Each question has the reason to ask it, then what I would say. I am a consultant, so read my answers as one side of the table.
Who does the work?
Why ask: Some firms sell with a senior person and hand the job to someone else.
My answer: I do. The working session, the plan and the build are mine. I have built software for more than 20 years, and I built Schedule Wrangler, which real preschools run their staffing on.
What do I have at the end?
Why ask: You want something you hold, not a deck.
My answer: A written plan with ranked opportunities that is yours to keep either way. If a build goes ahead, the setup runs in your own accounts, with the code and settings handed over and written playbooks.
How do you handle a target and a guarantee?
Why ask: Vague goals cannot be missed, so they cannot be refunded.
My answer: Before a paid build we write down the task, the hours it takes today and the hours it should take after. If it does not hit that number I fix it, and if I cannot, you get 100% of your money back.
How is the work priced?
Why ask: Hourly, fixed and open-ended monthly pricing reward different behavior.
My answer: Builds are a fixed price, quoted from the plan. The Discovery call is free. See the cost guide for how the rest works.
Will you tell me when I do not need you?
Why ask: A consultant paid per project has a reason to find one.
My answer: Yes. If a tool you already pay for does the job, I will say so and save you the build. The call is built for that answer.
Whose accounts does it run in?
Why ask: If it lives in the consultant's accounts, you cannot leave.
My answer: Yours. Hosting, software subscriptions and AI usage fees are paid by you directly. It works with whichever AI assistant you use, so you are not tied to one vendor.
What do you need from me?
Why ask: Be wary of "nothing". Any real job takes some of your time.
My answer: A few hours showing me how the business runs, then quick reviews and sign-offs along the way. I do the building. I do not state a timeframe until the quote, because it depends on the work.
What do you not do?
Why ask: The scope line tells you what the quote leaves out.
My answer: I do not give legal, tax, security or compliance advice. I do not send messages to your contacts that you have not read first. Work outside the written scope is a new quote.
What happens to my team?
Why ask: Your team needs to know where they stand before they will try a new tool.
My answer: Your team stays. The aim is to take the repeat work off them so their time goes back to the work you hired them for, and I train them to run what I set up.
What do you want to start with?
Why ask: A good first step is small and free to try.
My answer: A free 45 minutes Discovery call. You tell me how a normal week runs. I tell you what I would do. No slides, no demo, no pitch.
Ask me all of these on the Discovery call, and ask anyone else the same ten.