Client on $150 monthly maintenance. One conversation. Now paying $550 monthly. Here is how to upgrade existing clients without being pushy. THE SETUP: 6 months into maintenance contract. Invoice processing running smoothly. Monthly check-in call scheduled. THE CONVERSATION: Me: "How is everything running?" Her: "Great. Invoices are handled. Life saver." Me: "Glad to hear it. What is taking up most of your time now?" Her: (pause) "Honestly? Expense reports. My team submits receipts and I spend hours organizing them." Me: "How many expense reports monthly?" Her: "About 60 across 8 employees" Me: "How long does processing take?" Her: "Maybe 12 hours total" Me: "Want me to automate that too?" THE EXPANSION PROPOSAL: Added expense report automation to existing system Same tech stack (Make.com plus PDF Vector) Builds on infrastructure already in place Setup: $800 (discounted from $1,200 for existing client) Monthly increase: $400 (from $150 to $550) Annual revenue increase: $4,800 plus $800 setup THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EXPANSION: They already trust you They see results from first project Adding more is low risk for them You understand their business Implementation is faster (systems already connected) THE MONTHLY CHECK-IN FRAMEWORK: Every maintenance call, ask these 3 questions: 1. "How is the current automation performing?" (Opens conversation, shows you care) 2. "What is taking up most of your time now?" (Identifies new pain points) 3. "Anything else you wish happened automatically?" (Plants automation seeds) THE EXPANSION OPPORTUNITIES: Invoice processing clients often need: - Expense report automation - Purchase order matching - Vendor onboarding - Contract tracking Form processing clients often need: - Follow-up automation - Data validation - Reporting dashboards - Multi-location rollout THE PRICING FOR EXPANSIONS: Existing clients get 20-30% discount on setup Monthly increase matches scope Package deals for multiple expansions This keeps them loyal and increases lifetime value.

Sent a 3-minute Loom video. Client watched it 4 times. Signed contract without ever talking to me. Here is the video strategy that closes deals while you sleep. THE SITUATION: Prospect from Facebook group. Busy restaurant owner. "I don't have time for calls this month." Old me: Would have followed up in a month and lost momentum. New me: "No problem. Let me send you a quick video showing how this would work for your situation." THE VIDEO I SENT: Total length: 3 minutes 12 seconds MINUTE 0-1: The hook "Hey [Name], I know you are slammed so I made this quick video instead of taking your time on a call. You mentioned spending 6 hours weekly on vendor invoices. Let me show you exactly how to get that time back." MINUTE 1-2: The demo Shared my screen Uploaded a sample restaurant invoice Showed data extracting automatically Showed it flowing into a spreadsheet "This takes 90 seconds instead of 15 minutes per invoice" MINUTE 2-3: The next steps "For your volume of 40 invoices monthly, setup would be $1,400 and monthly maintenance is $120. That pays for itself in the first month. If this looks interesting, here is my calendar link to lock in 15 minutes. Or just reply to this email and we can get started." THE RESPONSE: Him: "Watched your video 4 times. This is exactly what I need. Let's do it." No call scheduled. Signed contract via email. WHY VIDEO WORKS: Prospects watch on their schedule They can replay confusing parts Your personality comes through Demonstrates competence visually Feels more personal than text They can share with partners easily THE VIDEO STRUCTURE: HOOK (30 seconds): Reference their specific pain DEMO (90 seconds): Show solution with their industry example CLOSE (60 seconds): State price and clear next step Total: Under 4 minutes. Respect their time. THE TOOLS I USE: Loom (free for videos under 5 minutes) Screen recording shows the automation Face bubble in corner adds personality Thumbnail customization for professional look

Offered a chiropractor a free 20-minute process audit. Left with a signed contract for $3,100. Here is exactly how free audits become paid clients. THE OFFER: Found chiropractor in local business group asking about paperwork solutions. My message: "I help healthcare practices automate patient intake. Want a free 20-minute audit of your current process? I'll show you exactly where time is being wasted. No pitch, just insights." Her response: "Sure, why not." THE AUDIT CALL STRUCTURE: MINUTES 1-5: Rapport building Asked about her practice, how long she has been open, what brought her to look for solutions. MINUTES 6-15: Process walkthrough "Walk me through exactly what happens when a new patient arrives." She explained: - Patient fills paper form in waiting room - Front desk types into EHR system (12 minutes) - Insurance card copied and uploaded (3 minutes) - Eligibility verified by phone (18 minutes) - Total per patient: 33 minutes MINUTES 16-20: The calculation that closed the deal Me: "How many new patients weekly?" Her: "About 15" Me: "So 15 patients times 33 minutes is 8.25 hours weekly just on intake" Her: "I never added it up like that" Me: "At $24 per hour for front desk staff, that is $10,296 annually" Her: "On just intake paperwork?" Me: "Yes. What if I could get that down to 45 minutes total weekly?" THE MOMENT SHE DECIDED: Her face changed. She leaned forward. "How much would that cost?" I had not planned to pitch. But she asked. THE QUOTE: Setup: $3,100 Monthly: $250 Includes digital intake forms, automatic EHR entry, and insurance verification automation Her annual savings: $9,360 Payback period: 4 months She asked: "Can we start next week?" WHY FREE AUDITS CLOSE DEALS: You demonstrate competence without PowerPoints You build trust through genuine helpfulness You quantify their pain in dollars they understand You position yourself as problem-solver not salesperson They ask about pricing instead of you pitching THE AUDIT FRAMEWORK I USE:

