Questions to ask a 3PL software reference before you sign

A reference call is the one part of buying 3PL software where you hear from someone who has already paid the price of getting it wrong. Most buyers run it badly. They ask "are you happy with it?", get a polite yes and move on. This page gives you a better set of questions and a way to compare the answers.

Ask for the right reference

The vendor will offer its happiest customer. That is fine, but ask for specifics:

• A 3PL of a similar type to yours: same client mix, similar order profile, similar billing basis.
• One customer that has used the product for a year or more, and one that went live in the last six months. The first can tell you about reporting and support over time. The second remembers onboarding.
• If you have a tricky requirement, such as EDI with a retail partner or lot tracking, ask for a reference that uses it.

A reference from a warehouse that serves one owner will not tell you how the product handles ten clients with ten rate cards. If the vendor cannot find a similar 3PL, that is information too.

Before the call

Write your questions down and send two or three ahead of time so the person can check facts. Keep the call to 20 or 30 minutes. Take notes in the same layout for every product, so you can lay the pages side by side later. If you have a weighted sheet, the scorecard method gives you the seven areas to hang the notes on.

Ten questions

1. How long from signing to the first real order, and what was the slow part? Ask for the actual calendar time, not the plan. Then ask what they had to do themselves: data cleanup, label printing, client communication.

2. What did you have to change about the way you work? Every system pushes you toward some habit. You want to know whether it is a habit you can live with.

3. How do you bill your clients today, and how much of it comes straight out of the system? Listen for "we export and fix it in a spreadsheet". That is common, and it tells you where the product stops. The criteria in best 3PL billing software criteria give you follow-ups for each charge type.

4. What happens when a client signs a contract that does not fit the usual pattern? The answer shows whether new charge types are something the 3PL can set up or something that needs a ticket.

5. How do new or temporary floor staff cope? Ask how long it takes before someone picks without supervision, and what device they use.

6. When something breaks, what does support do? Ask for the last real problem. How was it reported, how long until the first useful reply, and was it fixed or worked around?

7. How do updates reach you? Ask whether features have ever changed under them without warning, and whether they can pick a time for upgrades.

8. What did the vendor promise that has not happened yet? This is the most revealing question on the list. A "roadmap" item that was part of the sale deserves a date and a name.

9. What do the clients say? If the product has a client portal, ask whether clients use it, and whether it reduced the emails and calls the 3PL receives.

10. Knowing what you know now, would you pick it again, and what would you check first? People answer the second half more honestly than the first.

What to listen for

The words matter less than the pauses and the qualifiers.

• "It does that, but..." Write down whatever follows the "but".
• Long onboarding stories told with a laugh. Usually they were not funny at the time.
• Workarounds described as normal. A spreadsheet that fixes invoices every month has become part of the process, and the person may not count it against the software anymore.
• Vague answers on billing. If the reference is vague about how charges are produced, either they do not own that task or it is done outside the product.
• Silence on exit. Ask whether they could leave if they needed to, and whether they have tried to export their data.

Be careful with what you share

Do not name your own clients, and do not pass on pricing you were quoted unless the other person offers theirs first. Many contracts forbid sharing prices, and you do not need them: the point of the call is how the product behaves in daily work, not what anyone paid.

Comparing the notes

After the calls, put each answer next to its product, under the same ten headings. Mark each one 0, 1 or 2 using the same scale as your trial scoring: 0 for a clear problem, 1 for something that works with effort, 2 for something the reference praised without being asked. A reference score is a weak signal on its own, because the vendor chose the person. It becomes useful when it contradicts the demo. If a demo showed smooth billing and the reference exports to a spreadsheet, go back to the vendor with that exact point.

If you are still deciding what to put in a trial, the 3PL software trial week checklist covers who should test what.

One more thing to ask the vendor

When the vendor sends the reference's contact, ask whether they can also name a customer who left in the last two years, and why. Many will not. A vendor who will is telling you something about how they handle problems, and a former customer can tell you what the current ones are not allowed to.

Questions people ask

Who should I ask a software vendor to put me in touch with?

A 3PL of a similar type and size that has used the product for at least a year. A reference from a single-owner warehouse tells you little about multi-client billing.

How many references should I call?

Two per finalist is enough. Ask for one that has used it a long time and one that went live recently.

What should I listen for on a reference call?

Hesitation on billing, long onboarding stories, workarounds that people have stopped noticing and anything the reference says they would do differently.

Are vendor-picked references reliable?

They are friendly by selection. Treat them as useful for operational detail, and ask whether the vendor can also name a customer who left.