10 questions to ask before you buy any sales CRM
Most CRM demos are theater. These ten questions turn them back into evaluations.
Every CRM demo is designed to sell you. Here's how to make it an evaluation instead.
The ten questions
1. Show me a rep record a voice note and see the structured output. How long does that take end-to-end?
2. What happens if the rep loses signal mid-capture?
3. How do you handle data export if we decide to leave?
4. Is the price per seat all-in, or are there common upcharges (SSO, API, data retention, phone support)?
5. What's the real implementation timeline — not the "you can start today" answer?
6. Who owns the data — us, you, or a cloud provider in a third country?
7. What does your roadmap look like for the next 12 months, specifically?
8. Can I talk to a current customer without you on the call?
9. How do you handle offline capture and sync conflicts?
10. What's the typical rep adoption rate at 30, 60, 90 days — with honest numbers, not "we've seen up to 95%"?
Why these specifically
Most demos look the same. These ten questions cut through the polished slides and force the vendor to show you the actual product, not the vision deck.
If they dodge more than two of them, you have your answer. If they answer all ten confidently and put you in touch with a real customer, you probably have your CRM.