1. Create a New Project: The buyer can create a new project in 5 simple steps with the help of a wizard.

1. Add Project Details: As a first step, information useful to the vendor such as the project name, and buyer’s contact information is entered.  The buyer can also select a product/service category to find the best vendors for the project.
2. Add Instructions and Attachments: The buyer can attach a detailed RFP and enter any special instructions for vendors.
3. Select Vendors: The buyer can select and add the vendors who would be competing for the project. The buyer can also enter multiple e-mails for the vendor.
4. Setup Auction (Optional): An auction is the best way to determine the low cost provider. The buyer can set up an auction and enter the parameters such as auction start and end date and time, opening price and the minimum bid improvement.
5. Mail to Vendors: The buyer can mail the RFP or Auction Invitation to the selected vendors with the selected attachments and copy the mail to alternate e-mail addresses.

The buyer can also review the project status to verify the actions performed and current state of the project.

2. Monitor Auction (Buyer): The buyer can constantly monitor an active auction and communicate with the vendor(s). Other activities that can be performed are:

• Modify Auction Parameters
• Resend Vendor Passwords
• Stop Auction
• Mail Comments to Vendor
• View Latest Auction Information and Bids

3. View Vendor Profile and Rate Vendors: The vendors can be viewed according to their business categories and subcategories. The buyer can view the detailed business profile for a vendor and also rate the vendor according to parameters like quality, timeliness, cost, and overall.

4. Buyer File Cabinet: The file management services allow the buyer to maintain his/her documents.

• Upload and Delete Files
• E-mail Selected Files

Using the File Cabinet, the following files can be viewed and managed:

• Buyer Uploaded Files (Project specific and project non-specific)
• Vendor Uploaded Files
• Company-Wide Files

5. Vendor Login and Bidding: The vendor can login after receiving the RFP or Reverse Auction invitation e-mail with the login and password. Activities that the vendor can perform are:

• Vendor Login and Forgot Password feature
• Vendor Auction and RFP listing
• Vendor Bidding (Normal and Auto-Proxy Bid)
• Monitor and Participate in Auction

6. Tools: The tools include a collection of templates for creating Request for Procurement (RFP).

7. Search: The buyer can search for vendors by vendor name, city, state, and business description using the free-text vendor search. The buyer can also search for projects by project name, project owner name, project owner e-mail and phone and also through special instructions. The different types of search are:

• Project Search (by Project Start Dates)
• Vendor Search (for Corporate or All Vendors)
• Project and Vendor Search (free-text search)

8. Help: The help section provides help related to all the functionalities that can be performed through marketingQ. This section also includes a downloadable User Manual in the form of Buyer Guide and Seller Guide (Microsoft Word and PDF documents).