{"id":3065,"date":"2025-08-12T09:41:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T07:41:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/?p=3065"},"modified":"2025-08-12T09:41:41","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T07:41:41","slug":"hoe-voer-je-en-goed-referentiegesprek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/blogs\/hoe-voer-je-en-goed-referentiegesprek\/","title":{"rendered":"How do you conduct a good reference call?"},"content":{"rendered":"Readtime:<\/span> 2<\/span> min<\/span><\/span>\n

A reference call should be the moment when you really get a behind-the-scenes look at a potential supplier or partner. Unfortunately, in practice, this often isn\u2019t the case. Too often, it\u2019s just a polite conversation full of generalities, and you\u2019re unlikely to hear the message you really want. Never trust just one positive reference call blindly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because even if a supplier gives you a satisfied customer to speak with, that doesn\u2019t mean they always perform that way. So: how do you make sure you hear the real story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tips to get the most out of a reference call:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1.\tPrepare yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the original proposal carefully. What claims is the supplier making? What promises do you want to verify? What\u2019s the context of the project you\u2019re calling about?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2.\tAsk open and targeted questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Consider:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat was the biggest challenge during the process?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLooking back, what would you have done differently in the collaboration?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow did they respond when things got tense or went wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhich people truly made the difference?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3.\tDig deeper into signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you hear, \u201cIt worked out in the end,\u201d there\u2019s often a story behind that. Ask: \u201cWhat do you mean by \u2018in the end\u2019? What happened before?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4.\tCheck the context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does their situation match yours? A successful implementation at a large hospital doesn\u2019t mean much if you\u2019re a mid-sized healthcare organization with different processes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.\tPlan two reference calls\u2014with different roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, speak to someone from content and someone from contract management or operations. You\u2019ll often get a different perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6.\tLeave room for silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good answers often come after the first silence. People fill that space with nuance, and that\u2019s often the most valuable insight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7.\tListen to what isn\u2019t being said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If someone sticks to generalities or remains remarkably positive without examples, that sometimes says more than a critical remark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udc49 <\/em>Want to make sure your reference calls really uncover the true story? Let SourceMinds help you ask the right questions before you sign. Send a message or call us (010-2036640) and we\u2019ll think along with you.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

#sourceminds #itcontracting<\/strong> #itsourcing<\/strong> #itstrategy<\/strong>  #contractlifecyclemanagment<\/strong>  #contractmanagement<\/strong> #itsm #cobit <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leestijd:<\/span> 2<\/span> min<\/span><\/span>Een referentiegesprek zou het moment moeten zijn waarop je echt achter de schermen kijkt bij een potenti\u00eble leverancier of samenwerkingspartner. Helaas is dat in de praktijk vaak niet zo. Te vaak blijft het bij een beleefd gesprekje vol algemeenheden en is de kans klein dat je de boodschap krijgt die je \u00e9cht wil horen. Vertrouw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3067,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3066,"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3065\/revisions\/3066"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sourceminds.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}