What are Reference Checks?
Definition
Contacting 3-4 existing customers to verify vendor claims about implementation success, support quality, product reliability, and customer satisfaction. Reference checks ask about deployment timeline, challenges faced, support responsiveness, and whether they would choose this vendor again."
Why This Matters
Speaking with current customers provides unfiltered perspective on vendor performance. Reference calls help you understand implementation experiences, support quality, and whether customers would choose the vendor again. References often share challenges that don't appear in marketing materials.
Related Terms
Showing semantically related terms from our RFP knowledge graph. Priority connections are highlighted.
Vendor Due Diligence
Vendor Management & Evaluation
Comprehensive investigation of a vendor's financial health, operational capabilities, security posture, and customer satisfaction before contract signing.
Proof of Concept
Vendor Management & Evaluation
A limited trial or demonstration proving software can meet specific requirements in the customer's environment.
Vendor Evaluation
Vendor Management & Evaluation
Comprehensive assessment of software vendors across product fit, security compliance, implementation capabilities, company qualifications, and total cost of ownership.
Vendor Qualification
Vendor Management & Evaluation
The process of verifying vendors meet minimum requirements for financial stability, industry experience, customer references, security certifications, and regulatory compliance before allowing RFP participation.
Showing 5 semantically related terms ·Browse all 200 terms
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