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The 3-Question Vendor Test
Three questions to ask before buying any AI tool. None of them are about features.
How to use this: Before any demo call or free trial, run through these three questions first. If you can not answer all three with confidence, you are not ready to buy. That is fine — knowing that is the point.
AI tool demos are good. The interface is clean, the AI sounds smart, and the sales rep knows every question you might ask. None of that tells you whether the tool will work in your business.
These three questions cut through that. Ask them before the demo, during the demo, or after. If a vendor can not answer any of them plainly, that is an answer too.
Question 1: What manual step does this replace?
Not what it "enables" or "augments" — what specific task does someone on your team do today that this tool does instead?
If you can not name the task, the tool is not solving a problem. It is looking for one. That is the wrong order.
What a good answer sounds like
"Right now your team pulls leads from LinkedIn, looks them up in ZoomInfo, and pastes the data into your CRM by hand. This replaces that."
What a bad answer sounds like
"It supercharges your whole sales workflow." "It brings AI to everything your team does." "It helps you work smarter."
Question 2: What happens when it's wrong?
AI tools make mistakes. The question is not whether this one will — it is what happens when it does.
You want to know: Does the tool flag low-confidence outputs, or does it present everything with equal certainty? Who reviews the errors? Is the damage contained, or does a wrong output propagate downstream into client-facing work, financials, or legal documents?
The red flag version
Any tool that promises accuracy rates without explaining what the error review process looks like. "98% accurate" does not tell you what the 2% costs you.
The question to ask directly
"Show me what a failed or low-confidence output looks like." If they can not demo that, they have not built for production use.
Question 3: What's the exit plan?
Every vendor relationship ends eventually. Before you start, you want to know: Can you get your data out? In what format? What happens to workflows you have built on top of this tool if you cancel?
This is not pessimism — it is due diligence. The harder a vendor makes it to leave, the less incentive they have to keep earning your business.
Minimum acceptable answers
- Data export available in CSV or standard format, not locked to a proprietary schema
- Clear cancellation policy — no mandatory annual contracts for SMB tier
- Workflows built on top of the tool are portable (your logic, not their engine)
Scorecard
After the demo, answer each question: Clear yes, Unclear, or No.
| Question | Clear yes | Unclear | No | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What manual step does this replace? | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | |
| What happens when it's wrong? | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ | |
| What's the exit plan? | ☐ | ☐ | ☐ |
3 clear yes
Buy the trial. This vendor has thought about production use, not just demos.
Any unclear
Ask again in writing before paying. Vague answers in demos become contract disputes later.
Any no
Pass. Something better is available, or the right tool does not exist yet and you should wait.
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