What you'll get
- 5 copy-ready blocks
- Spreadsheet-ready
- 6 min read
- 20 checks to send each vendor (must-pass checks marked ★)
- Scoring sheet header (paste into a spreadsheet)
- Totals block (paste below the 20 rows)
- Live demo script
- Sheet, filled in (four of the 20 rows)
How to use it
- Step 1: Tier your account list before you speak to any vendor. You need to know which accounts the tool may never touch.
- Step 2: Send Part 1 to each vendor in writing and ask for written answers.
- Step 3: Score every answer in Part 2. Any must-pass check at 0 removes the tool, whatever its total.
- Step 4: Ask for a demo only from the tools still standing, and run the Part 3 script on your own account names.
An AI SDR demo shows you what the tool can do. This checklist finds out what it will do to your accounts. Run the 20 checks on every tool you are considering, score them on one sheet, then make each vendor show you five things live.
Part 1: The 20 checks
20 checks to send each vendor (must-pass checks marked ★)
DATA
1. Where do the contacts come from? Name the sources.
2. Can the tool work only from a list of companies we supply?
3. ★ Can we block whole companies by domain, across every campaign, before anything is sent?
4. How are opt-outs recorded, and does an opt-out apply to every campaign and mailbox?
ACCURACY
5. ★ For every fact the tool states about a company or person, can we see the source link?
6. Can we give it a fact sheet about our own company and forbid claims outside it?
7. What does it write when it finds nothing true to say about an account?
8. Can we read drafts for our own accounts before any campaign starts?
CONTROL
9. ★ Can we require a person's approval before sending, for the accounts we choose?
10. Can we stop all sending to one company in one step?
11. Who can change the prompts, templates and rules, and is each change recorded?
12. Can we export a log of every message sent, with date, recipient and text?
REPLIES AND HANDOVER
13. What does the tool do when a buyer replies: answer, hand over or book a meeting?
14. Can every reply go to a named person on our team the same day?
15. When a buyer says "not me, talk to [name]", what happens to that name?
16. Does it know when it is writing to two people at the same company, and can we limit that?
SENDING AND EXIT
17. Whose domains and mailboxes does it send from?
18. Who sets the daily sending limit for each mailbox, and can we lower it?
19. What are the minimum term and the notice period?
20. ★ When we stop, what do we keep: contacts, message history, replies, templates?Part 2: Scoring sheet for up to three tools
Score each answer 0, 1 or 2:
- 0: no, or the vendor could not show it.
- 1: yes, but only on request, at extra cost or with a workaround.
- 2: yes, as standard, and shown to you.
The most a tool can score is 40. A tool with any ★ check at 0 is out.
Scoring sheet header (paste into a spreadsheet)
Check Group Must-pass Tool A Tool B Tool C Evidence (link or note)Totals block (paste below the 20 rows)
Total out of 40 [ ] [ ] [ ]
Any must-pass at 0? [yes / no] [yes / no] [yes / no]
Decision [shortlist / out] [shortlist / out] [shortlist / out]Part 3: Five things to make the vendor show you live
A written "yes" is a promise. These five are proof. Ask for them on a shared screen, with your own account names.
Live demo script
1. Add one of our Tier 1 domains to the exclusion list, then try to add a contact from that company
to a campaign. Show us that it is blocked.
2. Write first drafts for three of our Tier 3 accounts. Show the source link for every fact in them.
3. Show us the approval queue: where a draft waits, who approves it and what happens if nobody does.
4. Reply to a test message with "Not me. Try our Head of IT." Show us where that name goes next.
5. Export the sent log for the demo account and open the file.If a vendor cannot run item 1 on the call, score check 3 at 0. If it cannot run item 2, score check 5 at 0.
Worked example (illustrative, not a real company)
Quaywise sells warehouse software and has tiered its list of 40 logistics accounts. Sam Carter, who leads sales, scores two AI SDR tools. The tools and scores are invented.
Sheet, filled in (four of the 20 rows)
Check Group Must-pass Tool A Tool B Evidence
3 Block by domain Data ★ 0 2 A: "on the roadmap"; B: shown in the demo
5 Source per fact Accuracy ★ 2 1 B: sources only in an export
9 Approval before send Control ★ 2 2 Both shown
15 "Not me, try X" Replies 0 2 A: the name is ignoredTool A scores 31 out of 40 and Tool B 27. Tool A is still out, because it cannot block Northfield Logistics or any other Tier 1 account by domain. Sam pilots Tool B on Tier 3 only.
Five mistakes to avoid
- Comparing on messages per day. Volume is the one thing every tool does well. It tells you nothing about your accounts.
- Accepting the demo account. Sample data shows the tool at its best. Use your own account names.
- Skipping the exclusion test. If you cannot prove a Tier 1 company is blocked, assume it is not.
- Letting the tool own the replies. A person should answer every reply.
- Signing before reading the exit terms. Check 20 decides whether the contacts and history you build stay with you.
Why this works on named accounts
Common questions
Do AI SDRs work?
They can, on a wide market of similar buyers where one poor message costs little. On a short list of named accounts the risk is higher, because a wrong fact or a generic message is hard to undo. Test on Tier 3 accounts first.
What should I ask an AI SDR vendor?
The 20 checks above: data sources, blocking by domain, a source for every fact, approval before sending, replies and what you keep when you stop.
Can an AI SDR replace a human SDR?
It can take over parts of the job: research, first drafts and sorting replies. It does not decide who to approach next inside an account, and it does not hold a relationship built over months. For key accounts, keep a person accountable for every message.
More from the Academy
Account Tiering Worksheet (Tier 1, 2, 3)
For teams with a scored account list and no agreement on who gets the most attention.
You leave with tier rules, a capacity sum, a worksheet, a treatment card and one list tiered.
15 AI Prompts for Account Research
For sellers who use Claude, ChatGPT or Perplexity to prepare for an account.
You leave with a set-up prompt, 15 research prompts in working order, a fact check that catches invented details and a sample of its output.
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