What to Prepare Before Your First Call With an AI Consultant

Bring one problem, a rough idea of how long it takes each week, and a list of the software you already use. That is enough to turn a first call into a useful answer. You do not need a plan, a budget sheet or any technical knowledge.

Most people over prepare or under prepare. Here is what actually helps, based on the calls I take.

One problem, described plainly

The most useful thing you can bring is one sentence about what is slowing you down. "I spend every Sunday writing quotes." "Enquiries come in on four channels and some get missed." "I copy the same details into three systems."

Do not worry about whether AI can fix it. That is the consultant's job to work out. Describe the pain, not the solution.

If you have several problems, bring them all, but put them in order. Which one, if it vanished tomorrow, would make the biggest difference?

A rough count of the hours

How long does the problem take you, or your team, in a normal week? A guess is fine. "About five hours" is far more useful than nothing.

This is how any decent consultant judges whether a fix is worth paying for. If a job takes an hour a month, it probably is not worth building anything for. If it takes a day a week, it almost certainly is. How much time AI saves a small business shows how to do the sum.

A list of the software you use

Write down the tools the problem touches. Your email, accounts package, booking system, CRM, spreadsheets, website platform, whatever it is. Names are enough. Note which plan you are on if you know it.

This tells the consultant straight away what can connect to what. Most of what small businesses use already connects to other tools, which keeps the build smaller and cheaper. More on that in custom AI tool or off the shelf software.

One real example

If you can, have one real example to hand. A quote you wrote, an enquiry that came in, a spreadsheet you update. Remove anything private first. Seeing the actual thing takes two minutes and saves twenty minutes of description.

What a good result looks like to you

Think about what success means. Saving five hours a week? Never missing an enquiry? Quotes out the same day? A clear target keeps the conversation on what matters to you, not on what is clever.

What you do not need

You do not need to know what an API is. You do not need to have tried ChatGPT. You do not need a budget agreed in advance, although it helps to know roughly what you could spend. You do not need to have decided anything.

If the consultant makes you feel you should have known more before the call, that tells you something about how the rest of the work would go.

Questions worth asking on the call

Ask what they would fix first and why. Ask what it would roughly cost, both to build and to run each month. Ask whose name the accounts will be in. Ask what happens if it does not work. I keep a longer list in questions to ask an AI consultant before you hire.

Quick answers

What should I bring to a first call with an AI consultant?

One problem described plainly, a rough count of how many hours it takes each week, a list of the software involved, and ideally one real example of the task.

Do I need technical knowledge before talking to an AI consultant?

No. Your job is to describe the problem and how long it takes. Working out what can be built is the consultant's job.

Should I have a budget ready?

It helps to know roughly what you could spend, but you do not need a fixed number. A good consultant will tell you the rough cost and the monthly running cost on the call.

How long is a first call with an AI consultant?

Mine are a free 20 minutes. That is enough to understand one problem and tell you honestly whether it is worth fixing.

Book the call

When you have your one problem, book a free 20 minute call. You can see what happens after it on work with me, and how I work on the AI consultant page.