| Movement | What happens |
|---|---|
| Minutes 0 to 3 | Context: who they are, how they work now |
| Minutes 3 to 15 | Diagnosis: the questions below; you mostly listen |
| Minutes 15 to 20 | The pilot offer and next steps |
Video on, notes visible, no pitch deck in sight. You are never persuading anyone of anything; you are describing their own week back to them and offering the fix.
Walk me through what happens when a new customer reaches out. Who answers, and how fast?
What's on your list right now that keeps sliding to next week?
When you lose a customer or a deal, what usually caused it?
What did you already try for this, and why did it stop?
If I took three hours a week off your plate starting Monday, what would those hours be?
The last question is the whole call compressed. Owners rarely name bottlenecks in the abstract, but they always know what they would hand off first on a Monday. Their answer is your pilot scope, in their words.
| Their Monday answer (their words) | Sorting: capacity work / different business / red flag |
|---|---|
| Line | Scope |
|---|---|
| Which inbox or inbox categories | |
| Which scheduling | |
| Which follow-ups | |
| Roughly what response time |
Course examples: quote requests answered inside an hour during business windows; the backlog cleared and daily by Friday; every lead called back within a day. The signal is what lets week two end with "we hit it."
We will know it is working if:
Here's what I'd suggest. Two weeks, paid up front at my hourly rate. Scope is what we just discussed, and we'll know it's working if [the success signal]. At the end of two weeks, if it's working, I'll show you what a monthly version looks like. If it's not, you'll have a clean inbox and no obligation. Want me to send the agreement today?