Get expert guidance from Tropic’s Commercial team, right where you work.

Overview

Advisory Consult is a new way to get fast, expert guidance from Tropic’s Commercial Executives - without leaving the platform or switching to email.

Whether you’re heading into a renewal, reviewing a contract clause, or trying to understand a supplier’s pricing approach, Advisory Consult lets you submit a question directly from the places you’re already working. Tropic’s team responds in-platform with their expert take, and the full conversation stays in context alongside your contracts, supplier data, and related documents.

Everything you and your CE discuss lives in one place, tied directly to the work it supports.

Who Is This For?

Advisory Consult is available to all Tropic users running Org Managed Requests, and is especially useful for:

• Procurement leads and budget owners who manage their own negotiations and need spot guidance - like benchmarking context, contract clause input, or supplier leverage intel - without escalating to a full Tropic Managed workflow.
• Anyone who’s previously relied on Ask an Expert or activity feed @mentions to get CE input and wanted a more reliable, in-context experience.
• ISM Basic (data-only) customers who now have a direct pathway to Tropic’s advisory expertise for the first time.

Using Advisory Consult

Advisory Consult gives you a structured, in-platform way to get expert help at every stage of your procurement process. You can submit a question from any supported entry point, attach files, and link related contracts, requests, or proposals so your CE has full context before they respond.

Once submitted, your consult moves through clear statuses: Requested - In Progress - Delivered - Completed - and you can track it the whole way. When your CE publishes their response, the consult moves to Delivered and their full response, including any supporting attachments, appears directly in the consult detail view. Responses typically take 1-3 days.

If you have a follow-up question after a consult is marked Completed, just reply - the consult reopens automatically and the conversation continues.

You can also submit multiple Advisory Consults on the same request or contract - so if new questions come up at different stages, you’re not limited to a single conversation.

Where to Find Advisory Consult

Advisory Consult is accessible from several places across Tropic, where you’re already working:

• Org Managed Requests (Request Intelligence section)

• Supplier Intelligence Pages

• Price Benchmark pages

• Proposal pages
• Tropic Focus Dashboard
• Intelligence Center
• Purchase Prep Assistance
• Left navigation - available to all customers regardless of plan

Heads Up: New “Service Type” Question for Tropic Managed Requests

Heads Up: New “Service Type” Question for Tropic Managed Requests

What Happens After You Submit

Once you submit an Advisory Consult, here’s what to expect:

• Your consult appears in the activity feed and is accessible from the Advisory Consults index on the Supplier Intelligence Page.

• Advisory Consult responses can take 1-3 days.
• You can watch your consult move through statuses: Requested > In Progress > Delivered > Completed.
• When your CE publishes their response, the consult moves to Delivered. Their full response - including any attached files - appears directly in the consult detail view.
• You can copy a share link from the consult to send it to a teammate who needs to see it.
• If you have a follow-up question after the consult is completed, just reply. The consult will automatically reopen and the conversation continues.

What You’ll See in the Consult Detail View

The consult detail view is designed to keep everything in one place. You’ll find:

• Left sidebar: Supplier name, requestor info, connected items (contracts, requests, proposals), and attached documents.
• Center panel: Your original question, the CE’s expert response, and any file attachments they included.
• Right panel (activity feed): Comments, follow-ups, and the full conversation history between you and the CE.

Everything relevant to the consult lives together - no hunting through email threads or switching between tabs.

What This Means for In-Progress Ask an Experts or Advisory Requests

You will complete any current Ask an Expert or Advisory Workflow communications where they are happening now. For any new advisory requests, use the updated in-platform Advisory Consult buttons listed above.

Managing Your Notifications

Advisory Consult sends notifications for key activity - including when a consult is assigned, when a response is published or updated, and when there are new comments or mentions. All notifications are enabled by default.

If you want to adjust which notifications you receive, you can opt out of individual notification types in your user notification settings. Each Advisory Consult notification class has its own per-user toggle.

Troubleshooting

If something isn’t showing up as expected, here are the most common scenarios and what to check.

"I’m not seeing the Service Type question on my form."

Check that you’re submitting a Software Purchase Request and have entered a spend amount on the Spend page. The question only appears in that context. If you’ve confirmed those steps and it’s still not showing, reach out to your Account Manager.

"I can’t request an Advisory Consult on a specific supplier."

