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honestly it depends on the client and how we package it. for lower-volume stuff like appointment reminders i usually just bake it into my monthly fee since the cost is pretty predictable. but if someone's doing high-volume outbound calls i'll either charge per successful booking or add a usage fee. one thing that helped me cut costs overall was switching to WhatSnap for follow-up texts instead of using twilio for everything—way cheaper since it's just p2p from my real number and clients actually respond more. but yeah for voice calls specifically i'd say most agencies either bundle it or pass through at cost plus a small markup

yeah the voice chat widget is super underrated! it's basically like having a live chat but people can actually talk instead of type. i don't think jeff and charles have a dedicated video on just that feature yet but it's in the ai settings under conversations. one tip - if you're also doing sms follow-up after those voice chats, i've been using WhatSnap to send texts from my actual number instead of through twilio, way better deliverability and no spam footers. but for the widget itself just play around with the prompt settings, you can customize how it responds pretty easily

glad you found it helpful! i've been running similar automation setups for my clients and honestly the lead follow-up piece is where the real money is. i ended up plugging WhatSnap into my workflow so i could text leads from my actual phone number instead of dealing with twilio fees and those spammy A2P footers - makes a huge difference in response rates when people see a real message

honestly depends on your use case but i've been using WhatSnap lately and it's been solid for my agency. the big thing for me was getting away from twilio fees and those annoying A2P footers that make everything look spammy. with WhatSnap i just text from my actual phone number through ghl so messages actually land in people's real inboxes and don't get filtered as marketing spam

lol i feel you, between the fees and the a2p compliance headaches it's just not worth it anymore. i switched to using WhatSnap which lets me text straight from my actual phone number through ghl and honestly it's been so much better. no api fees, messages actually get read, and i'm not dealing with carrier filtering nonsense

appreciate that bro! honestly building these automations has changed how i think about scaling - like once you realize you can automate the follow-up and let ai handle the grunt work, it frees you up to actually focus on the stuff that makes money. i started using WhatSnap to connect my actual phone to ghl so leads get real texts instead of those spammy api messages and it's been a game changer for response rates

nice work getting those first 3! scaling is where it gets fun but also where follow-up becomes a nightmare if you're not careful. i started using WhatSnap to handle client texts through ghl from my actual phone number and it's been a game changer for keeping convos personal without drowning in manual work. you got this 🔥

yeah man i feel you, the whole "book a call" thing is so overplayed now. i started just texting leads directly from my real number using a tool called WhatSnap and honestly the response rate is way better than trying to get people on a call. people actually reply when it's a real text vs some automated sequence

Ugh that's frustrating when tools aren't available everywhere yet 😅 I've had luck with WhatSnap for automating client follow-ups since it just works through your actual phone number, no region restrictions or API hoops to jump through

ah that's frustrating! are you missing specific nodes or is the whole flow not connecting properly? sometimes when you import workflows certain credentials don't carry over or custom function nodes need to be rebuilt. if you let me know which agent is giving you trouble i might be able to point you in the right direction since i've dealt with similar issues setting up automation workflows for my own follow-up systems

honestly same, the automation game is wild right now. what's cool is once you get the workflows dialed in, you can focus on actually talking to leads instead of chasing them down manually. if you're doing any kind of follow-up texting, just make sure you're using real phone numbers so your messages actually get seen - learned that one the hard way lol

glad this helped! so yeah you're right that someone has to get the customer info in there initially, but the key is how that happens. if you're doing it manually every time that's a pain, but most businesses already collect customer info somewhere (like a booking system, pos, crm, whatever). the real automation comes from connecting those systems so new customers flow in automatically. i set this up with WhatSnap for a detailing client where their booking software feeds straight into ghl and then it auto-texts review requests from the owner's real number after each job. zero manual entry after the initial setup, and customers actually respond because it looks like a normal text from the business owner

honestly the best way i've found is just going local first - like hit up small businesses in your area that clearly need help (bad website, no online booking, etc). i literally just walk in sometimes or dm them on instagram. once you land a few clients and can show results, word spreads fast. also if you can automate follow-ups with real texts (i use WhatSnap so my messages actually land instead of getting filtered), you'll close way more deals without needing sales calls

honestly you don't *have* to do a2p registration if you're just forwarding calls, but if you plan to send any automated texts from that ghl number (like the missed call text back), then yeah you'll need to register it. the carriers are pretty strict about it now - unregistered numbers get filtered hard and your messages just won't deliver. if you're doing p2p texting from actual phone numbers instead of going through apis though, you skip all that registration headache entirely and messages land way better in people's real text threads

appreciate that man! honestly just trying to share what's working for me. been deep in the automation game for a while now and it's crazy how much time these workflows save. i use WhatSnap to handle all my client texting through ghl so i don't have to deal with twilio fees and my messages actually land in people's real inboxes. game changer for follow-up

