Vendor management
Build your vendor directory, add contacts, invite vendors to RFPs, and track vendor history.
Strutter includes a persistent vendor directory that helps you organize your vendor relationships and quickly invite the right vendors to each RFP.
Vendor directory
The vendor directory is your central hub for managing vendor information. Access it from the Vendors section in the sidebar.
Each vendor entry includes:
- Company name and website
- Contacts with name, email, phone, and title
- Notes for internal context (e.g., past experience, specialties)
- RFP history showing which RFPs the vendor has been invited to
The vendor directory is available on all plans, including Free.
Adding vendors
Add vendors to your directory in several ways:
From the directory
- Go to Vendors in the sidebar
- Click Add Vendor
- Enter the company name, website, and any notes
- Add one or more contacts with their details
During RFP invitation
When inviting vendors to an RFP, you can add new vendors inline:
- Open an RFP and click Invite Vendors
- Search for existing vendors or enter a new email address
- New vendors are automatically added to your directory for future use
Managing contacts
Each vendor can have multiple contacts. From a vendor's detail page:
- Add contacts with name, email, phone number, and job title
- Edit existing contact information
- Remove contacts who are no longer relevant
When you invite a vendor to an RFP, the invitation email goes to the contact you select.
Inviting vendors to RFPs
From any open RFP, click Invite Vendors to get started:
- Search for vendors by name, company, or email
- Select the vendors you want to invite
- Each vendor receives an email with a unique, secure link to your RFP
Invite tracking
Track invite status right from the RFP detail page:
- Pending. The vendor has been sent an invitation email but has not yet opened it.
- Viewed. The vendor has opened the RFP link.
- Submitted. The vendor has completed and submitted their response.
- Expired. The invitation link has expired without a response.
Secure vendor links
Vendor invitation links use secure, tokenized URLs. Vendors do not need a Strutter account to view the RFP. They create an account (or sign in) only when they're ready to submit a response.
Vendor history
The vendor directory tracks each vendor's history across all your RFPs. From any vendor's detail page, you can see:
- Every RFP they've been invited to
- Their response status for each RFP
- Scores from past responses (if submitted)
This makes it easy to identify your most responsive and highest-performing vendors over time.
Next steps
- RFP management. Create and publish RFPs to invite vendors to.
- Vendor portal. Understand the vendor-side experience.
- Scoring and review. Compare vendor responses and scores.