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Send an assessment

To get answers straight from a vendor, you build a questionnaire, assign it to the vendor, and deliver it. The vendor then answers in a dedicated portal, covered on the next page.

Build a questionnaire​

Open the Questionnaire Builder. Give the questionnaire a name, then add questions, choosing an answer type (yes/no, multiple choice, free text, and so on) and any options. You can also reuse questions from the Question bank, which searches every question in your organization, including those in questionnaires you received, so you're not rewriting the same controls each time. Click Create questionnaire and it's ready to assign.

To start from a template instead, click Use template on the templates page. That creates a questionnaire first, which you then assign.

Assign it to a vendor​

Open Assignments and click New Assignment. In the Issue Questionnaire dialog, pick the Vendor and the Questionnaire, fill in the Assignment Title, and optionally add a description, instructions, and a due date. Click Create Draft to save it without sending. To send it now, tick Send to vendor immediately, enter the Vendor Email, and click Create & Send.

Questionnaire assignments
The Assignments hub: every questionnaire assigned to a vendor with its status and progress, plus the New Assignment entry point.

Deliver it to the vendor​

There are two ways to get the assignment in front of the vendor, and it's worth knowing the difference:

  • Send to vendor immediately (a checkbox in the assignment dialog) notifies any vendor contacts who already have a portal account. If none do, it falls back to sending a fresh account-setup invitation.
  • The person icon on an assignment row (Invite vendor to portal) always sends an account-setup invitation to the email you enter.

Either way, the vendor receives an email with a secure link. The link expires after 14 days and works only once. Sending a new invitation cancels the old link. If the invite email fails, the dialog shows a Secure invitation link you can share yourself. If Send to vendor immediately fails, you see a warning.

One assignment, one send

The Send to vendor immediately checkbox works from a fresh (draft) assignment. To send an existing assignment again, use the person icon, which has a 5-minute cooldown between re-sends. To nudge a vendor without sending a new invitation, click Send Reminder on the assignment page.

Track the assignment​

Open an assignment to watch its progress. The Assignment Detail page shows the vendor, due date, completion, and review status, with tabs for the responses, details, and any findings. Preview as Vendor shows a read-only list of the questions. The assignment shows Sent, then Submitted once the vendor submits. Your review does not move it past Submitted.

Next, see it from the other side. Continue to The vendor portal.