Started offering "free workflow design" consultations. 60% convert to paid implementation. Made $7,200 in 8 weeks. Never "sold" once. THE FRAMEWORK: POST: "Free 30-minute workflow design call. I'll map out automation for your document process. No charge." CALL STRUCTURE: First 20 minutes: Understanding their process - Current manual steps? - Document types and volume? - Where does data need to go? - Pain points and bottlenecks? Last 10 minutes: Designing solution - Draw workflow on screen - "Gmail receives doc → Parse → Extract these fields → Post here" - Show similar examples from portfolio - Explain what it saves them END OF CALL: "I've designed what you need. Two options: Option 1: Take this design. Build it yourself. Zero charge from me. Option 2: I implement this for $1,500. Usually 4-6 hours work. Deployed in 3 days. Which direction?" THE RESULTS: 10 free consultations completed 6 chose implementation ($1,200-1,800 range) 4 chose DIY (3 came back later - couldn't build it) Total earned: $7,200 in 8 weeks Time invested: 5 hours consultations + 32 hours building WHY THIS WORKS: NO PRESSURE: They requested the call. Already interested. DEMONSTRATES EXPERTISE: Designing their solution proves you understand their problem. CLEAR VALUE: They see exactly what they're getting. Not abstract "automation services." THEIR CHOICE: Giving option to DIY removes sales resistance. Most choose implementation anyway. QUALIFICATION BUILT IN: People who book free calls are actually interested. Not cold prospects. REAL EXAMPLE: Healthcare clinic. Booked free call. Explained patient form processing pain. I designed complete workflow on call. Drew it out visually. Ended with: "You can build this yourself using these tools, or I can implement for $1,500." They chose implementation. Paid $1,800. Referred 2 more clinics. THE PSYCHOLOGY: Giving away design for free creates reciprocity. They feel they owe you. Most pay for implementation. Plus: They realize building it themselves is harder than they thought.

First three clients: Charged $600, $800, $1,200. All one-time fees. No recurring. Made $2,600 total. Spent 30 hours. Felt like freelancing. Then learned to structure deals for recurring revenue. Changed everything. THE OLD WAY: "$1,200 one-time setup fee, you own it" Client pays once. I move on. No ongoing relationship. THE NEW WAY: "$1,200 setup + $150/month includes monitoring, updates, and support" WHAT $150/MONTH COVERS: My actual costs: ~$50 (automation platform + PDF Vector + hosting) My monitoring time: 30 min monthly checking logs, fixing breaks My value: System keeps working, they don't worry about it Client perspective: $150/month vs hiring someone = obvious choice. CURRENT RECURRING BREAKDOWN: Client 1 (dental): $120/month Client 2 (logistics): $180/month Client 3 (accounting): $150/month Client 4 (legal): $200/month Client 5 (healthcare): $160/month Client 6 (real estate): $140/month Client 7 (restaurant): $130/month Client 8 (retail): $90/month Client 9 (consulting): $170/month Total: $1,340 MRR from 9 clients Plus I'm still taking new setup projects ($1,200-2,000 each). THE MATH THAT SELLS RECURRING: "Here's your options: Option A: $2,000 one-time, you manage it yourself Option B: $1,500 setup + $150/month, I keep it running Option B costs you $3,300 in year one vs $2,000. But year two and beyond, you're only paying $1,800 annually for guaranteed uptime. Plus I handle all breaks and updates." 90% choose Option B. THE WORKFLOW MONITORING: Each client gets: Error notifications to my Slack, weekly health check, monthly usage report, quarterly optimization review. Takes me 3-4 hours monthly total across all clients. $1,340 revenue for 4 hours = $335/hour effective rate. THE LESSON: One-time fees cap your income. Recurring revenue compounds. Nine clients at $150/month = $1,340 monthly. That's $16,080 annually from clients you already closed. Every new client adds to the stack. How are you structuring your pricing for recurring revenue?