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Field guideIf your last AI setter didn't work, the AI wasn't the problem.
Most service-business owners we talk to have already paid an AI chatbot company, a marketing agency, or an offshore SDR firm, and ended up with nothing to show for it. The 7 things below are how those vendors fail. Use them to vet anyone selling you an AI SMS or appointment-setting service, including us.
If a past AI setter, agency, or offshore team didn't deliver, the failure is usually the vendor, not the model. These 7 checks cover consent, your own sender ID, a prompt built for your vertical, paying only when a hand-off is delivered, a real hand-off your team can see, instant opt-outs, and proof the conversation is actually AI. If a vendor flinches on any of them, you have your answer. That includes ScaleLayer.
On this page8 sections
- 01They didn't qualify your list for TCPA opt-in.
- 02They used a shared sender ID instead of registering your brand.
- 03Their “AI” was a template with your business name swapped in.
- 04They charged you whether or not it worked.
- 05There was no real hand-off. Booked leads dropped into a black hole.
- 06They ignored opt-outs.
- 07They sold you “AI,” but it was offshore SDRs in a spreadsheet.
- 08Questions
01 · Consent
They didn't qualify your list for TCPA opt-in.
One bad list and the “campaign” turns into a class action. Your business carries the liability, not the vendor. TCPA exposure is commonly discussed in the $500–$1,500 per text range.
“Walk me through exactly how you verify TCPA-eligible consent on a list before you send the first message.”
Hard list-qualifier on every prospect, before a sale. “How were these leads originally collected?” is a non-negotiable filter. We will not engage on a list that fails it. Protecting you from carrier and TCPA exposure matters more than booking a project.
02 · Sender ID
They used a shared sender ID instead of registering your brand.
When a shared number gets flagged, every message from it fails, including yours. Your business gets associated with whatever spam was on that ID.
“Will I have my own A2P 10DLC brand registered with the carriers, or am I sending from a shared sender pool?”
Per-client A2P 10DLC brand registration, every time. Your business, your sender ID, your reputation. We don't run shared pools. Approval takes extra days. That wait is the difference between a system that scales and a system that gets shut down.
03 · The prompt
Their “AI” was a template with your business name swapped in.
Generic copy reads like spam, gets ignored, and converts poorly. When the template fails, the vendor blames the model. They never tuned anything to your business.
“Show me a script you wrote for a client in my exact vertical. I want the prompt, the qualifying logic, and how it handles objections.”
Per-vertical prompt design. A roofing prompt does not become a solar prompt by changing five words. The objections, the booking flow, and the qualifying questions are different. We rebuild for each vertical and tune on real conversations once you’re live.
04 · Payment
They charged you whether or not it worked.
A campaign that produced nothing, while the vendor had already been paid. Performance was their problem on the proposal call and your problem the moment you signed.
“Do I pay if no hand-offs get delivered? What happens if the numbers miss?”
You pay per Qualified Hand-Off. A hand-off is a live transfer, a callback, or a calendar booking. If we don't deliver one, you don't pay for one.
05 · The hand-off
There was no real hand-off. Booked leads dropped into a black hole.
Appointments your team never sees, missed hand-offs, and customers texting back to ask where you are. The vendor counts the booking. You eat the brand damage.
“Walk me through what happens the second a lead says yes. Who gets notified, how does the transfer or callback work, where does a calendar booking land, and what does my team see?”
Native calendar integration (Google, Outlook, or your CRM via webhook). Instant notification to the right person on your team, by SMS, email, or live transfer. Every booking has the full conversation attached, so the closer already knows what was said.
06 · Opt-outs
They ignored opt-outs.
Carrier-level shutdowns, and a number that gets flagged. Once that happens, even transactional messages stop landing.
“What happens the second a lead replies STOP, DELETE, or UNSUBSCRIBE, and how can I audit that you’re honoring it?”
Every opt-out is honored instantly, with no follow-up and no exception. Every action is logged and exportable. We honor STOP, DELETE, UNSUBSCRIBE, and the same intent in other words. The only acceptable opt-out failure rate is zero.
07 · Proof
They sold you “AI,” but it was offshore SDRs in a spreadsheet.
Inconsistent outreach, time-zone delays, off-brand messaging, and a sales motion that doesn’t match your business. You paid for a model and got human labor with human downsides.
“Can I see a raw conversation log, start to finish, from a current client? Not a curated screenshot. The actual log.”
Real conversational AI, a live language model with retrieval over your business context, not a managed team behind a chatbot screen. Conversation logs are exportable on request, including timestamps. If someone says they use AI and won’t show a raw log, you already have your answer.
You should still verify us. That’s the point. If a vendor flinches on any of these 7 questions, you have your answer.
08 · FAQ
Questions
Ask how they verify TCPA-eligible consent before the first message. “How were these leads originally collected?” is the filter. “They were a customer once” is not consent, and your business carries the liability if the list fails.
No. Ask whether you get your own A2P 10DLC brand, registered with the carriers, or a shared sender pool. When a shared number gets flagged, every message from it fails, including yours.
Ask for a script written for your exact vertical, including the qualifying logic and how it handles objections. A roofing prompt does not become a solar prompt by changing five words.
A yes should notify the right person on your team, with the conversation attached, as a live transfer, a callback, or a calendar booking. A STOP, DELETE, or UNSUBSCRIBE should be honored instantly, with no follow-up, and the log should be exportable.
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