Once a Request or Tender has closed, Buyers can send messages to the Suppliers who have responded. This functionality enables Buyers to communicate with Suppliers and request further information or documents from them after the Request/Tender has closed. You can find information on Buyers can send a message to Suppliers after a request has closed here: Post-Close Communication - Contacting Suppliers after a Request has Closed.

To provide this information to a Supplier, please use this link to the same article in the VendorPanel Supplier's Help Centre: https://vendorpanelsuppliers.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/900002616126-Post-Close-Communication-Corresponding-with-Buyers-after-a-Request-has-Closed

The below steps detail how Suppliers can view and respond to messages received from Buyers after the request has closed:

1. If a Supplier receives a message from a Buyer post-close they will be sent an email notification to let them know, with a link they can follow to view the message in their account.
   
   
2. The message will also appear under the Messaging heading on the left side of their home screen. They can click on the Unread link to view received messages.
   
   
   
   
3. This will then open a new page displaying a list of their responses with unread messages from Buyers. They can click on the # Message Topic(s) link next to the relevant response to view and respond to the Buyer’s message.
   
   It will indicate here if the message is new and unread.
   
   
   
   
4. They will need to click on the subject line of the message to view the details.
   
   
   
   
5. This will display the message details including the date and time it was sent. If any attachments were included with the message by the Buyer then the Supplier can click on the attachment button on the far right to download it.
   
   
   
   
6. To send a message back they can click on the Add Reply button.
   
   
   
   
7. On the first page, they will type out their message to the Buyer and then click on the Next button to continue.
   
   
   
   
8. On the next page, they can attach documents by clicking the Add button below the 'Attachments' heading.
   
   
   
   
9. They can then either select the Post now button to send it to the Buyer or select the Save as draft button to save their progress and come back to it at another time to send it to the Buyer.

Once the reply is posted they cannot edit their response or send another message back. They will need to wait for the Buyer to send them another message.

To view previous message conversations they can return to the relevant section under the My Responses tab on the menubar. They can select the Message Topic(s) button to the right of the relevant response and then click the subject line of the message conversation they want to view.