Part 4: Challenge Vendor Promises
The Problem
The vendor demo looks perfect. They answered all your questions. The ROI slides are impressive.
But you're a $100K decision away from realizing half the “AI features” don't work as promised.
The 7 Red Flags
These signals mean you're about to overpay for underdelivery:
They Can't Show You the Output
What it sounds like:
- “We're still building that feature, but it'll be ready by your launch.”
- “The output is proprietary, so we can't share examples.”
- “Trust us—our other clients love it.”
Why it's a problem:
If they can't show you what the AI actually produces, they either: (1) Don't have it working yet, (2) The output quality is poor, or (3) They're overselling capabilities.
!What to do:
Demand: "Show me 10 real examples of output from your current clients. Unedited." If they refuse, walk away.
"Proprietary AI Model"
What it sounds like:
- “We built our own proprietary AI model.”
- “Our model is trained on exclusive data no one else has.”
Why it's a problem:
Building a proprietary AI model costs $5M-$50M. If this vendor is a startup or small company, they likely: fine-tuned an existing model (not proprietary), are using OpenAI/Anthropic APIs behind the scenes, or don't have a model at all—just rules-based automation.
!What to do:
Ask: "Which base model are you using? GPT-4? Claude? Llama?" If they dodge the question, they're hiding something.
Vague Timeline Guarantees
What it sounds like:
- “The integration will take 2-4 weeks.”
- “We'll have you live by end of quarter.”
- “Setup is fast—most clients are up in days.”
Why it's a problem:
Vague timelines hide dependencies you don't know about: Your IT security review (2-4 weeks), data migration (could be months), custom configuration (unknown scope).
!What to do:
Ask: "Walk me through every step of onboarding. Who on my team is involved, and how many hours will each step take?" Get it in writing.
"AI Learns Your Brand Voice"
What it sounds like:
- “Just upload a few examples and our AI learns your brand.”
- “The AI adapts to your style automatically.”
Why it's a problem:
"Learning" brand voice requires: 50-100+ examples of on-brand content, fine-tuning (expensive and time-consuming), continuous feedback loops. Most vendors mean: "You'll spend 3 months training it with lots of editing."
!What to do:
Ask: "How many examples do I need to provide? What does 'training' look like in practice? Can I see a client's before/after?"
No Mention of Human Review
What it sounds like:
- “Fully automated—no manual work required.”
- “Set it and forget it.”
- “AI handles everything end-to-end.”
Why it's a problem:
AI without human oversight = guaranteed mistakes. And when they happen, who's responsible? Legal risks (AI writes something defamatory), brand risks (AI goes off-voice), accuracy risks (AI hallucinates data).
!What to do:
Ask: "What happens when the AI makes a mistake? Who reviews output before it goes live? Can I see your error logs?"
Overpromised ROI Without Proof
What it sounds like:
- “Clients see 300% ROI in the first quarter.”
- “This will save your team 20 hours per week.”
- “Increase conversions by 40%.”
Why it's a problem:
Marketing ROI is hard to isolate. If they're promising specific numbers without: case studies with named clients, methodology for how they measured it, comparable company size/industry—they're guessing.
!What to do:
Ask: "Can I speak to 3 clients who achieved these results? What were their starting metrics? What else did they change during this period?"
Unclear Pricing Escalators
What it sounds like:
- “Starts at $X/month.”
- “Pricing scales with usage.”
- “Additional features available.”
Why it's a problem:
Hidden costs show up as: per-user fees that balloon as you grow, API call overages (can be 10x base price), "premium" features you need but aren't included, mandatory annual increases.
!What to do:
Ask: "What's the all-in cost at 2x our current scale? What triggers price increases? Can I see a sample invoice from a client our size?"
Your Vendor Demo Checklist
Print this. Bring it to every demo.
Before the Demo
- Have they shared live product access (not just slides)?
- Did they ask about your specific use case?
- Can you bring technical team members to ask hard questions?
During the Demo
- Ask to see unedited output examples from real clients
- Request to see the admin/backend interface (not just end-user view)
- Ask what happens when things break (error handling, support SLAs)
- Request access to their API documentation (even if you won't read it—see if they have it)
After the Demo
- Ask for 3 client references (with similar company size/industry)
- Request a detailed implementation timeline with milestones
- Get all-in pricing for 12 months, including overages
- Ask for a trial or pilot period with exit clauses
What You Just Learned
- You can now spot the 7 most common vendor red flags
- You have a checklist to bring to every demo
- You won't approve tools that can't prove their claims
Next: Learn what's actually possible—realistic timelines and technical constraints.
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