elit3-x/elitex-skill-library/ai-agency-operations

AI Agency Operations

Pricing Framework (Three-Stage)

Stage 1: Fixed Price (Starting Out)

• Calculate: (estimated hours * $75-150/hr) + 20% buffer
• Best for: Simple automations, single-system integrations
• Risk: You eat overruns. Mitigate with tight scope.

Stage 2: Time & Materials (Established)

• Rate: $100-200/hr for implementation, $150-300/hr for strategy
• Best for: Complex integrations, discovery-heavy projects
• Bill weekly with detailed time logs

Stage 3: Value-Based (Scaled)

• Calculate: Client's annual cost of problem * 10-20%
• Best for: High-ROI automations (sales, hiring, support)
• Example: Client spends $120K/yr on manual data entry → charge $12-24K for automation

Niche Selection Matrix

Sales Process (Two-Call)

Call 1: Discovery (30 min)

1. "Walk me through your current process for [X]"
2. "How many hours per week does this take?"
3. "What happens when it goes wrong?"
4. "What would it mean for your business if this was automated?"
5. Quantify: hours saved * hourly rate = annual savings

Call 2: Solution + Proposal (45 min)

1. Screen share: show architecture diagram
2. Walk through each component
3. Present 3 pricing tiers (anchor high)
4. Close: "Which of these makes most sense for where you are right now?"

Productized System Model (85% margins)

Instead of selling custom hours:

1. Build a reusable system once (n8n + Airtable interface)
2. Clone per client with config changes
3. Charge: $2,500-5,000 setup + $500-1,500/mo
4. White-label the Airtable interface as "their" dashboard
5. 30-60 min per client per month for maintenance

Project Scoping Checklist

• [ ] What data sources exist? (APIs, spreadsheets, manual)
• [ ] What's the current manual process? (record a Loom)
• [ ] What decisions require human judgment? (escalation points)
• [ ] What's the error tolerance? (financial = low, content = medium)
• [ ] What existing tools must integrate? (CRM, email, etc.)
• [ ] Who will maintain this after handoff? (them or us)
• [ ] What's the ROI timeline expectation? (1 month? 6 months?)

Client Acquisition Channels (Ranked)

1. LinkedIn content — 3 posts/week, build-in-public + case studies
2. Referrals — After every project: "Who else do you know with this problem?"
3. Cold outreach — Personalized video/Loom showing a mock automation for THEIR business
4. Communities — Skool, Discord, industry Slack groups
5. Partnerships — CRM consultants, marketing agencies, Zoho resellers
6. Paid ads — Only after organic is proven (LinkedIn ads, Google)