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A Request for Information (RFI) is a structured questionnaire you send to suppliers before running a formal sourcing process. Use it to map the market, prequalify contractors, or gather capability data — no pricing, no line items. Only buyers, PMs, and admins can create and issue RFIs.

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Creating an RFI

  1. Click New Request and choose the RFI card. Seloria creates a silent draft (no one is notified) and opens the editor. Alternatively, start from the RFI tracker’s New entry, fill in the basics, and click Save as draft.
  2. On the Basics tab, enter a Title (for example, “MEP contractors prequalification — Lusail Marina Tower 3”), a Description, the response Deadline, and the Requester (defaults to you; you can pick any user in your organization).
  3. Save. Once the draft exists, the Questions and Suppliers tabs unlock.
The editor shows a KPI strip with a completion percentage (title, description, deadline, at least one supplier, at least one question), the invited-supplier count, the question count, and days remaining until the deadline (amber when 7 days or fewer remain).

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Building the questionnaire

On the Questions tab, add questions one at a time by clicking the button for the answer type you want:
  • Text — free-form written answer.
  • Yes / No
  • Single choice and Multiple choice — you supply the options as a comma-separated list.
  • Number
  • Date
  • File upload — the supplier attaches a document.
For each question you can:
  • Type the question text inline — changes save automatically as you type.
  • Mark it Required.
  • Delete it with the trash icon (appears on hover).
Questions are numbered in order. There is no separate “save” step for the questionnaire; edits persist immediately.

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Inviting suppliers

On the Suppliers tab:
  1. Use the supplier picker to select companies from your directory. Suppliers already on the list are hidden from the picker, so you can’t add the same supplier twice. If the company isn’t in your directory yet, type its name and choose Create ”…” — enter a name and an email and it is created and picked in one step (an existing supplier with the same name or tax ID is picked instead of duplicated).
  2. Click Add to list. Added suppliers sit in Pending status — nothing has been emailed yet.
  3. Send invitations either individually (the send icon on a row) or all at once with Send invitations.
You can also publish from the detail page: when the RFI is in Draft, the primary button is Publish, which emails every shortlisted supplier. Publishing requires at least one supplier on the list. Each invitation email contains a personal link to the supplier portal where the supplier answers your questionnaire — suppliers never need a Seloria account. Emails go to the supplier’s registered contacts in each contact’s preferred language (English or Spanish). The supplier row shows the invitation status (Pending, Sent, Opened, Responded, Declined) and the date it was sent.

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Reviewing responses

Open the RFI’s detail page and go to the Responses tab. Responses appear once a supplier submits through the portal:
  • A summary line shows how many suppliers responded across how many questions.
  • A comparison matrix lists one row per supplier and one column per question, so you can scan answers side by side.
  • Text answers display inline; file-upload answers show a View file link; unanswered questions show a dash.
  • Each supplier row includes the contact email and submission date.
The detail page also has a Summary tab (key details and description), a read-only Questions tab, a Suppliers tab, and a History tab with the full audit feed — creation, edits with before/after values, status changes, and who did what, grouped by day.

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Promoting to an RFP

When responses have told you who’s qualified, move the process forward:
  • On an issued RFI, the primary button on the detail page becomes Promote to RFP.
  • You can also use the 3-dot menu (on the detail page or in the Requests tracker) — an RFI can be promoted to an RFP or, if scope is already clear, directly to an RFQ.
A confirmation dialog summarizes what carries over: the scope fields (title, description, organizational context, budget) and the supplier shortlist, with all suppliers reset to invited. RFI questions and responses stay on the RFI — they are reference material, not part of the new document. The new document starts as a draft with its own number and a default deadline 14 days out. After promotion, the Lineage breadcrumb on both documents links the chain, so anyone opening the RFP can jump back to the RFI and its responses in one click.