for.
"It felt unnecessary complicated, with no explanation."
The act of terminating the old agreement wasn't straight forward either.
“I called them to make sure I had resigned. Then I was told that the deal was “set as winback”. Obviously that means the deal is terminated, in any case I hope so."
Before the swap, Randstad used a separate analysis to assess whether to deliver on a tender. The process was thorough, but it stole a lot of time. The old system resulted in them responding to too many tenders.
“We've probably gone after too many,” Engelund says.
With Cobrief's own rating system, that has changed.
“Cobrief gives us a score that matters. If we score high, we go for it. If we score low, we leave it alone. That means we don't have to waste time.
Much of Randstad's expertise lies with customers. That turned the experts into bottlenecks in the tendering process.
“I don't need expertise to start a tender anymore. I get a structured first draft directly in Cobrief. The experts come in where they provide the most value, not to start from scratch.
Previously, they experienced that old portals locked documents after the deadline for questions.
'If I had to go back in after the deadline, I often didn't get into the documents. Then I had to go back to the start. If that didn't work out, I had to look in old emails and cross my fingers that I found the right file or link. Now it's all in one place.
He has a wish to those who design tenders:
— Don't make tenders that exclude half the market. When the competition is wider, you get better offers back.
For Randstad, the switch to Cobrief is primarily about delivering better deals.
“We've gone from incomprehensible invoices and winback chaos to a structure that makes sense. We spend less time, hit better on the tenders we respond to, and the quality of our offers goes up. That's the value itself."
For businesses that want to save time creating new revenue.
Tellef Tveit
“Tender processes are complex enough. The tool you use to handle them should not make it worse."
That's what Tellef Tveit, commercial manager at Cobrief, says. Kyrre's experience of strange invoices and “winback chaos” is unfortunately just one of many similar stories Tellef has heard about over the past year.
"Unfortunately, this is an experience many others share. When working with tenders, you need predictability. You should know exactly what you are paying for. No hidden texts and no overcomplicated systems. We want to make the complicated simple, not the opposite. I am very proud that Randstad sees the value of this."