Advisory Consult only appears on suppliers that are eligible for advisory services, and on supported surfaces (Org Managed Requests, contracts, Supplier Intelligence Pages, and Price Benchmarks). If you can see it on some suppliers but not this one, the supplier is likely not currently eligible. If you believe it should be, or if you're on a supported surface and still not seeing it, reach out to your Account Manager.

"I don’t see the Full Service Negotiation option in the Service Type question."

Full Service Negotiation is the most gated option - it only appears when several things line up at once: your organization has Full Service Negotiation enabled, the supplier is eligible for full-service, and the budgeted amount on your request meets your org’s addressability threshold (the default is $24,999). If you’re not seeing it and think you should be, reach out to your Account Manager and let them know which supplier you’re working with and the amount you entered.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I continue the conversation after a consult is marked Completed?

Yes. If you reply after a consult is marked Completed, it automatically reopens back to In Progress. The platform makes clear that follow-up questions are encouraged even after the initial response is delivered.

Q: How long does it take to get a response?

Advisory Consult responses typically take 1-3 days. You can monitor the status of your consult (Requested - In Progress - Delivered - Completed) directly in-platform.

Q: Can I submit more than one Advisory Consult on the same request or contract?

Yes. Multiple Advisory Consults are allowed on the same request or contract. If new questions come up at different stages of your process, you can submit a new consult without affecting any existing ones.

Q: What happens to Ask an Expert and Advisory Workflows?

Ask an Expert is replaced by Advisory Consult at launch, and your organization will be migrated over by Tropic’s customer-facing team. Advisory Workflows won’t be deprecated immediately - any in-progress requests will continue through to completion. Going forward, no new Tropic-managed advisory requests will be created; Tropic Managed Requests are reserved for full-service negotiations. If you have questions about how the transition will work for your organization, reach out to your Account Manager or Implementation Consultant.

Q: What can I attach to a consult?

You can attach files directly in the submission drawer and link related contracts, requests, or proposals. This gives your CE full context before they respond, and all documents are accessible in the consult detail view.

Q: Is Advisory Consult replacing full-service Tropic Managed Requests?

No. Advisory Consult is designed for spot guidance and expert Q&A - things like benchmarking advice or negotiation insights. Tropic Managed Requests remain the right tool when you want Tropic to run the full negotiation end-to-end.

Q: What does the Archived status mean?

Archived removes a consult from default views on both the customer and staff side. Archived consults are only visible when explicitly filtering for them. If you no longer need a consult, archiving it keeps your views clean.

Q: I’m an ISM Basic customer - can I use Advisory Consult?

Yes. Advisory Consult is available regardless of your plan. As an ISM Basic customer, you won’t see the Create Request action in the left navigation, but you will see an Advisory Consult button there, giving you a direct way to initiate a consult from anywhere in Tropic.

Q: Why don’t I see the Advisory Consult button on some suppliers?

Advisory Consult entry points only appear on suppliers that are eligible for advisory services and when your organization’s Advisory Consult add-on is enabled. If you’re not seeing it where you’d expect, reach out to your Account Manager for help.

Q: Can I share a consult with a teammate?

Yes. You can copy a share link directly from the consult view and send it to anyone who needs to see it.

Q: What is the new Service Type question I’m seeing on Tropic Managed Requests?

When creating a Tropic Managed Software Purchase Request, you’ll see a question on the Spend page asking what type of service you want. Selecting Advisory Consult automatically submits an Advisory Consult and routes your request to Org Managed. Selecting Full Service Negotiation keeps it as a Tropic Managed workflow. Selecting "Nothing at this time" routes it to Org Managed with no consult created. This answer locks after submission, so choose carefully. Your Account Manager or Implementation Consultant can help if you’re unsure.

Q: Why don’t I see the Full Service Negotiation option in the Service Type question?

Full Service Negotiation only appears when your organization has it enabled, the supplier is eligible, and your budgeted amount meets your org’s addressability threshold (the default is $24,999). If you think you should be seeing it, reach out to your Account Manager with the supplier name and the amount you entered.

Q: How do I manage my Advisory Consult notifications?

Notifications are enabled by default for all Advisory Consult activity. You can adjust which types you receive - assignment, response published, response updated, comments, and mentions - in your user notification settings. Each notification class has its own individual toggle.

Additional Resources

For more training guides or documentation, please visit our Help Center. Our resources provide detailed guidance to help you navigate Tropic effectively.