Tools
The implementer interview checklist
Ask seven things on a first call with an EOS® implementer, among them what they have run for teams your size, how they handle a leadership team that dodges the hard conversation, and what they change if it stalls by quarter two. The sheet also carries six red flags. The one that ends the meeting is a refusal to put you in touch with a past client. Print it and tick as you go.
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What's on the checklist
This is the printable version of our guide to choosing an implementer: the seven questions worth asking on the first call, grouped by what they cover, plus six red flags to raise directly rather than quietly noting. Print it, tick items off as you go, and use the same sheet on every call so the answers are easy to compare afterward.
Questions to ask on the first call
- Which industries and company sizes do you serve? You want someone who has sat with a team your size in a business with your kind of margins. A 12-person agency and a 200-person manufacturer need different things from the same tools.
- How many sessions a year do you run, and how many clients do you hold? This is the honest version of the tier question. It tells you whether this is a full practice or a retirement project, and whether they have time for you.
- How do you handle a leadership team that won't be honest? The single most useful question on the list. Listen for a concrete story rather than a philosophy. Every implementer meets this; the good ones remember exactly what they did.
- Can I speak to a client who stopped working with you? References who are still clients are easy. A client who finished or quit will tell you what the engagement felt like in month nine, and how the implementer behaved when it ended.
- What happens if it isn't working at quarter two? Ask what they change and how the conversation starts. An implementer with a clear answer here has had it before and will not simply keep billing.
- What is your fee, and how do you charge travel? Get the day rate, the expected number of days a year, the expenses policy and the notice period in writing. Vagueness at this stage rarely improves later.
- Virtual, in person, or both? Ask which sessions they insist on running in the room. Most will hold out for the annual planning days, which is reasonable, and run quarterlies remotely if you prefer.
Red flags to raise directly
- Won't share pricing A day rate is not a trade secret. Someone who will only discuss fees after a discovery process is managing your commitment rather than answering the question.
- Pushes a long contract on the first call Standard practice is to work session by session or a year at a time. A two-year commitment demanded before your first working day shifts all the risk onto you.
- No client references A practice with real clients can produce two who will take a call. If nobody is available, ask why, and be careful with any answer that involves confidentiality alone.
- Sells their own software in session one A tool recommendation is fine. A paid product of theirs, pushed before your first Scorecard exists, means you are buying two things and evaluating neither.
- Talks more than your team The job is facilitation. If you leave the intro meeting having heard mostly about their career, picture the same balance across a two-day annual session.
- Won't say when you're done Ask what the end of the engagement looks like. Anyone who cannot describe a team running the system without them has an incentive you should know about.
Start with a real question
Want us to sanity-check what you heard?
Send us the answers you got on a call, and we'll tell you honestly what stood out and what to ask next time.
A person reads every one.