The Eleven Questions

The eleven questions

1. Should I hire XYZ?

   The whole decision, asked plainly. Usually asked with a referral or an estimate in hand, before anyone has committed to anything. The person is deciding whether to let this company into the process at all, and a thin answer here ends the conversation before a salesperson ever gets a chance to have it.

2. Is XYZ worth the money?

   Price against value. Every company that is not the cheapest will be asked this. The person is deciding whether the price is the cost of something they can see, or a premium nobody can explain. A higher price that the evidence explains works as a filter. A higher price the evidence does not explain looks like a value gap.

3. Is XYZ a good company?

   The broadest question on the list, and the one that separates the salesperson from the organization behind them. The person already liked whoever sat at their table. Now they are deciding whether the company is sound: its leadership, its people, its record over time.

4. Is XYZ a good company to work for?

   A candidate asks this before applying. A homeowner asks it too, because the people who work for a company are the people who will be in the house. The person is deciding whether the company treats its own people well enough to be trusted with theirs.

5. Why should I choose XYZ?

   The request for a reason. It invites comparison, and the answer either gives one specific reason to choose this company or opens the door to alternatives the person never asked about. What is being decided is whether there is a clear case for this company at all.

6. Does XYZ deliver on their promise/warranty/service?

   A warranty is a promise made by the company of today about the company of tomorrow. The person is deciding whether the promise will outlast the sale: whether the company will still be there, still answer the phone, and still honor what it said when honoring it gets expensive.

7. Are the products XYZ installs/uses good products?

   The question about what goes into the house, and about who stands behind the company. The person is deciding whether the materials and the manufacturers behind them are ones they would choose on their own, which is why this question reaches past the contractor to its suppliers.

8. Can I trust XYZ?

   The plainest question of all. There is no feature to compare and no price to weigh. The person is deciding whether the whole record, taken together, gives them enough to believe what they were told.

9. Should I have bought from XYZ?

   The question asked after the money has moved. It tells you the investigation does not stop at the signature. The person is deciding whether to stay with the decision already made, or to back out of it while they still can.

10. Is XYZ the best choice for me?

    Fit, not rank. The person is not asking who is best in general. They are deciding whether this company is right for their house, their budget and their timeline. A strong answer lets the right person choose with confidence, and lets the wrong person walk away with the same confidence.

11. XYZ reviews

    The oldest Affirmation Search there is, and not even a question: the name and one word. It joined the tracked set in September 2026. The person is deciding what everybody else has said, and whatever comes back first sets the frame for every question after it.

Why these, and why word for word

The list is fixed on purpose. Ask a slightly different question in March than in February and a better answer proves nothing, because two things changed at once. Freeze the wording and the only variable left is the company. That is why the tracked set is published here exactly as it is run, including the slashes in questions six and seven, and why the measurement repeats it month after month.

The set grew once. It was ten questions until September 2026, when the plainest search of all, the company name followed by the word reviews, joined as the eleventh.

The other askers

Homeowners are not the only people who already know your name. Anyone deciding whether to commit something to a company runs the same search, with their own questions.

The employee considering a job. They already know the name, usually from a posting or a friend who works there. They ask whether you are a good company to work for, and the answer they get decides whether they apply, and how they walk into the interview if they do.

The manufacturer considering a partnership. A manufacturer or distributor deciding whether to put its product and its name next to yours asks what the record says about how you install, how you service and how you treat the customer after the check clears. Their decision attaches their reputation to yours.

The buyer considering an acquisition. A buyer looking at a company already knows exactly which company it is. What they are testing is whether the business stands on its own: its leadership, its culture, whether it would survive without the founder in the room.

The bank. A lender deciding on a line of credit or a loan reads the same public record as everybody else, alongside the financials.

For a company whose buyers are other businesses, the questions change shape. Power100 draws that company's set from its own bank of questions its buyers actually ask, which opens with forms like these:

• Is XYZ a good company to hire?
• Is XYZ the right partner for my business?
• Should I be doing business with XYZ?

Who runs one takes each of these askers in turn.