How do I pitch my company's services or products to participate in a Pooki's Mahi's RFI/RFP process?

Pooki's Mahi receives two dozen pitches a week from businesses looking to sell (hock) services and products that Pooki's Mahi doesn't need.  Pooki's Mahi's RFI team and execs spends an exuberant amount of time researching, following up and completing an initial due diligence of the company.  99% of unsolicited pitches are not a cultural fit, wastes execs time and are not measurable.  We live on ground rules to stay focused and to consistently deliver Pooki's Mahi's Kona coffee Keurig k cup products to customers.

Pooki's Mahi's Founder/CEO set a very high bar for all vendors.  Pooki's Mahi's executives are not interested in companies that weren't referred by multiple members in Pooki's Mahi's network.  Sending a LinkedIn InMail directly to any of Pooki's Mahi's executives is considered spam.  If the company wasn't referred by multiple (minimum 5+) colleagues in Pooki's Mahi's network, then the business is phishing for information.

Overview:

Businesses selling services to Pooki's Mahi fall into two categories:  vendor or supplier.

  1. Vendors are companies that sell non-product services. This list includes but not limited to marketing services (like SEO, press release writing, social media management, etc.), technology tools (like press release platforms, analytics, email marketing, etc.), transportation (UPS, 3PL transportation, car services, receptionist, janitorial cleaning services, etc.
  2. Suppliers are companies that sell raw BOM (Bill of Materials) for the FG-BUY (Finished Good - BUY) product.  This list includes but not limited to packaging, film, pouches, manufacturing, tape, labels, and manufacturing.

Vetting Unsolicited Vendors:

  1. Stage 1:  RFI - All vendors and suppliers start in this stage by providing the requested information.
  2. Stage 2:  RFI Due Diligence - Several vendors are examined.
  3. Stage 3:  RFP - Less than 1% (1-2 vendors max) make it to the RFP stage.  An RFP does not mean the company has a long term contract.  

Pooki's Mahi's RFI process is invite only.  Less than 1% make it pass the RFI process and into the RFP process.  A supplier or vendor who is in an active RFP process does not guarantee they've been rewarded the business.  Every step is graded by a cross functional team.

There are two options for a potential supplier or vendor to participate in Pooki's Mahi's RFI/RFP process.  Pooki's Mahi's Founder/CEO owns the final decision for all RFIs/RFPs.

  1. Option 1:  A Pooki's Mahi executive (preferred) or team member will contact the company directly.  
  2. Option 2:  Send a proposal with all the details of the product or service via email to support[at]pookismahi.com or via Pooki's Mahi's contact form. 

Option 1 is the preferred option.  Not all proposals will receive a response.  A response is an actual (live) conversation between Pooki's Mahi's Founder/CEO and the company.  Sending multiple emails to any of Pooki's Mahi's executives or executive advisors is considered cyber-harassment and not a cultural fit.  We automatically reject companies.

Process:

  • Pooki's Mahi's RFI/RFP process is very lengthy
  • It's designed to weed out firms that aren't a cultural fit (over aggressive sales approach, short term sales, cyber bullies, firms who don't abide by the ground rules) and unable to meet target metrics consistently. 
  • Potential suppliers and vendors in an active RFI/RFP are expected to follow the ground rules per the signed contract.

Partners who do not consistently meet/beat the target metrics will be terminated (at will) after the RFI and RFP periods (include but not limited to):

  1. A partner who costs more money to manage.
  2. A partner who does not generate the target sales revenue.
  3. A partner who is extremely needy (pushing alleged POs when the demand is not available for the product).
  4. A partner who does not provide the information as required (high touch/diva behavior).

Pooki's Mahi WILL NOT Tolerate Companies:

  1. Not following Pooki's Mahi's Ground Rules.  We don't call our customers and harass them to buy Pooki's Mahi's Kona coffee single serve pods.  Why should we work with a company that has an aggressive sales approach?  
  2. That hasn't embraced high tech.  EDI is old school similar to fax.  XML is for Web 3.0.  We're a high tech company.  Why should we work with companies who are disorganized, uses faxes to submit agreements and isn't high tech?
  3. Sending a LinkedIn InMail to any Pooki's Mahi executive. Companies must be recommended.  Sending LinkedIn InMails = company is phishing.
  4. Cultural discrimination.  Our Founder/CEO met with a CEO mid-2016 who wasn't honest about the meeting's outcome.  A "get to know you..." meeting turned into a "Let me sell you $12K-$15K of BS services Pooki's Mahi doesn't need."  This "CEO" called Pooki's Mahi's Founder/CEO's dad a migrant worker.  
  5. Scheduling a meeting and never showing up or claiming to have a different time.
  6. Negative information found during the RFI due diligence process.
  7. Cyber-harrass or cyber-bully companies.
  8. Support is outsourced outside mainland USA.  We worked with a customer whose support center was outsourced to a location in Asia (India).  Support person did not understand American English, aggressively closed Pooki's Mahi's escalations and issues.  Customer hasn't paid Pooki's Mahi $$$$$$ (6 figures) since October 2015.  Pooki's Mahi's products are made in USA.  We prefer to bring jobs back from overseas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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