The level of the supplier’s representatives receiving feedback is important if the lessons learned are to be adopted organization-wide and if the supplier is serious about improving performance of future solicitations. Attendance by potential suppliers’ top management, as well as (or, in some cases, instead of) the leader of its sales/purchasing team, is preferred.
Effective feedback reassures suppliers that the process has been carried out in a fair, objective, and business-like manner. However, business disagreements that require more devoted attention do arise; guidance and instructions for resolution can be found in Section 7-4, Supplier Disagreement Resolution.