An intranet is an effective way to boost internal communications, improve overall efficiency and save money. With the right choice of proper intranet platform, the company is able to grow faster as well as be an excellent tool for the Maintenance of any organization's knowledge. 

But, before you invest in an intranet solution, you must ask the right questions during a demo call with an intranet vendor to make sure that your intranet is tailored to your company’s and employees’ needs. 

With that in mind, let’s check out some questions you should ask during an intranet demo call:

1. What are your features and how can they benefit our company’s needs?

Before going for a demo call, it’s important to note features that your organization needs and how they will solve current problems you face in your business.

Nowadays, most companies are into remote working so you need to make sure that your intranet is mobile-friendly and cloud-based to enable employees to access important information on the go.

Most importantly, your employees should have no issues using the features. Ask your vendor if they test with the company’s developers or with actual employees or customers.

2. How will the intranet platform integrate with other systems we currently have/use?

Integrations help your employees work efficiently if set up correctly. But, too many integrations could be challenging if there are compatibility issues between the systems or platforms. 

Since modern intranets come with multiple integrations, it’s best to ask the vendor about this because it’s important that your employees can access business tools from one centralized location. 

Common integrations include Google Workspace, Trello, Slack, MS 365, and Jira. 

4. How does the intranet page builder work? Is there a demo page that we can try?

Many companies are already familiar with how an intranet works, but others are not. If it’s your first time investing in an intranet, it’s important to establish how much support the vendor will offer in the onboarding process and structuring of the intranet. Once you establish an intranet structure, building it comes next. 

The page builder is important because it will determine how fast your intranet will be up and running. 

The best way to determine if the intranet suits your needs is to try it out before paying upfront fees or signing any contracts. A good vendor offers a full feature demo so you can test the platform. This will also give you ample amount of time in making your decision. 

5. How about user experience?

Your employees should seamlessly browse, search, and communicate information in your intranet, as this will also determine intranet adoption rates. Here are some questions you can ask the vendor regarding user experience:

• What areas on your intranet platform do users struggle with? What are your plans for improvement?

• How frequently do customers submit support tickets?

• What is the main cause of the low intranet adoption rates of your clients?

7. How long have you been in the business?

Why is this question important? A reputable business understands the market and is able to provide insights on how their products will help your business. A well-established business has multiple customer feedback to help improve their customer acquisition strategy.

8. Do we have to deal with recurring or additional costs after intranet implementation?

It’s your responsibility to determine if there would be additional or recurring fees during the initial analysis and after implementation. The vendor should be transparent in discussing all costs for you to determine if the platform is worth investing in or not. 

9. Do you have proof that other clients found your solution valuable?

As mentioned above, a well-established business should have positive customer reviews, case studies, and references that showcase success. You can look for other companies that have similar goals as your organization and have implemented an intranet successfully with the vendor.

10. Can the Vendors illustrate the progress of the product? 

As a customer, you want to see a company that is constantly developing the vendor's products and can demonstrate to you that within the last 12 to 18 months they have been suffering changes that are useful.  you also want to be sure that the technology is keeping pace with the market and that you are not buying into a system built on redundant underlying tech.