The most common reason an expert call disappoints is not the expert. It is the screener. Questions like “Are you familiar with this market?” invite everyone to say yes.
Ask for evidence, not familiarity
Better screeners ask what the person was responsible for. Instead of familiarity, ask: “In your last role, which vendors did you personally evaluate, and what budget did you control?” A real buyer answers in specifics. Everyone else drifts into generalities.
Three rules for a sharper screener
- Keep it short. Three or four questions. Long screeners lose good experts.
- Ask for a number. Budget, team size, contract value or volume. Numbers are hard to bluff.
- Test recency. Experience from a decade ago is history, not insight. Ask when they last did the thing you care about.
Send us your draft screener with any trial request and we will tighten it before recruitment starts.
Have a project in mind?
Send one live brief and see a screened shortlist, usually within 24–48 hours.