Eight Look-Alikes Pass for Evidence, and Each Has a Better Request

The look-alike field guide

The chapter “Eight Look-Alikes Pass for Evidence in a Pitch” explains each look-alike. This page is the short form to keep beside a proposal. A look-alike is not a lie; most are offered in good faith. It cannot be counted because it cost the seller little toward your claim or the buyer cannot check it. Each one sits on rung 1, 2, or 3 of the Cost-to-Seller Ladder.

Look-alike	Rung	What it is	What to ask for instead
Demo alpha	2	A demonstration the seller scripted and controls.	Run the product on your own data, with your people, on a task you choose.
Badge alpha	2	A certification, attestation, clearance, or authorization about something other than your claim.	Ask what the badge covers, who tested it, and for the full report; then ask for evidence of the claim itself.
Placement alpha	2	An analyst ranking, an award, or expressed interest.	Ask what the ranking measured, and for the measure itself. For interest, ask for a signed commitment with a date and a consequence if it lapses.
Chosen-reference alpha	3, not counting	Customers the seller picked to speak.	Ask for the full customer list, including customers who left, and pick whom to call yourself.
Self-run benchmark alpha	1	A measurement the seller designed, ran, and reported.	Measure on your own cases, with your own baseline, scored by your people. Ask for the method and the raw output, including the runs that did not work.
Free-pilot alpha	2	A trial on the seller’s terms, with no fee and no failure condition written by the buyer.	Write the Fail Conditions before the trial starts and pay a fee, so the trial can end in a no.
Roadmap alpha	1	A capability promised for a later version.	Price the product as it is today; put the promise in the contract with a date, an acceptance test, and a Stake.
Fluent-proposal alpha	1	Polished writing with nothing checkable behind it.	Ask a Costly Question that needs the seller’s records, people, or systems.

Look-alike

Rung

What it is

What to ask for instead

Demo alpha

A demonstration the seller scripted and controls.

Run the product on your own data, with your people, on a task you choose.

Badge alpha

A certification, attestation, clearance, or authorization about something other than your claim.

Ask what the badge covers, who tested it, and for the full report; then ask for evidence of the claim itself.

Placement alpha

An analyst ranking, an award, or expressed interest.

Ask what the ranking measured, and for the measure itself. For interest, ask for a signed commitment with a date and a consequence if it lapses.

Chosen-reference alpha

3, not counting

Customers the seller picked to speak.

Ask for the full customer list, including customers who left, and pick whom to call yourself.

Self-run benchmark alpha

A measurement the seller designed, ran, and reported.

Measure on your own cases, with your own baseline, scored by your people. Ask for the method and the raw output, including the runs that did not work.

Free-pilot alpha

A trial on the seller’s terms, with no fee and no failure condition written by the buyer.

Write the Fail Conditions before the trial starts and pay a fee, so the trial can end in a no.

Roadmap alpha

A capability promised for a later version.

Price the product as it is today; put the promise in the contract with a date, an acceptance test, and a Stake.

Fluent-proposal alpha

Polished writing with nothing checkable behind it.

Ask a Costly Question that needs the seller’s records, people, or systems.

Score a claim by the rung of its evidence and not by how well it is written.