So this email hits my inbox this morning. Some outfit — name changed to protect the guilty — sends me a "vendor checklist." Seven bullet points. Verify pilot certs. Evaluate data quality. Match technology to the job. Consistent workflows. Scalability. Deliverables. Integration.
And every single bullet point ends the same way: "Wet Dog Drones does this perfectly."
I changed the name. You know why? Because the template is the same garbage every drone service provider sends out. Swap the logo, swap the name, same seven bullets. It's the drone industry's version of "I'm here to help."
So I'm going to do them one better. I'm going to tell you what actually matters when you're vetting a drone provider — and why most of you are going to ignore it anyway.
The Checklist They Sent You (And Why It's Garbage)
Let's start with their seven bullets, because they're not wrong — they're just useless.
Verify pilot qualifications. "FAA-certified drone pilots operating under documented safety procedures." Cool. So is the 19-year-old who got his Part 107 last Tuesday and has never flown within 50 feet of a live power line. The cert means he passed a written test. It doesn't mean he knows what happens when a 20 mph gust hits a Matrice 300 at 200 feet over an active substation.
Evaluate data quality. "Ask how the provider verifies coverage, image quality, and accuracy." Great question. Here's the answer you'll get: "We have rigorous QA/QC processes." That's not an answer. That's a sentence with zero calories. Ask them to show you a QGIS project where they measured checkpoints independently. Ask them to show you the RMS error on the last five jobs. If they can't pull that up in thirty seconds, they don't have QA/QC — they have hope.
Match technology to the job. "Visual, thermal, LiDAR, 3D modeling." Translation: "We rent whatever the client asks for." A provider who actually knows their gear will tell you not to fly LiDAR on that project. They'll tell you a Mavic 3T thermal run at 2 AM beats a Matrice 350 with a H20T at noon. They'll tell you when photogrammetry is a waste of money and you need a laser scanner. If they're selling you the whole menu, they're a rental shop, not a partner.
Consistent workflows. "Standardized processes ensure reliable results." This one actually matters. But nobody tells you what their workflow is. Ask them to show you the flight plan template. The GCP log template. The QA/QC checklist they run before they hit "process." If they can't show you the template, they don't have a workflow — they have habits.
Scalability. "Can they support multiple locations?" Sure. Can they support multiple locations without the quality tanking? That's the question nobody asks. I've seen shops scale from two sites to twenty and their RMSE triple because the one pilot who knew how to cook a base station got stretched too thin. Scaling isn't buying more drones. Scaling is cloning the workflow.
Review deliverables. "Actionable outputs: thermal reports, 3D models, GIS-ready files." Here's the test: ask for a sample deliverable package. Not a pretty PDF. The raw files. The geotiff. The point cloud. The shapefile. Open it in QGIS. Does it line up? Is the CRS defined? Are the attributes populated? If they send you a PDF report and call it a deliverable, they're selling you a brochure, not data.
Consider integration. "Seamless integration with existing GIS, asset management, and operational workflows." This is the buzzword salad bullet. Here's what it actually means: "We'll give you a GeoTIFF in whatever projection you ask for." That's not integration. Integration is: your asset management system ingests the inspection data automatically, flags the assets that failed thermal thresholds, and generates a work order in your CMMS. If they can't describe the API or the schema, they're not integrating — they're exporting.
The Checklist They Didn't Send You
Here's what actually separates the providers who deliver from the ones who disappear when the data's wrong.
1. Show me your last three checkpoint reports.
Not the pretty client report. The raw QGIS project. The CSV of measured vs. calculated. The RMSE. If they hem and haw, they don't have it. If they don't have it, they're not verifying — they're hoping.
2. Who's flying my site, and what's their last five projects?
Not "we have certified pilots." Who. Name. Experience. Last five sites. If they can't name the pilot, you're getting the B-team. Or the C-team. Or the guy who just got his Part 107.
3. What happens when the data's wrong?
Not "we'll re-fly." That's table stakes. What's the process? Who pays for the mobilize? Who eats the schedule slip? If they don't have a written answer, the answer is "you do."
4. Show me your GCP workflow.
If they say "we use the drone's RTK," walk away. RTK is a tool, not a workflow. Show me the nails. Show me the paint. Show me the control sheet with photos and descriptions. Show me the checkpoint log. If they don't shoot checkpoints on every flight — even the "quick progress flights" — they don't have a workflow. They have luck.
5. What's your baseline protocol when-it-went-wrong story?
Every pro has one. The rotor strike. The flyaway. The site where the GCPs got paved over. The job where the RTK dropped to float and they didn't catch it until processing. If they don't have a war story, they haven't flown enough. Or they're lying. Either way, walk away.
6. Who's your hero on the client side?
Michael talks about this on DMA calls all the time. The "hero strategy." You don't sell to the procurement guy. You find the superintendent, the PM, the GIS analyst who feels the pain of bad data. That person becomes your champion. If the provider can't name their hero at your organization — or doesn't know what a "hero" is in this context — they're not a partner. They're a vendor.
The Motorcycle Rule
Michael says it on every DMA call: flying drones on job sites is like riding motorcycles. It's not if you crash. It's when. The gear you wear — the GCPs, the checkpoints, the independent verification, the written protocols — that's what determines whether you walk away or you don't.
Most drone providers are riding in shorts and a t-shirt. They've never crashed. They think that makes them good riders.
It doesn't. It makes them lucky.
The Real Test
Here's what I'd do if I were hiring a drone provider tomorrow.
Step 1: Ask for the pilot's name and their last three checkpoint reports. If they can't produce both in 24 hours, delete the email.
Step 2: Send them a site — a real one, with challenges. Trees. Power lines. Active construction. RF noise. Ask for a flight plan. Not a quote. A flight plan. GCPs marked. Emergency procedures. Weather minimums. If they send back a PDF with a price and a timeline, they're not the one.
Step 3: Hire them for one site. Small. Low stakes. But require the raw deliverables and the QA/QC package. Process the data yourself. Measure the checkpoints. If the RMS is clean and the files are clean — then you talk about the portfolio.
Bottom Line Money
Here's what that email you got this morning was really selling: comfort. "Check these seven boxes and you're safe."
You're not safe. You're never safe. The rotomill will eat your control points. The RTK will drop to float. The pilot will have a bad day.
The only safety is a provider who has the scars to prove they've survived it — and the workflows to prove they learned from it.
Pro tip of the day: Next time a drone provider sends you a checklist, reply with one question: "Show me your last three checkpoint reports." The ones who answer? Talk to them. The ones who ghost? You just saved yourself a bad ortho and a worse conversation with your PM.
Stop flying without checkpoints. That's it. That's the whole post. Go set your targets.