The Playbook · HIRING
Nine questions to ask before you buy automation
Automation is easy to sell and hard to see, which is why the wrong quote looks exactly like the right one until month three. These nine questions take ten minutes to ask and expose the difference. I answer every one of them in my own quotes, and I would walk away from any vendor who cannot.
What happens before you sign?
1. Which events trigger this, exactly?
If the answer is a category instead of a list, nothing has been designed yet. You want the named events: missed call, form received, job marked done.
2. What are the rules, in writing?
Business hours, existing customers, exceptions. If the rules are in someone's head, the automation will do something you did not agree to.
3. What does the customer see?
Ask for the actual text of every message. Read it as the customer. If it sounds like a robot, it will be treated like one.
What happens when it runs?
4. What happens when a tool changes?
Forms get updated. Services change their pricing and their plumbing. Who notices, who fixes it, and what does that cost? Mine is inside the care plan; ask what theirs is.
5. How do I know what it did today?
You should get a daily digest: what went out, what was held, what broke. An automation you cannot see is a liability with a monthly fee.
6. Can I stop it from my phone?
A kill switch is not a luxury. When a message is wrong, you need it off in one tap, not after a support ticket.
What happens if you leave?
7. Who owns the accounts and the logic?
The tool accounts should be in your name, and the logic should be exportable. If leaving means starting over, you are renting.
8. What does cancelling cost?
Month to month is the honest answer. A long contract on something that has not proven itself is a bet you are making for the vendor.
9. Show me one running for a business like mine
Not a demo. A live one, with the owner's number, so you can ask what it was like in month four. You can start by judging my work with your thumb: the homepage is a live build, not a demo.
What should you do with the answers?
Count the blanks. Two or more and the quote is a subscription wearing a suit. Zero blanks and you have found someone who has actually built this before. Then price it against the busywork calculator, which tells you what the hours you are losing are worth.
What to do tonight
Copy these nine into a note on your phone. Ask them on every call, including mine.
Questions owners ask
What should be in an automation quote?
The exact triggers, the rules in writing, every customer-facing message, what maintenance costs, how you see what it did, how you stop it, and who owns the accounts.
Should I sign a long contract for automation?
No. Month to month is the honest term for something that has not yet proven itself in your business.
How do I check an automation vendor's work?
Ask for a live automation at a business like yours and the owner's number, then ask that owner about month four.
Scored three or more leaks on your own site? That is what the free 60-second audit quantifies. Or skip to the fix: (847) 387-0244.
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