# Call Cheatsheet Print this or have it on a second screen during calls. It has the key scripts, questions, and phrases for both call types. *** ## Onboarding Call (Call 1) -- 60-90 min ### Opener > "Pleasure to meet you. My name's Mac, I'll be your account manager at The Entourage AI. What we're doing is an AI Roadmap -- mapping out the next 12-24 months and how the adoption of AI looks for your business. > > This call is pretty laid back. I'm trying to get a high-level view -- departments, where the pain is, what tech you're using -- and then figure out who on your team I should speak to next for deeper dives. > > You've got people in the team that know more about what they do day-to-day than you do as a boss. So after this, I'll book follow-up interviews with those people. A lot of what we do is free people up to do people things -- relationships, strategy -- instead of repetitive manual work. > > I'll record this so I can capture the details accurately -- is that okay?" Then: > "So the first thing I want to do is just hear a high level around the business, what the problems are, where you think AI can slot in, and what that looks like." **Then shut up. Let them talk for 10-15 minutes.** *** ### Department Rotation When the initial dump slows down: > "That's really helpful. So it sounds like the main areas are \[dept 1], \[dept 2], and \[dept 3]. Let me make sure I've got a good picture of each one." **For each department, ask:** * Who are the key people? Names and roles? * What do they spend most of their time doing? * What takes the most time? What feels like it should be faster? * Roughly how many hours a week does \[person] spend on \[task]? * What software does this department use day-to-day? **To move to the next department:** > "Okay, that area is sorted. Is there any other big department we should look at?" or > "Could we loop through \[area] for five minutes or so?" **If one department is going too long:** > "There's a lot of detail here -- I'm going to save this for the follow-up interview with \[person]. For now I just want the high-level picture across the whole business." *** ### Business & Growth If not already covered in the dump: * Tell me about your business -- what do you do and who do you serve? * Where are you headed in the next 12-24 months? * What was the trigger for exploring automation now? * If your business doubles next year, what breaks first? * Rough team size? *** ### Tech Stack If not already covered: * What software tools does your business use day-to-day? Let's list them all. * Which tools talk to each other already? Any existing integrations? * Are there tools you're paying for but not fully using? * Do you use any spreadsheets as a key part of a process? *** ### Compliance Only if regulated industry: * Are there industry regulations that affect how you handle data? * Do you need audit trails for any processes? *** ### Interview Planning > "Based on everything you've told me, here's what I'd like to do next. I want to schedule follow-up interviews with the people who actually do the work day-to-day." * \[Person] about \[department/process] -- probably 60 minutes * \[Person] about \[department/process] -- probably 30-60 minutes * \[Person] about \[department/process] -- probably 30 minutes > "Each department takes about an hour to an hour and a half. In total, maybe 4-6 hours of interviews over the next week or two. You don't have to do it all in one go." > "Just make sure to tell them we're not trying to replace their job -- we're trying to make the job easier." *** ### Close > "So here's what happens next. I'm going to spend the next couple of hours processing everything from this call and mapping it all out. Then I'll send you an email with a summary of what we covered, who I'd like to interview, and booking links. All you need to do is forward that to the right people and get them booked in. The whole process takes about two to three weeks." *** *** ## Staff Interview -- 30-60 min ### Opener > "Hi \[Name], thanks for taking the time. I'm Mac from The Entourage AI -- I'm working with \[Owner] to identify where automation can save your team time. \[Owner] mentioned you'd be a great person to speak with about \[area]. > > I'm mostly going to be asking questions and listening. No wrong answers -- I just want to understand how things actually work day-to-day, from the person who does it. The goal is to free up your time so you can focus on the stuff that actually needs a human. > > I'll record this so I can capture the details -- is that okay?" Then: > "Walk me through a typical day or week. What does your time look like?" *** ### Process Walkthrough **Repeat this loop for each process they own:** 1. What kicks this off? What's the trigger? 2. What data comes in? What format -- email, PDF, spreadsheet, phone call? 3. Walk me through what you do step by step. 4. Are there decisions along the way? Rules you follow, or is it judgement? 5. What's the output? Where does it end up? 6. How often does this happen? Daily, weekly, per order? 7. How many hours per week does this take you? 8. When does this go off the rails? What are the exceptions? 9. What tools do you use for this? Do they talk to each other? **To move to the next process:** > "Got it. What's the next thing that takes up a lot of your time?" or > "\[Owner] mentioned you also handle \[process] -- can we walk through that one?" *** ### ROI Questions Ask for every major process: * How many hours per week do you spend on \[task]? * What's the rough hourly cost of your time to the business? * What would you do with the time if this was automated? * How often do errors happen? What kind? * If volume doubled, could you keep up? **If they're vague on hours:** > "Even a rough estimate -- are we talking 5 hours a week or 20?" **After they give a number:** > "So roughly \[X] hours a week on that. And is that just you, or does someone else also work on it?" *** ### Automation Readiness * Which parts of this require your judgement vs following rules? * Are there approval steps that need to stay human? * Is any of the knowledge in your head rather than documented? * What would "good enough" automation look like? *** ### Close > "That's really helpful -- thanks for walking me through all of that. If anything else comes to mind about how these processes work or things that slow you down, feel free to send it through." *** *** ## Validation Phrases -- use throughout both calls * "Everything you've mentioned is super common. We deal with that a lot." * "Even though it sounds really complex, AI is pretty decent at that." * "We work with \[tool] quite a bit -- that integrates well." * "I know it's not good at the moment, but I promise you, AI has all the capabilities to fix this." * "You are sounding like our dream client." * "I just spent \[time] with a \[similar industry] business with the exact same problem." *** ## Deflection Phrases | They say | You say | | --------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | How much does this cost? | "I'll include investment details in the roadmap alongside the ROI -- that way you see the full picture together." | | Can you automate everything? | "We'll identify everything that's viable and rank it by ROI. Some things are better left human." | | Will this replace \[person]? | "The goal is to free \[person] up to do \[what owner wants]. The manual stuff goes away, the human stuff stays." | | We tried automation before | "What happened? (Listen.) We build around your specific processes, not a generic template." | | Our systems are old | "That's actually fine. We work with legacy systems all the time." | | I'm not the best person for that | "No worries -- who would know that best? I'll ask them in the follow-up." | | I don't know the exact hours | "Even a rough estimate -- are we talking 5 hours or 20? Just a ballpark." | | We don't have time for interviews | "I'll keep them tight -- 30 minutes each. And I'll come prepared so we don't waste anyone's time." | **Next:** [Discovery Call](https://internal-docs.theentourageai.com/ai-roadmap/discovery-call) (full guide)