Congratulations on becoming a BIG Assist Approved Supplier!

As an approved supplier your details are now live on the BIG Assist marketplace
where customers will be signposted to find organisations offering support in the form
of training, consulting, coaching or e-learning based on their voucher awards.
To help customers search for relevant suppliers who are able to offer the support
they need please make sure that your promotional information is up to date,
accurate and suitable for the target audience. If you would like to update your
promotional text please send through updated information to assist@ncvo-vol.org.uk
You can update your organisation and contact details on your dashboard by clicking
on the Organisation tab or add users authorised to access your account on your
Users tab.



Whats next?
Customers will be able to contact suppliers of their choice to request information
including a quote to help them choose the supplier who will best meet their needs.
The initial contact is made by customers through the BIG Assist website please
ensure that you respond to all customer requests as soon as possible. The vouchers
awarded to customers are time limited Customers must have chosen a supplier
within 2 months of issue, and completed the programme of support within 4 months
of issue.
Once you have been contacted by a customer, you will receive an email notification
in the email address provided as your organisation direct email. All messages
received on your dashboard will be stored under your Contacts tab.

In the Contacts tab, you will then have the option to see the customers details and
recommendations, to send them a message, to dismiss the contact or to make a
proposal by clicking on the Make project button.

The Make project button will then take you to the Proposal form. Fill out the form
including details of the potential project and submit. The vouchers issued are for a
fixed amount excluding VAT. Quotes to customers should also be exclusive of
VAT. If you are VAT registered, this can be added in your invoice. Make sure that all
quotes are realistic and competitive; the customers are free to choose who delivers
the support to them.

Please remember that customers cannot combine more than one voucher for
a project so your project value should not exceed the value of a voucher
(unless the customer wants to cover the difference themselves). If it does, at the
end of the project, the system would ask you to invoice NCVO for the sum up to the
full voucher value and the customer for the remaining amount. If the customer is
willing to spend all their vouchers with you, please advise them to contact you from
each of their vouchers and tailor your project proposal to each individual voucher.


If you would like to receive staged payments, you need agree this with the customer
first. You will then have to divide the total cost agreed into more projects. You will
have to be contacted by the customer more than once and set up an amount of
projects equal to the staged payments you wish to receive. The customer may have
to dismiss the initial proposal with the full project cost and contact you again in
order to receive proposals for all staged payments.

Once the customer has accepted your proposal, the contact will move to the
Projects tab under Current projects.



You have then entered into an agreement for the delivery of the services. This is not
an agreement with BIG Assist. You must follow your own policies around the delivery
of work, and ensure that these are agreeable to the customer who you are
entering into a formal agreement with.

All processes will be done online through the BIG Assist website every supplier and
customer will be able to keep a track of requests via their personal dashboards. By
following the online procedure, the BIG Assist team can be informed of what it is you
have agreed to supply, when and how much this support has cost. Without details of
this we will be unable to reimburse you the cost of the support!

Once the support has been delivered, you mark the project as complete (see above
screenshot). This will trigger an electronic invoice which will show under your
Invoices tab. You will also need to send us a PDF invoice by email to
invoices@bigassist.org.uk for the project value covered by the voucher, plus any VAT
(if applicable). The customer must also agree that the project is complete and
provide feedback as well as rate the support received the rating that is given is
public and will show on your profile. Building up a good score on the marketplace
will attract further customers to your organisation. Please note that we cannot
process any payment until we receive the customer feedback. This is their
formal confirmation that the project is complete so you may want to remind them
upon completion of the project.




Engage with customers
As an approved BIG Assist supplier there are a number of ways you can use our
peer to peer programme to raise your profile amongst the BIG Assist customers, and
reflect your expertise within your target market.
We have a variety of different platforms in which this peer to peer engagement will
take place:
ShareSpace: Our discussion forums separated into key topics this is open to the
public to read, but you must be registered on the BIG Assist site to be able to
contribute

BIG Assist Twitter: Has over 1600 followers made up of suppliers and customers
of the programme as well as other interested organisations

Newsletter: users will receive a newsletter with news, upcoming events
and interesting discussions on ShareSpace

Events: We are hosting and attending a range of local and regional events. We will
also be engaging in a range of online events.
Be active by keeping an eye out for questions and issues being brought up my BIG
Assist community members.

Participate in conversations with our hundreds of followers on Twitter or on
our ShareSpace forums. Make sure you dont just talk about the support thats on
offer - engage in discussion and build relationships!
Contribute news stories, case studies and to our events. Drop us an e-mail to tell
us what you're working on.
Find out more on the BIG Assist website, by email, phone or follow us on
twitter.

Twitter: @BIGAssist
Email: assist@ncvo-vol.org.uk
Tel: 0207 520 2418
Website: www.bigassist.org.uk