 "What are Scenario-based Questions?")
It is likely that you will encounter scenario-based questions at some point during your bid response career. These are becoming more common as a way for buyers to assess a supplier's thought process, values, and ethics, as well as how they will handle a specific situation, and so on. Typically, Buyers will pose a hypothetical or based on an issue they have encountered in the past and want to design out of their future contract.
Buyers will want to know how you will perform in terms of service delivery. What’s your response, it demonstrates an understanding of their needs, as well as your delivery experience, which allows for unexpected situations. Assessing your future performance based on your tender response. They may be looking for an answer to the most common practices that are likely to occur, such as dealing with high volumes of incidents or risky practices.
The question will be used to determine how a supplier will respond to a situation, such as an emergency or after-hours event that requires action. What actions will you take and how will you deliver them? What are your priorities going to be? What procedures do you use? What decision-making methods do you employ?
Buyers want you to demonstrate that you've planned for what will happen if something goes wrong, whether it's a health and safety violation on a construction site you manage or a safeguarding issue if you run a care home or provide social care.
But why are buyers looking for answers to scenario-based questions? They will want to ensure that you have properly considered and prioritized their services and that they are safe in your hands. You've thought about decision-making communication, escalation, resolution, leadership, and teamwork.
These questions are how the subject matter experts from the purchasing organisation will access your response. They will understand what constitutes a good response, the value of a poor response, and what is missing from the supplier's thought process.
Adapt Your Strategy for Scenario-Based Questions
Respond logically and methodically. Think critically and write your response using the lessons you've learned and your experience. Have you ever been in a situation like this? What worked well? What could have gone more smoothly? How many times have you encountered this situation? What would your case study look like?
Remember Buyers are interested in how you will handle a problem for them. How would you go about doing this? How would you weigh all of the factors, for example? What steps are you planning to take? Answering these types of questions is an art form, but with practice, you will be able to demonstrate your business understanding of their needs.