Selection

Vendor demo script for ERP buyers: what to ask and what to avoid

Use scenario scripts and scoring controls to keep demos comparable and decision-ready.

Most ERP demos feel productive in the moment and useless afterwards. Buyers leave with notes, impressions, and a vague sense of preference, but not with decision-grade evidence.

A proper demo script changes that. It forces vendors to show how the system behaves in your reality: messy approvals, exception handling, reporting pressure, master data issues, and hand-offs between departments.

The point is not to catch vendors out. The point is to create comparable evidence so the team can separate presentation quality from true business fit.

What a strong demo script should contain

• One or two end-to-end scenarios for each critical business flow.
• Edge cases that regularly create pain today, such as backorders, project changes, returns, intercompany movement, or approval exceptions.
• Required outputs: reports, approvals, alerts, dashboards, or audit trail evidence the business needs to see.
• A structured scorecard completed live by business owners, not recollected days later.

Questions to ask during the demo

• What part of this flow is standard versus configured versus custom-built?
• Where would our team need to change process to make this work cleanly?
• What assumptions are you making about data quality, role discipline, or governance?
• What would normally go wrong in this scenario during implementation, and how would your team reduce that risk?

What to avoid

• Letting the vendor set the agenda entirely.
• Accepting screenshots or future promises instead of seeing the live workflow.
• Blending product demo and partner sales pitch so it becomes hard to separate software fit from delivery confidence.
• Waiting until the end of the process to compare notes rather than scoring each scenario live.

FAQ

• How long should a demo be? Long enough to test the key scenarios properly, usually shorter and sharper than a generic half-day tour.
• Should we give vendors the script in advance? Yes, if the goal is fair comparison rather than surprise.
• Who should score the demo? Process owners, finance, and a programme lead with a common scoring model.