Let’s face it: selling is a finely honed science, complete with product demonstrations and presentations aimed to disarm the most cold-hearted penny-pinchers out there. We have seen hard-nosed negotiators swoon during sales pitches over enterprise applications like document management, ready to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars in the heat of the moment. Cooler heads often prevail, thankfully, but applications always look great in general, when looking at the level of “features” and “benefits” only. When it comes to really knowing how great a fit an application is, the devil is –as they say – in the details.

Here is a tip to better evaluate software.

1. Make a list of the “killer” features that you believe will be most important and/or beneficial to your firm.

2. Have the sales rep provide references of other firms using those same “killer” features.

3. Call the references and talk about their practical experience using those “killer features specifically. Focus on the benefits they have realized; hidden costs; and user complaints and compliments.

Keep discussions specific. People can be overly complimentary when talking in general about an application. When focusing on particular items, they can be brutally honest. And that is what you need to make a fair evaluation.