How would you pitch an automation service to a business in an easy-to-explain way to see if you can help them?
I always have clients walk me through their full client journey, from the first point where a customer sees the brand to the last point of engagement. I ask them to show me the first touchpoint, often an email referral, and request to see that email. If they treat me as an authority, they’ll share it, and I’ll critique it—pointing out why it’s ineffective. The reality is most business processes aren’t thought out; they develop organically as short‑term fixes that owners never revisit. By simply sitting down with them and asking how we could improve, we uncover half the battle. Doing this almost always reveals immediate opportunities to improve the business, assuming you’ve spent even a few minutes learning from my channel or similar sources.
But anyway, how do you acquire more upmarket clients? I mean, I wish I could say there's a special system for upmarket clients. A lot of them tend to be more referral-based and gated. They won't take you seriously unless you can accomplish the first hurdle: finding a plausibly deniable reason to reach out to them. That means perusing the network of the people you want to get in touch with, making preliminary introductions or leveraging relationships, then using those connections to find your way to an intro. That's a big thing, but it's very manually intensive and not something you can automate. Aside from that, it's really just the same thing: sending cold emails and working your way up a decision-maker chain, delivering exorbitant value upfront. They're more bureaucratic, with longer sales cycles, but that doesn't mean they're impenetrable. Many cases exist of people in Maker School with zero experience who throw enough outreach to get the attention of a mid-level SVP or similar, then use that to ramp themselves up to a $25–$50 million per year business. It's uncommon, but it occurs.
Sure. I walk a new client through their entire customer pipeline, starting with the very first touchpoint—whether that’s a referral, a PPC ad, a Facebook lead form, or another channel. I ask them to map out each stage their customers go through, from the initial contact to the final sale. Once someone opts in, we immediately send an email and an SMS, aiming to follow up within about 15 minutes. Quick response is critical; getting back to a prospect within a minute can boost your close rate three to four times. I then diagram the lead‑generation channels—cold email, PPC, referrals, trade shows, etc.—and outline how each feeds into the sales process. After the lead is qualified, we move into onboarding and service fulfillment, breaking down each step (creative, copy, Q&A, client approvals, retention) so the client knows exactly what to expect. I usually sketch this pipeline on a whiteboard during the call so we both have a visual reference for the entire workflow.
client onboardingpipelinelead generationresponse time
The first thing I do is ask the client to walk me through all of their existing processes. I then focus on the steps that actually move revenue, not the ones they think matter but don’t. I map the entire customer journey—from the very first touch point (whether it’s an ad, email, referral, DM, or social post) through every interaction until the engagement ends. I look at what I’m sending the client, how I manage the relationship, and the actions that directly drive revenue. I keep the 80/20 principle in mind, concentrating on the customer’s experience and the revenue‑generating activities. Once that core journey is clear, I add admin, logistical, and other automations as needed, and then look for automation opportunities that help with reach, acquisition, conversion, closing, or long‑term re‑activation.
Use AI to explain the typical operations of a small‑to‑mid‑size business in the target industry. Ask the model to walk you through the full customer journey—how they find the business, what documentation they exchange, which platforms they use at each stage, and what their common needs are. This gives you roughly 80 % of the knowledge needed to speak confidently on a call. Once you’re in the conversation, ask targeted follow‑up questions about pricing, packages, or specific pain points to deepen your understanding and tailor your pitch.