Reference call (customer reference)
A call between a buyer and an existing customer of the vendor, arranged late in the deal to check that the vendor delivers what it promises.
Vendors pick their happiest customers and often coach them, so the call is useful only with sharp questions. Ask what went wrong and how the vendor handled it, who from the vendor actually did the work, whether the estimate held, and whether they would hire the same team again. A customer who agrees to take such calls often gets a discount or other perks for it.
Related terms
- Design partner (lighthouse customer): An early customer who uses an unfinished product and shapes it in return for influence, a lower price or early access.
- RFI and RFP (request for information, request for proposal): An RFI asks vendors what they can do; an RFP asks a shortlist for a full proposal with approach, team and price, compared against set criteria.
- Technical due diligence: A review of a company’s software, team and processes before an investment or acquisition, to price the technical risk.
- Mutual action plan (MAP, close plan): A shared, dated list of steps both buyer and vendor take from first call to signed contract and go-live, with an owner for each step.
