This article is the third in a series of guidelines on how to put together the perfect e-invoicing RFP – including useful tips that will set you on the right path.
They say in space, nobody can hear you scream. The same is true of an e-invoicing system that your suppliers haven’t adopted. Historically, the model of e-invoicing systems has offered some clear advantages to buyers but potentially caused massive headaches for suppliers, resulting in disappointing adoption rates.
When you think about how important it is that your suppliers sign up for and use the solution, one thing quickly becomes clear: you have to make it easy for them to integrate the tool into their ERP or finance system and have it cause as little inconvenience to them as possible. Any compromise here guarantees that suppliers will resent the tool and you ultimately won’t get the results you’re hoping for.
First up, think about the costs. This means time and money. Do they have to pay to use the tool? You’ll lose some. Probably proportionately to how much it will cost them.
Of course, the real threat here is slightly hidden. They may pay to use the solution but ultimately they have to decide how to absorb the cost – do they simply accept the cost, which means lower margins or do they find other ways to recover the costs? For instance do they put their prices up? That’s bad news. What’s worse, it is very difficult for the buyer to analyze how much of the suppliers fees end up on the buyer side due to higher prices.
On the other hand, are there going to be costs for them to integrate with your technology? How hard is it to use the solution? Is it intuitive and can it be easily understood, or will it require more resources and training? All of these are further reasons for them to resent a system that has been thrust upon them.
Because of this, making sure the tool can integrate easily with other software and systems ticks another box that could encourage them to sign up and increase your return on investment.
Another key aspect of this in your RFP is to look at how it fits with the bigger picture. It’s not just about recognising factors that might limit adoption – you’ll also want to consider how attractive features could actually drive adoption. Are you asking them to sign up for just an e-invoicing system or does the platform open the door to other useful functionality?
We discussed a good example of this at length in our last post on networks vs portals – if you ask them to sign up to a network then you’re potentially ushering suppliers into a new, mutually beneficial way of working.
So, whichever tool you pick, it’s vital to get as many of the companies you work with using it as quickly as possible. To achieve that, make things easy and look at it as an opportunity to make their life better, not worse.
RFP TIP: Ask your supplier to put their money where their mouth is and do a six-month pilot of the software with a commitment to reach a target of suppliers or invoices sent through the system.
