AI Guides › Playbooks
By Nigel Guy · 7 min read
Most people hunting for a first automation client start with the build: they learn a tool, make a clever workflow, then look for someone to give it to. It feels productive because building is the part you control. It fails because nobody buys a workflow. They buy one irritating task disappearing from the week, and you cannot know which task until you have talked to them.
A note on the source idea: a story circulates of a first client, a lettings agent paying £750. We could not verify that account, so treat the figure as an illustration rather than a benchmark. What follows is the repeatable part: a method you can run yourself, with a clearly hypothetical example.
The rule: sell one named, measurable chore to one person who already feels it, price it before you build it, and write down what the job will not do.
The Ledger is a single table, one row per prospect, that forces every step to produce evidence before you spend time. Keep it in a spreadsheet.
| Column | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Business and person | A named owner or manager, not "the office" |
| Chore | One repeated task, in their words |
| Frequency and time | How often, and how long it takes them (their estimate, marked as an estimate) |
| Where the data lives | Inbox, portal, spreadsheet, paper |
| Offer | One sentence, one outcome, one price |
| Status | Contacted, call booked, offer sent, yes, no, silent |
| Next date | The day you will follow up |
You need three things, not a portfolio. First, one demo you can run on a screen in two minutes, built on dummy data. Second, a plain written scope template (what is included, what is not, what you need from them). Third, an honest answer to "what happens to my data?", because anyone you pitch handles tenants, customers or staff details.
On that third point: if you process personal data for a client, UK GDPR treats you as a processor. The ICO's guidance says a processor needs a binding contract with the controller, may only act on the controller's instructions, must keep the data secure, and needs written authorisation before using sub-processors (the automation platform is one). Separately, the ICO says organisations including sole traders that use personal information need to pay a data protection fee unless exempt. Check the ICO's current fee tiers and exemptions yourself; we could not confirm the amounts. None of this is legal advice.
Pick one trade where the work is repetitive and email-heavy: lettings and estate agents, accountants, trades firms, dental or physio practices, small solicitors. Then build a list of 30 local businesses in that one trade. Narrow beats broad because your demo, wording and price transfer from the first conversation to the tenth.
Warm routes come before cold ones: people you have bought from, friends' employers, your own landlord or agent. Fill the Ledger as you go. Do not send a mass email; send a short message to a named person.
Your opening message names one chore and asks one question. Use this prompt to draft a batch you then edit by hand.
You are a careful UK small-business copywriter. Draft a short first-contact message (under 90 words) from me to [CONTACT_NAME], [ROLE] at [BUSINESS_TYPE] in [TOWN].
Context: I help small firms remove one repetitive admin task using simple automation. The chore I suspect they have: [SUSPECTED_CHORE].
Goal: get a 15-minute call, not a sale.
Structure: one line showing I looked at their business ([SPECIFIC_OBSERVATION]); one line naming the chore in plain words; one question asking how they handle it today; one low-pressure call to action.
Constraints: British English, no hype, no claims about results I cannot prove, no mention of AI tool names, no flattery. If any bracketed input is missing, ask me for it instead of guessing.
Before answering, check the draft contains no invented facts about their business.
Output: the message only, then one line suggesting a subject line.
Fill in the contact, business type, town, suspected chore and one observation you genuinely noted. Edit the result until it sounds like you.
On the call, fill in the Ledger row: what the chore is, how often, how long, where the data lives. Then offer a pilot: one workflow, one fixed price, a fixed date, with a short written scope. Use this prompt to produce the scope from your call notes.
You are an experienced freelance automation consultant writing for a non-technical UK small-business owner.
Turn my call notes into a one-page scope of work.
Notes: [CALL_NOTES]
Client: [CLIENT_NAME]. Chore: [CHORE]. Systems involved: [SYSTEMS]. Fixed price: [PRICE_GBP]. Delivery date: [DATE].
Sections, in order: 1) What will change for you, in one paragraph; 2) What I will build, as numbered steps; 3) What is not included; 4) What I need from you, with dates; 5) How we will check it works, with a test you can run yourself; 6) Personal data involved and who can see it; 7) What happens if something breaks after handover.
Constraints: plain language, no jargon, no guarantees of time or money saved, no legal wording beyond flagging that a data processing agreement may be needed.
If a bracketed input is missing, list the questions first and stop. Before answering, check every step in section 2 maps to something in the notes.
Price the outcome and the risk, not your hours. A workable method: estimate your build and testing hours honestly, add a margin for the unexpected, then compare against the cost of the chore to them. If the owner says it eats about two hours a week, ask what those hours are worth to them; that is their number, not yours. Offer a fixed pilot price, and a small optional monthly fee for monitoring, so the first yes is easy.
Remember running costs. At time of writing, Make lists a free plan with up to 1,000 credits a month and paid plans from $12 a month (about £9 at time of writing); n8n lists cloud plans from €20 a month billed annually (about £17 at time of writing) and a free self-hosted community edition. Platforms change these often, so check the current page and your £ price at checkout. Decide who pays for the subscription, and write it in the scope.
Imagine a two-person letting agency. Enquiries from a property portal arrive by email, and someone retypes each into a spreadsheet and sends a holding reply. The Ledger row says: chore is enquiry logging and first reply; the owner estimates a few minutes per enquiry, many a day; data lives in email and a spreadsheet; offer is one workflow that logs each enquiry and drafts a holding reply for a person to approve; fixed pilot price, agreed before building. The scope excludes sending anything without approval, excludes the portal itself, and names the platform as a sub-processor. Delivery is a test with ten dummy enquiries the owner runs.
| Where | Why | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| After the call | You waited for them | Write the next date in the Ledger and keep it |
| At the quote | Vague scope, so vague price | Send the one-page scope with the price |
| At the trial | You built before agreeing | Take a deposit or agree a pilot first |
| After handover | Nobody owns the workflow | Name one person, and a way to switch it off |