How to Use Vendor Insights

Table of Contents

• Summary
• Before Getting Started
• Generate New Vendor Insights
• See Previous Vendor Insights
• FAQ
• What's Next?

Summary

Ask one question and get simultaneous answers from all your vendors. This article covers how to:

• Search across your entire Vendor Catalog
• Access previous questions and answers
• Eliminate manual vendor-by-vendor reviews

Before Getting Started:

• Enable Smart Search for your vendors (individually or in bulk) -learn how here. 
• Vendor Insights reports on all Smart Search-enabled vendors
• Use specific questions, not keywords, for better AI accuracy
• Contact your Customer Success Manager for feature access or increased allotments

Generate New Vendor Insights

1. Open Vendors from the Main Menu
2. Select vendors for your search. Use filters for targeted queries.
3. From Actions dropdown > select Vendor Insights

A window will appear. You'll see the question entry box, as well as a confirmation of the vendors included in your query. Note - If a vendor has not been enabled for Vendor Insights/Smart Search, their name will be highlighted red with an indicator that they won't be included in the query. 

     4. Ask your question! Be specific for better results.

Wait for processing—a table will appear with vendors and answers.

     5. Select View Details to explore answers, review sources, explanations, and confidence levels.

     6. For unknown answers, request vendor updates then use Retry to pull in new information.

     7. Select a line to access the Actions menu with these options:

• • Ask New Question: Opens new dialog prompt
  • Ask Same Question: Re-runs current query for updated data
  • Bulk Questionnaire Request: Sends requests to selected vendors
  • Bulk Questionnaire Cancel: Cancels requests for selected vendors
  • Export Results: Exports AI findings for selected vendors

The options shown are detailed below the image.

       8. Filter results using the top filter bar.

Before

After

See Previous Vendor Insights

Key points:

• All users with Vendors menu access can view previous queries
• Check existing answers before creating new queries

Steps:

1. Open Vendors menu
2. From Actionsdropdown > selectView Vendor Insights History
3. Browse Previously Asked Questions or search by keyword
4. View results and select See Details for more information
5. Click Remove to delete questions (cannot be restored)
   
6. Removed questions appear as "Archived" in the Vendor Insights report
   

FAQ

• If a vendor has recently provided updated information, how do I have that answer reflect when using Vendor Insights?

  • Go to Vendor Insights History, locate the question, and click Retry on the vendor line showing "unknown"

  Does the Retry option use a license for Vendor Insights?

  • No, only new searches impact license usage

What's Next

• Need answers for one vendor? Use Smart Search for Vendor Details - more HERE