Advise, Train, and Contract Service Providers Online Course | Learn Vendor Management Skills
The Advise, Train, and Contract Service Providers Online Course helps you develop the skills to engage, assess, and manage service providers effectively. Learn how to provide clear guidance, build professional working relationships, and ensure contracts support organisational goals—all at your own pace.
Why take this course on managing service providers?
Managing external service providers is critical to business success. This course teaches you how to confidently guide, evaluate, and formalise agreements with vendors and contractors to ensure quality and compliance.
What you’ll gain from this course:
Learn how to communicate expectations and guide service providers to align with organisational goals.
Understand how to design and deliver effective training that supports compliance and quality.
Gain practical skills in contract management to protect both parties and ensure successful delivery of services.
The Advise, Train, and Contract Service Providers Online Course equips learners with essential skills to manage third-party service providers effectively. In today’s business environment, outsourcing and collaboration with external providers is common—but without clear communication, proper training, and structured contracts, this can lead to inefficiencies or risks.
This course teaches you how to advise service providers on your organisation’s requirements, train them to meet standards, and ensure that contracts are fair, enforceable, and aligned with strategic goals. It also covers key elements such as monitoring performance, managing relationships, and maintaining compliance with service-level agreements.
Course Content
- The nature of services to be provided, related to specific programmes, projects, etc, is identified with a view to obtaining an outside provider to deliver the service.
- Relevant stakeholders and role players are informed and their input incorporated regarding the appropriateness of the need for service providers.
- An outsource analysis is performed and justification document prepared.
- Budget is obtained for service provision.
- .The relevant supply chain protocols and procedures are consulted to determine levels of authority, methodology for sourcing service providers (eg. tendering), and overall compliance criteria.
- The nature of the service provision is divided into relevant clusters in accordance with the nature of the services.
- The specifications for the services required are outlined for possible service providers.
- Specifications are broken down into tasks or a statement of work.
- Updates are considered during the phases of the the contracting process.
- Most appropriate method to source the providers is identified for appropriate use.
- Most appropriate method to source the providers is implemented when required.
- Typical solicitation and bidding documents are identified and prepared.
- Solicitation techniques are understood and applied.
- The appropriate use of negotiation in sourcing is understood and explained.
- Applications/tenders assessed for most appropriate provider that meets needs.
- Recommendation is made as to the most appropriate provider.
- The service provider agreement is signed by appropriate authority figure.
- The decision of the appointment team is conveyed to all tenderers in writing.
- The negotiation process is understood and explained.
Accreditation
- Non-accredited: Short course only
- Duration: 1h 30m
- Delivery: Classroom/Online/Blended
- Access Period: 12 Months
