What are the different auction types? What do firms see during auctions?

The Reverse Auction process is an optional feature of a PERSUIT request. For many matters, this is the best way to find true and competitive market pricing.

When used, PERSUIT's Reverse Auction has three visibility options to choose from, which determine the level of comparison detail that firms see.

1. Price ranking only
2. Price ranking and lowest bid
3. Price ranking and each competitor firm's current bid

Firms will see the chosen auction type in the request details section (view this article for more information).

1) Price ranking only

Once the auction commences, firms are provided their "Price Ranking". They will only be able to see their current position and will be blind to their competition's pricing.

2) Price ranking and lowest bid

Participating firms will see their own current "Price Ranking" AND the bid of the anonymised lowest priced firm only, including its items and sub-items. The pricing assumptions are not displayed. It does not show any details about any of the other firms or their pricing bids.

3) Price ranking and each competitor firm's current bid

This gives the most visibility to firms. They see their own "Price Ranking" as well as the anonymised fee amounts, bids placed (pricing items and their sub-items) and price rankings of every firm participating in the reverse auction. Other firms' assumptions are not displayed.

You can find more information on what phase-based ranking looks like for firms in this article.

For all auction types:

• Firm names, individuals' names, proposal summaries, pricing assumptions, and answers to qualitative questions are always hidden from view.
• Firms can revise the phase level or activity level fees by clicking "view details" on their proposal and then clicking "revise proposal." Firms that make changes to their total price throughout the auction as a quick revision tool are encouraged to true up their phases prior to the auction's conclusion. If firms fail to make revisions at the phase level because they run out of time, the client has the ability to reopen the request for them after the auction for final revisions.
• Firms cannot see price ranking or other firms' proposed pricing until the moment the auction begins.
• Any change in ranking as a result of firms revising their pricing will be shown to all firms in real-time. 
• Time extensions - if there are any revisions submitted by a firm in the last 5 minutes of the auction, the clock will reset to 5 minutes to allow other firms to also make final changes. This will continue until there are no further changes for a 5 minute period.

Please reach out to support@persuit.com with any questions.

Total Price and Comparison Value

An auction is run and ranked on the basis of either:

1. Total Price

is a figure that is defined by the client. Often this is defined as the sum of particular phases or a different calculation that gives the client a good benchmark to compare firms at a high level. This is helpful when the client wants to utilize a specific reference in assessing the proposals. Instructions and assumptions on how to calculate the Total Price are typically outlined in the pricing section. If pricing items are revised at the phase level, firms and vendors should ensure that those adjustments are reflected in the calculation for the Total Price. This is particularly important during the auction and should be completed before the auction ends.

2. Comparison Value

is a figure that is automatically calculated based on the sum of all the pricing items. The comparison value does not sum hourly rates, rate cards, or discount %s. This simplifies the high-level comparison figure to a simple sum across the items and does not need to be recalculated or updated by the firms or vendors. The advantage of this figure is to allow firms and vendors to focus on the individual pricings items that make up the new Comparison Value.