A reference call gives you something a sales process structurally can’t: an honest account from someone with no stake in whether you buy. Making the most of this opportunity means asking questions that go beyond generic satisfaction ratings and into the specific, practical detail that actually predicts your own experience.

Before the Call: Set Context

Ask the vendor to connect you with a reference customer reasonably similar to your own organization in size and use case — a reference from a very different context (much larger, different industry) will have a less directly comparable experience, even if genuinely satisfied with the platform.

Questions About Implementation Reality

“How long did your actual implementation take, compared to what you were initially told?” This directly tests whether the vendor’s timeline estimates during your own sales process are realistic, based on someone else’s actual lived experience.

“What surprised you during implementation that you wish you’d known beforehand?” This often surfaces practical, specific information — a configuration quirk, an unexpected data migration challenge — that a sales process wouldn’t naturally volunteer.

Questions About Ongoing Support

“When you’ve needed support, what’s the actual response time and resolution experience been like?” Compare this directly against what you’ve been told during your own sales process, looking for consistency or a meaningful gap.

“Has support quality changed over time, as you’ve been a longer-tenured customer?” This surfaces whether support experience degrades once the initial sale is complete and a customer transitions from prospect to ongoing account.

Questions About Cost Reality

“Has your actual cost matched what you expected at signing, or have there been unexpected add-ons or increases?” This tests pricing transparency claims against someone else’s real billing experience over time.

Questions About What They’d Do Differently

“If you were choosing again today, would you pick the same platform? What would you do differently in your own evaluation process?” This often produces the most candid, useful information of the entire call, since it invites genuine reflection rather than a simple satisfaction rating.

A Reference Call Question Set

Area	Question	What it reveals
Implementation	“How long did it actually take vs. what you were told?”	Timeline estimate reliability
Implementation	“What surprised you that you wish you’d known?”	Practical gotchas not covered in sales
Support	“What’s actual response time and resolution been like?”	Real support quality
Support	“Has support quality changed over time?”	Long-term account experience
Cost	“Has actual cost matched expectations?”	Pricing transparency reality
Overall	“Would you choose the same platform again?”	Genuine, reflective satisfaction

How to Interpret What You Hear

A reference who’s entirely positive with no caveats is worth some healthy skepticism — nearly every real implementation has some rough edges, and an account with zero friction mentioned may reflect a very simple use case rather than genuine universal ease.

Specific, concrete answers are more valuable than general sentiment. “Support typically responds within a few hours and resolves most issues same-day” tells you more than “support has been great.”

Weight the reference’s similarity to your situation. A glowing reference from an organization in a very different size bracket or use case is less predictive of your own experience than a more measured account from a closely comparable organization.

Scheduling and Conducting the Call Well

Request a 20 to 30 minute call rather than a quick email exchange — written answers tend to be shorter and more guarded, while a live conversation allows follow-up questions that surface more specific, useful detail. Record or take careful notes during the call so you can compare findings consistently across multiple reference conversations rather than relying on memory, which tends to blur together after several calls covering similar ground.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should you only trust references the vendor provides, or seek out your own independently? Vendor-provided references are useful but naturally selected to be favorable. Seeking your own references — through your professional network, industry groups, or direct outreach to companies you know use the platform — adds a valuable, less filtered perspective alongside vendor-provided ones.

How many reference calls are worth doing for a typical evaluation? Two to three solid reference conversations usually provide meaningfully more insight than a single call, without requiring the time investment of an exhaustive reference-checking process better suited to a much larger purchase decision.

Is it appropriate to ask references about pricing specifics? General cost-experience questions (did actual cost match expectations) are reasonable; asking a reference to disclose their exact negotiated pricing is generally considered inappropriate and most references won’t share it regardless.

What if a vendor is reluctant to provide any references? This is worth treating as a meaningful signal, particularly for an established vendor who should reasonably have satisfied customers willing to speak — reluctance here deserves a direct, specific question about why references aren’t being offered.

Should reference checks happen before or after a trial? Either order can work, though reference checks after an initial trial let you ask more informed, specific questions based on what you’ve already directly experienced with the platform yourself.

Is it appropriate to ask a reference whether they’d be willing to be contacted again later if you have follow-up questions? Yes, and most references are comfortable with this — it’s a reasonable, low-effort ask, and having that door open can be valuable if a specific question comes up later in your evaluation that wasn’t covered in the original call.

Should you tell the reference what specifically prompted your interest in talking to them? Briefly explaining your situation and what you’re hoping to learn helps the reference give more relevant, targeted answers rather than a generic overview of their experience that may not address what you actually need to know.

Next Step

Request two or three references from your top vendor candidate, prioritizing organizations closely similar to yours in size and use case, and use the question set above rather than open-ended general questions that tend to produce vague, less useful answers.