Most business owners don’t research a vendor properly until after something’s gone wrong with one. That’s the wrong order, and the data backs it up plainly: Gartner’s 2024 Tech Trends survey of 3,484 software buyers found that 60% regretted a purchase made in the previous 12 to 18 months, and more than half of those regretted more than one.
Keep in mind that this isn’t a story about bad software, but about how the purchase itself gets evaluated, and for smaller businesses the stakes are higher, not lower. The same Gartner research found 59% of buyers at companies under 250 employees said the financial impact of a bad purchase would significantly affect the business’s long-term performance, compared with 51% at larger companies. A big business absorbs a bad vendor decision. An SME feels it. 🫤
A Buyer's Checklist to Business Automation
Why Buyer’s Remorse Is So Common
The Gartner data is specific about where things actually go wrong, and none of the top reasons are about the software’s features:
- 33% cited a total cost of ownership that ended up higher than expected.
- 32% cited an implementation that was slower or harder than promised.
- 43% cited a problematic handoff between the sales team and the implementation team.
- 42% cited mismanaged expectations generally.
Read that list again. Three of the four biggest regrets have nothing to do with the product itself. They’re about the buying process: what you were told to expect, and whether the people who sold it to you were the same people who had to make it work. The consequences aren’t small either. 24% of regretful buyers in the same study cancelled their contract outright, and 33% switched vendors.
None of this means automation doesn’t work. Boston Consulting Group’s research on digital transformation found that only 30% of transformation efforts fully succeed, but that businesses getting a specific set of factors right can push that success rate to 80%. The gap between 30% and 80% isn’t the technology per se, but the evaluation and the vendor relationship behind it.
The Checklist
Here’s what that evaluation should actually look like, built around the specific failure points above.
1. Ask for references you find yourself
A vendor’s supplied references are, by definition, their happiest customers. Ask instead for two or three businesses of a similar size in a similar industry, then reach out directly.
Ask what surprised them, what took longer than expected, and specifically whether the sales conversation matched the delivery experience. Given that a mismanaged handoff between sales and implementation is one of the two biggest sources of regret in the Gartner data, this single question does more work than almost anything else on this list.
2. Price the total cost of ownership, not the subscription
A monthly fee is rarely the whole story. Implementation, data migration, training, integration with existing tools, and the productivity dip during the transition period all add up, and the Gartner research found underestimating total cost is the single most common regret.
Ask a vendor to walk through year-one cost including setup, and year-two cost once the discount period (if any) ends. If they can’t answer clearly and immediately, that’s information too.
3. Get scope and change orders in writing
The Project Management Institute’s Pulse of the Profession research found that 52% of projects experienced scope creep, up from 43% five years earlier. A credible automation partner defines exactly what’s included, what isn’t, and what happens (and what it costs) if the scope needs to expand once work begins.
Vague scope is the mechanism by which a fixed-price project quietly becomes an open-ended one.
4. Expect a realistic, phased timeline
Be sceptical of anyone promising an enterprise-grade transformation in a week.
For context on what happens when timelines get unrealistic at scale, McKinsey and Oxford’s joint research on large IT projects (a different scale of project than most SME automation work, but a useful directional warning) found the average project ran 45% over budget and delivered 56% less value than promised. A believable proposal for SME-scale automation names specific weeks, specific milestones, and a defined go-live support period, not just “fast.”
5. Confirm what happens if you want to leave
Before signing, ask about contract length, renewal terms, and what happens to your data and workflows if you cancel. A partner confident in the value they deliver won’t need a long lock-in or a punishing exit to keep you. If a vendor is vague or defensive about this question, treat that as the answer.
6. Compare pricing transparency, not just price
TrustRadius’s 2025 B2B buying research found pricing transparency is the single most requested change B2B buyers want from vendors, cited by 45% of respondents worldwide. That tracks with how difficult the buying process has become generally: Gartner’s B2B Buying Journey research found 77% of B2B buyers describe their most recent purchase as very complex or difficult, and buyers now spend only around 17% of the entire purchase journey actually meeting with potential suppliers.
Opaque, custom-quote-only pricing works against exactly how buyers now prefer to evaluate a purchase. It’s worth asking directly: will you show me pricing before I get on a call, or only after?
Red Flags Worth Taking Seriously
A Note on Where This Data Comes From
Worth being upfront about one thing: most of the large-scale research on implementation failure (the McKinsey/Oxford figures, most ERP overrun data) comes from large enterprise IT projects, not SME-scale automation.
It’s included here for a specific reason: the underlying pattern, that unclear scope and rushed timelines cause overruns regardless of company size, holds at every scale, even if the exact percentages don’t transfer directly.
Treat the numbers as directional evidence, not a literal prediction for a project a fraction of that size. On the automation-specific side, EY has observed, based on its own client engagements, that 30 to 50% of initial robotic process automation projects fail on the first attempt, which is a useful reminder that automation specifically carries its own, separate risk of a rushed or badly scoped first attempt.
Where Transparent Pricing Fits In
This is, admittedly, an area where ZOPPLY has a direct stake, so it’s worth saying plainly rather than implying it.
Every product on the site is priced openly, with a setup fee and a monthly figure visible before any conversation happens, specifically because of the pattern in the data above: buyers who can see pricing early can evaluate total cost of ownership honestly, compare it against alternatives without a sales call as a prerequisite, and avoid the exact mismanaged-expectations problem that drives most of the regret in the Gartner research.
That’s not a claim that transparent pricing alone guarantees a good outcome. Scope, timeline, and reference checks still matter just as much. It’s simply the first item on this checklist that a buyer can verify in under a minute, before anything else.
See ZOPPLY's pricing before you talk to anyone
Every product is priced openly on the site, setup fee and monthly cost included, so you can run the checklist above before booking a single call.
Some of the Most Frequent Questions
What's the biggest red flag when choosing an automation vendor?
Vague scope and pricing that only appears after a sales call. Both are directly linked to the two largest sources of buyer regret in the Gartner research: total cost surprises and a mismanaged sales-to-delivery handoff. If a vendor won’t commit to specifics before you’ve spoken to them, that pattern tends to continue after you’ve signed.
How long should a business automation implementation take?
It depends on scope, but a credible vendor gives you specific weeks and milestones, not a vague “fast” or “days.” Be wary of anyone promising enterprise-scale results in an unrealistically short window. A phased rollout with a defined go-live support period is a stronger sign of a properly planned project than speed alone.
Should I always choose the vendor with the most transparent pricing?
Transparent pricing is a strong positive signal, and buyers overwhelmingly say they want it, but it isn’t the only factor. Weigh it alongside independent references, a clearly scoped agreement, and a realistic timeline. A vendor that’s transparent on price but vague on scope still carries real risk.