Questions to ask in any scheduling tool demo

Bring your own week

A demo on sample content shows a product at its most comfortable. Before the call, send or bring four things, and tell the vendor you would like the session built around them.

• Three to five real posts for next week, including at least one video and one image.
• The list of platforms you post on, with any that are essential marked.
• The name of the person who approves, and a second person to play the drafter.
• Your scorecard, with the weights already written in.

Questions about publishing

These map to the first two rows of the scorecard: platform coverage, and calendar and queue.

• Can you publish one of my posts to every platform on my list, now, while I watch?
• Which of those platforms do you publish to directly, and are any handled by a reminder to post by hand?
• How do I set and change the day and time, and how far ahead can I plan?
• What do I see if one platform does not accept the post? Show me a failed post if you can.
• Where do I see everything that will go out in the next seven days?

Questions about approval and people

Ask these with two people on the call if you can.

• If my colleague creates a draft, where does it wait and how do I know it is waiting?
• Can anyone publish around the approver? Please try.
• How many people may have a login, and what is each one allowed to do?
• How many accounts can I connect on each platform?

Questions about content and what follows

These cover content supply and after publishing, the two rows a demo is most likely to skip.

• Where do posts come from in your product: do I bring finished posts, or does it help make them?
• If it makes them, can I see one made for my business and edit it?
• Once a post is live, where do the comments and messages appear?
• Which results will I see next week, and can they be sent to the owner?

Before the call ends

Two jobs are left for the last ten minutes: the commercial questions, and the record of what you saw.

Cost, limits and leaving

Leave these four to the end, and do not leave without them.

• What is the price for my number of users, accounts and posts, and can I have it in writing?
• Which limits apply on that plan, and what happens when I reach one?
• Can I use the product on my own accounts for a period before committing, and on what terms?
• If I stop, what happens to scheduled posts, and what can I export?

Recording the answers

As you go, mark every answer with one of four labels: 'shown', 'shown with a gap', 'said only' or 'not offered'. The first scores 2 and the second 1. The last two score 0, and anything that was said only goes on a follow-up list. Fill in the scorecard within an hour of the call.

Putting the script to Link AI

We recommend Link AI by Linkme, and the script applies to it in full. Linkme's page already answers part of it. On publishing, Post to All shows one post queued for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. On approval, a draft can be held as 'Needs review'. On content, the images and videos are the agent's work. On what follows, reply drafts appear in a Social Inbox.

Others are not stated and need asking: accounts per platform, user roles, the furthest date a post can be planned for, what a failed post looks like, price and limits. Book a demo to try Link AI, email your posts beforehand and work through all four groups.

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Questions & answers