Vendor Assessment

We believe Altius's vendor assessment service is the leader in its field. Your assessment will be tailored to the products and services you provide and to the clients you provide them to. Our aim is always to help and guide you through the assessment process and, at the end of the day, to ensure that you meet the requirements of all of your clients. Central to this are our dedicated team of assessors, who are there to help you through the process, and our cutting-edge software, which both tailors the assessments and enables us to provide targeted feedback every step of the way.

Have a look at our Simple Guide for an overview of how it all works, or read on to find out more about the benefits, the process, and what makes us different.

What makes Altius better?

We believe our vendor assessment service is the best there is. Our many years of experience in providing these services in other sectors and for other companies has led us to an understanding of what makes them work for both buyers and vendors, delivering benefits to both:

• Efficiency: we keep costs down through the use of sophisticated software and an assessment process that is always being refined and improved.
• Robustness: our assessments are as robust as it is possible to be without us coming to do an on-site audit. This means that passing them is a genuine achievement and one in which buyers can have genuine confidence.
• Openness: we understand that assessments can be time-consuming, particularly if you work for many clients in multiple sectors. So why not give all your clients access to your Altius assessment? We can do this for you, and hopefully save you time and effort in the process.
• Scope: our five assessment globes cover all aspects of your business, not just commercial and health & safety matters, but customer service, corporate social responsibility and quality. Though your clients may not require you to meet all of these standards, passing all five globes and becoming an Elite Vendor is an achievement you can confidently use to promote your business.
• Independence: as a completely independent company, our only motivation is to provide consistent, clear and fair assessments of all of our customers.

Why not see what companies that have been through the assessment process think of it, by having a look at our Vendor Testimonials page.

How much does it cost?

Our annual fee is just £399 + VAT, which covers any number of updates, assessments and advice over the course of the year, though we do also charge an additional £200 + VAT in the first year, a set-up fee which covers the additional work that we generally have to do to get you through the assessment in that year.

Which purchasing organisations use Altius?

Have a look at our Client Document to see the ever-growing list of companies that use Altius to assess their vendors. However, just because a company isn't on the list, it doesn't mean they can't see your information. As an Altius Assured Vendor, you can nominate any of your clients to see your assessment information, which could save you time and money in keeping them up to date with your latest documentation.

What are the five globes?

Altius assesses businesses in five areas. These are Commercial, Risk Management, Customer Service, Corporate Social Responsibility and Quality Management. Passing the assessment in each of these areas results in the award of an Altius Globe.

What is an Assured Vendor?

Assured Vendor status is the standard benchmark for vendors to attain. It is what most of our clients look for, though some will look for you to meet additional requirements in order to work for them. To achieve Assured Vendor status, you need to meet the Altius requirements for the Commercial and Risk Management questionnaires. There are also additional benefits, including free vehicle stickers and the ability to provide any of your clients with access to your assessment information.

What is an Elite Vendor?

Elite Vendor status is the highest accolade you can achieve through the Altius assessment process. It involves meeting the Altius requirements for all five of the Altius Assessment Globes (Commercial, Risk Management, Customer Service, Corporate Social Responsibility and Quality Management). It gives you greater prominence in buyer searches and it could also get you featured in our newsletter!

What's the Process for becoming Assured?

	Submit your first year's subscription (including the set-up fee) to us. You can send a cheque, pay by BACS or by credit card. Just click on the 'Join Now' button at the top right of the page.
	Once you've received your login details from us, come back to the website and go to the 'Vendor Login' area to log in and start completing your assessment.
	Tell us which clients you currently work for or are hoping to work for.
	Tell us which products and/or services you provide.
	Tell us which specific activities you undertake.
	Complete the questionnaires, which will have been generated for you based on the information you provided in Steps 3, 4 and 5 above. We suggest you start off with Commercial, then Risk Management, as these are essential to achieving Assured Vendor status.
	Submit the completed questionnaires to us for review (you can submit each questionnaire individually, once all of the mandatory questions are complete, so there's no need to wait until you've finished all of them).
	We'll perform a Gap Analysis on each questionnaire, noting any gaps and giving you constructive feedback on what you can do to fill these gaps.
	Go back into the questionnaires, make any amendments as necessary, and re-submit them for further assessment. Steps 8 and 9 can be repeated as many times as necessary until you and we are satisfied that all requirements have been met.

That's it! And don't forget that we're here to provide help and assistance whenever you need it - well, within office hours, at least!

How do the Questionnaires Work?

The questionnaires are completed online. Just step through them section by section and answer the questions - the software will save the answers as you go along, so no need to worry about losing any work. The only questions that require you to step outside the questionnaire are those which require supporting evidence to be provided. This is where you'll need to upload some files. But don't worry, it's a simple process. You just need to make sure that each file is in PDF format, then follow the 3 simple steps and your file will be uploaded. Then you can use the questionnaire to attach the file as the answer to the relevant questions.

If you need help with converting, uploading, merging or even scanning files, we can help you out. We'll do the first three for free, but we do charge a nominal fee for our scanning service. See our Altius Document Scanning Service document for details.