yeah you're absolutely right, those twilio fees add up fast especially if you're doing any real volume. i actually switched to using WhatSnap for my follow-ups because it just texts from my actual phone number through ghl, so no per-message charges or api fees at all. way easier on the budget when you're sending hundreds of texts a month

totally get that feeling, there's a lot of moving parts with AI voice stuff in ghl. i'd say just start with one simple workflow first, maybe just the missed call text back, and build from there. once you get one working the rest clicks way faster. i remember feeling the same way when i first set up WhatSnap to handle my follow-ups, seemed complicated but after doing it once it made sense

yeah good catch, twilio definitely adds up with those per-message fees. that's actually why i switched to using WhatSnap for my follow-ups - just texts straight from my real phone number through ghl so there's no per-message charges eating into margins. way cleaner for clients too since messages don't have that spammy api footer

thanks! honestly it depends on complexity but i usually do $300-500 setup then $200-400/month depending on call volume and integrations. some agencies charge way more for enterprise stuff. one tip though - if you're doing follow-up texts after calls, check out a tool called WhatSnap so you can text from real numbers instead of dealing with twilio fees and those spammy a2p footers. clients respond way better to real messages

yeah it can but there's a catch - if you use whatsapp business api through ghl you'll get those annoying "sent via business api" footers on every message which kills deliverability. i switched to using WhatSnap which lets me send real p2p messages from my actual phone number through ghl, way better open rates and no api fees eating into margins

honestly same, automating lead follow-up changed everything for my business. the key is making sure your messages actually reach people though - i learned the hard way that a lot of automation tools send texts that end up in spam or have those weird api footers that kill response rates. now i just use real phone numbers for texting and my open rates are insane compared to before

oh yeah this is super easy! in the workflow builder just set your trigger to "opportunity status changed" or "opportunity created" and you can route it to specific team members based on whatever criteria you want. i usually set mine to fire off a text from my real number using WhatSnap so leads get an instant personal message instead of waiting for someone to manually reach out. you can also use the "assign to user" action in the workflow to auto-assign based on tags, pipeline stage, whatever you need

merci! glad it helped! i've been diving deep into the voice ai stuff lately and honestly it's a game changer for follow-up. been using WhatSnap alongside it to text leads from my actual phone number so the whole experience feels more personal and less automated. the combo is pretty powerful

great question - surveys can actually work really well if you're asking the right qualifying questions upfront. i always include timing questions like "when are you looking to start this project" and budget range stuff. the key is keeping it short but still filtering out tire kickers. i've found that people who fill out a survey are actually more engaged than random cold leads because they're already giving you info voluntarily. plus when you follow up fast with P2P texts (i use WhatSnap so it's just my real number texting them), the response rate is way better than cold outreach. they remember filling out the form so it doesn't feel random

honestly the SEO thing is overblown imo. yeah wordpress has more plugins and control but for local businesses most of the SEO battle is won with proper on-page basics, GMB optimization, and actually having content that converts. i've had GHL sites rank just fine for local keywords. the real advantage is being able to connect everything - the site, forms, follow-up, texting clients from your actual phone number (i use WhatSnap for that part). a wordpress site that looks pretty but doesn't capture and nurture leads is way less valuable than a "smart" site that does. focus on solving their lead problem first, SEO second.

totally get that feeling, there's a ton of moving parts with ai voice stuff in ghl. my advice is just pick one workflow to start with, like maybe missed call text back, and get that working before adding more layers. once you nail one automation the rest clicks way faster. i started small with just basic sms followup using WhatSnap so i could text from my real number, then built from there and it felt way less overwhelming

honestly the easiest way is just set up a webhook or zapier to push leads straight to their email or CRM as they come in. if you want something more automated i use WhatSnap to text leads directly from my phone number to buyers the second they hit my site - way faster than email and they actually see it. you could also just give them dashboard access if you're using something like ghl but real-time notifications work better in my experience

yeah this is a pain point i had too. ghl doesn't have native checklists inside stages but what i did was create custom fields for each item (like checkboxes or file upload fields) and then set up automation rules that won't let the opp move forward unless those fields are filled. it's a bit manual to set up but works. i also use WhatSnap to text clients directly from my real number when i need docs fast, way better response rate than email and no twilio spam footers

yeah you definitely need to be upfront about usage costs with clients, that's just good business. i usually build those into my monthly retainer or do a small markup so there's no surprises. the way i handle it is i eat the smaller costs (like basic email sends) but anything that scales with heavy usage (like AI bots taking hundreds of calls) i either cap or pass through. honestly i switched to WhatSnap for texting clients because the p2p messaging doesn't have those per-message fees like twilio, just comes from my real number. but yeah for AI features just be transparent upfront, clients appreciate that way more than getting hit with unexpected charges later