A clearer path from inquiry to proposal.
ILLUSTRATIVE SAMPLE · FICTIONAL AGENCY
A small agency copies website inquiries into a spreadsheet, rewrites discovery questions, and starts proposals from scratch. This example shows our audit format. It is not a customer case study.
The first recommendation
Standardize intake before adding AI. Create one required set of fields and one accountable owner. Then test an assistant that drafts a lead brief for human approval.
| Priority | Opportunity | Human checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Structured inquiry capture; simple form automation | Owner verifies routing and missing details |
| 2 | AI drafts a summary using approved inquiry fields | Owner checks accuracy before CRM entry |
| 3 | Proposal outline from approved service descriptions | Owner approves scope, claims, and pricing |
First pilot: lead brief drafts
Inputs: sanitized inquiries, approved service list, qualification criteria. Output: internal draft with missing information flagged. Excluded: sending emails, rejecting leads, setting prices, or accessing payment accounts.
Tools: existing form and spreadsheet first; evaluate an approved AI workspace only after reviewing data handling and actual need. A paid tool is not automatically required.
Measure before scaling
Time ten manual briefs, then ten reviewed assisted briefs. Track total handling time, corrections, and missing facts. Approve expansion only if the result is both accurate and faster.
Illustrative calculation: 40 monthly inquiries × 8 minutes saved ÷ 60 = 5.3 hours per month. At an assumed $50 hourly internal cost, that is about $267 in capacity—not guaranteed cash savings. Deduct tool costs, setup, and ongoing review.
Risks and stop conditions
Stop if the assistant invents facts, exposes restricted information, or requires more review than the manual process. Keep the original inquiry as the source of truth. Roll back to the existing manual workflow at any time.
Review the $500 audit ↗