HappyCo
This article walks you through what your vendors see and do in a Happy Sourcing event — from receiving your invitation, to reviewing the opportunity, asking questions, pricing line items, and submitting a complete bid. It's written as a walkthrough of the vendor's side so that, as a sourcing manager, you understand their experience and can run a smoother event. Understanding this journey helps you get better responses back.
In this article
- Vendors receive the invitation
- Review and accept the opportunity
- Ask questions with built-in Q&A
- How Joy drafts answers automatically
- Vendors get replies instantly
- Price line items and add new ones
- Respond to the questionnaire
- Bid submission pulls profile documents
- Build the vendor schedule
- View the plan on a Gantt timeline
Vendors receive the invitation
Vendors who are part of Vendor Connect and have already registered get an email when a new sourcing invitation comes their way for your event. They log straight into the system from that invitation. Right at the top of their landing page, they can see the opportunities waiting for them — in this walkthrough, two new opportunities they've been invited to bid on.
Review and accept the opportunity
The vendor opens an opportunity to view it and decides right there whether they want to participate. The initial view gives them high-level information — enough to make that first call — and they can accept or decline the event. Once they accept, everything else opens up to them: the line items and the questionnaires, so they're ready to respond.
Tip
The details shown in this initial cut can change as the event is refined, so vendors see the high-level information first before they commit.
Ask questions with built-in Q&A
Sourcing by HappyCo includes a built-in Q&A capability. If a vendor has a question about the event, they simply post it right there in the Q&A rather than sending back-and-forth emails.
How Joy drafts answers automatically
When a vendor posts a question, the sourcing manager gets notified and Joy goes to work drafting an answer based on the knowledge it already has about the event. When Joy's confidence level is high — more than 90% — it responds to the vendor automatically. If the answer doesn't clear the confidence threshold, Joy drafts a response and holds it for the sourcing manager to review, edit, and then submit.
Tip
You stay in control of what goes out: if you don't like the draft, or the confidence sits low, you can review and edit before it's sent back to the vendor.
Vendors get replies instantly
Back on the vendor's side, the reply appears on the portal straight away once it's sent. Answering their questions this quickly keeps momentum going through the event.
Price line items and add new ones
The vendor prices the line items that were generated earlier for the event. They can also add their own line items based on the scope they receive on their end. So if they spot additional things the job needs that will cost you, they can add those in manually.
Respond to the questionnaire
There's also a questionnaire, and the vendor can respond to it directly. They can add attachments to their answers and pull in any additional files they need. They can include anything else they believe matters for this sourcing event.
Bid submission pulls profile documents
When the vendor moves into bid submission, some pieces are pulled automatically from their vendor profile. This includes documents such as their W-9, certificate of insurance, business license, and workmen's comp. Anything that belongs on the bid comes along with it.
Build the vendor schedule
The vendor is also asked to provide a schedule. At the top is the sourcing timeline you set for the event, and below it the vendor builds their own. They confirm a start date and then begin adding tasks — for example, task one taking five days and task two taking twenty-five days, for a total of thirty days, with task two set to depend on task one finishing first.
View the plan on a Gantt timeline
As the vendor enters their tasks, HappyCo lays the plan out on a Gantt timeline so the whole schedule reads at a glance. The timeline view can be adjusted to show dates. This completes the vendor journey — from the invitation landing in their inbox all the way through to a complete bid submission.
| Document | Purpose |
|---|---|
| W-9 | Included automatically in the bid from the vendor profile |
| Certificate of insurance | Included automatically in the bid from the vendor profile |
| Business license | Included automatically in the bid from the vendor profile |
| Workmen's comp | Included automatically in the bid from the vendor profile |
Frequently asked questions
When does Joy answer a vendor's question automatically?
When Joy's confidence in its drafted answer is high — more than 90% — it responds to the vendor automatically based on the knowledge it has about the event.
What happens if Joy isn't confident enough to answer?
If the answer doesn't clear the confidence threshold, Joy drafts a response and holds it for the sourcing manager to review, edit, and then submit to the vendor.
Can vendors add line items beyond the ones generated for the event?
Yes. Vendors can price the generated line items and also add their own manually, based on the scope they receive, if they spot additional work that will cost the buyer.
How does a vendor build their schedule?
The vendor confirms a start date and then adds tasks with durations, and can set dependencies between them (for example, task two depending on task one). HappyCo lays the schedule out on a Gantt timeline, shown beneath the sourcing timeline you set for the event.