You’ve likely just had a qualification meeting with LION and are progressing to the next step: your proposal. So what are the team at LION doing right now to pick the right products for you? And what do we need from you to ensure that your proposed products result from informed decisions?
This document will answer any questions you may have about our product selection process and will highlight the next steps we are taking internally to guarantee we have selected products that will meet your requirements.
Sometimes, customers know the exact products they want before they come to us, which significantly shortens the process below. But, this isn’t often the case, and in the event that more collaboration is needed, our process always begins with you.
Our product selection process always begins with questions; it is very important for us not to assume that we know the answer before clearly understanding your requirements.
The best way we can do this is by understanding the results of your risk assessments. We also need:
Once we have a grasp of the above details, we will be able to proceed to the next steps in our process:
LION need to know:
If we have this information, we are able to see a full picture of your circumstances and what products you require. This can lead to deeper collaboration on both sides.
The foundation for how we select the best-fit products for you is set by the answers you give to the questions above. We build on that foundation with our combined experience and engage manufacturers as technical experts where necessary.
By involving the relevant authority voices, we know that we have gone the extra mile so that you don’t have to. Our knowledge of the market and access to relevant subject matter experts ensures that the products we select for you are not only well-informed but have been assessed from all angles first.
We always include standards and specifications in our exploration, as they are key factors in your requirements. We then look for parity between our experience, our manufacturers’ knowledge and your understanding of the risks the products we are looking at will help mitigate.
We also use our BSIF affiliation and access to other industry experts when necessary to be sure that products are compliant.
When we pick a manufacturer or brand to work with, we always take sustainability into account. We believe that protecting lives should not cost us the Earth, and so sustainability is one of many stages in our process of choosing who to work with.
We take into account:
Those are just a few of the questions on sustainability that we consider when working with any supplier.
If you have specific sustainability targets, initiatives or requirements that you need us to meet, let us know in advance so that we can make sure we source a product that helps you achieve them.
This depends on the complexity of your requirements. Some situations are less complex than others and therefore a response within a few hours can be expected, others can take much longer if requirements are multi-faceted or present new challenges.
Price has to be relevant and proportional; we do not just hike up the price for the sake of it.
When we price an item, we price based on the below variables:
| Increases price | Keeps price down |
| Premium quality garments Branding (especially multiple logos) High number of delivery locations Fit of the garment (female fits, maternity and modesty wear can cost more depending on manufacturer) |
Less or no branding Fewer delivery locations Bulk up on volume (if there are other departments in your organisation that may be able to use the same products, you will save money overall by bulking up the order volume) |
You will receive your proposal via email. Some clients prefer a spreadsheet, which is particularly usefully for larger product ranges with 30-200+ items. Others will receive their pricing on a PDF document that details the product code, description and our price. Sometimes clients want to have specific graphics of proposed products, usually to compare certain garments with others to choose, for example, the best colourways. We accommodate this by storyboarding their options and sending this over for their teams to look over.
Yes! Our purpose is to help you to keep your teams safe with the best products for them. If you are unhappy with what we have proposed, let us know as soon as possible so that we can resume discussions and find better-fit solutions for you.
All suggestions are subject to change. For larger projects, more time may be needed due to complexity and staff engagement.
If you want us to make changes to our proposal, these are your next steps:
When you are happy with your proposal and ready to move forward with the buying process, you can accept your proposal via email confirmation to the person you received the proposal from.