client sent 20 test invoices. my extraction got 6 right. SIX. tried 3 different approaches: - built-in pdf node: worked on 4 invoices - regex patterns: broke on every layout change - ocr + manual parsing: took 2 hours per invoice format was about to refund the client then someone here mentioned pdf vector. tested it expecting nothing. 18 out of 20 extracted correctly first try. the llm mode just figured out different layouts automatically. same invoices. same workflow. different extraction tool. completely different results. client has no idea how close i came to quitting lol what tool swap saved your project?

20 discovery calls my first 3 months. 8 became clients. 12 wasted hours. Then I learned one question that predicts who buys. Ask it in first 5 minutes. THE QUESTION: "What happens if you DON'T fix this in the next 3 months?" Not "what's your pain" or "what's your budget." What happens if nothing changes? THE RESPONSES THAT PREDICT BUYERS: BUYER: "We'll miss growth targets. Hiring another admin just for data entry, $40K annually. Can't scale like this." Specific consequence. Financial impact. Timeline urgency. NON-BUYER: "I mean, it's annoying. Would be nice to fix eventually." Vague. No urgency. No real pain. THE PATTERN: Buyers have CONSEQUENCES for inaction. Non-buyers have INCONVENIENCES. Consequences = money, time, growth limits, team frustration Inconveniences = "would be nice," "annoying," "eventually" MY CLOSE RATES: Consequence answers: 11/13 closed (85%) Inconvenience answers: 1/7 closed (14%) WHY THIS MATTERS: Stop wasting time on inconvenience leads. Qualify hard early. If they don't have real consequence, they won't buy. THE FULL DISCOVERY FRAMEWORK: MINUTE 1-2: "Walk me through your current process." Listen. Take notes. Let them vent. MINUTE 3-4: "How long does this take monthly?" Get specific numbers. 10 hours? 20 hours? MINUTE 5: "What happens if you DON'T fix this in the next 3 months?" THE MONEY QUESTION. If strong consequence → continue call If weak consequence → "Sounds like this isn't urgent. Check back in a few months?" MINUTE 6-10: Demo solution (if strong consequence) Show working example. Their problem solved visually. MINUTE 11-12: Next steps "Want me to send proposal? We could start next week." OTHER QUALIFYING QUESTIONS: "Who else needs to approve this?" (reveals decision-making) "What's your timeline?" (reveals urgency) "What budget allocated?" (reveals seriousness) But consequence question is #1. REAL EXAMPLES: CLOSED: "If we don't fix this by Q2, hiring two more people. That's $80K annually. Our margins can't handle that."

Sent 15 cold messages on LinkedIn. 3 responded. 1 became my second client. $1,500 in my account 8 days later. Here's the exact message. THE PROBLEM WITH MOST COLD MESSAGES: "Hi! I build AI automation solutions that can transform your business. Would love to chat!" Generic. Salesy. Instant delete. THE MESSAGE THAT WORKED: "Hi [Name] - saw your post about spending hours on invoice processing. I actually just automated this exact workflow for a similar company. Curious if you'd be open to seeing how it works? No pitch, just showing what's possible. 10 minutes on Zoom?" Sent to 15 operations managers who posted about manual document work. 3 responded within 24 hours. WHY THIS WORKED: Specific pain reference - mentioned their actual problem Social proof - "just automated this for similar company" Low commitment ask - "10 minutes, no pitch" Show don't tell - "see how it works" beats explanations THE 3 RESPONSES: "Yeah actually, this is killing us. When can you show me?" "Interesting. What's the cost?" "We tried automation before, didn't work. What makes yours different?" Booked calls with all 3. Closed 1. Other 2 weren't ready but asked to stay in touch. THE CALL STRUCTURE: Minute 1-3: Asked about their current process Minute 4-7: Showed live demo of working automation Minute 8-10: Walked through implementation timeline Client signed same day. $1,500 setup + $250/month. WHERE TO FIND TARGETS: LinkedIn search: "[industry] operations manager" Filter posts by "past week" Look for complaints about manual work, data entry, document processing Found mine searching: "invoice" "manual" "time consuming" 15 relevant posts in 30 minutes. THE DEMO THAT CLOSED: Had working invoice automation ready. Used Make.com plus PDF Vector parsing. Showed email arriving, data extracted, posted to spreadsheet. Real-time. "This exact workflow could be processing your invoices by next week." Seeing it work beat any explanation. REJECTION HANDLING: Most said "not ready right now." I replied: "No problem. Mind if I check back in 30 days?"

clean pdf. readable text. looked totally normal. but wrong amounts every time. THE PROBLEM vendor puts discount on a separate line below the total. extraction grabbed that number instead of actual total. every invoice from this vendor: wrong by exactly $47.50 was about to give up. asked in another community and someone suggested trying pdf vector with json schema to define exactly which field means what. THE FIX switched to structured extraction. told it "total_amount" = final amount due, not subtotals or discounts. honestly didnt expect it to work but now handles 12 different vendor layouts without confusion still learning how to set up schemas properly but way better than my original approach lesson: extraction without context = garbage ever had extraction grab the wrong field?

Client 4 asked for "custom invoice automation." Quoted $2,400. Took 12 hours to build. Client 5 got same automation from my template. Quoted $1,800. Took 2 hours. Client 5 happier. I made more per hour. THE CUSTOM TRAP: Every new client feels special. Different industry. Different formats. Needs "custom solution." First 3 clients, I believed this. Built everything from scratch. Client 1: 9 hours Client 2: 11 hours Client 3: 8 hours Average $1,500 revenue, 9 hours work. $167/hour. Exhausting. Not scalable. THE TEMPLATE BREAKTHROUGH: After client 3, noticed something. All three workflows had identical logic: Receive document → Extract fields → Validate data → Post to system → Notify Only differences - field names, output destinations. Built master template. Customizable variables for client-specific details. THE NEW PROCESS: Client consultation: "Show me your typical invoice" Match to template: "This fits Invoice Template A" Customize in 90 minutes: Field names, output endpoint Test with samples: 30 minutes Total time: 2 hours (was 9 hours). PRICING DIDN'T DECREASE: Still charged $1,500-$1,800. Sometimes more. Client doesn't care if you used template. They care about problem being solved. Template makes me MORE confident, not less valuable. MY 3 CORE TEMPLATES: TEMPLATE 1 - INVOICE PROCESSING Extracts: Vendor, amount, date, line items Validates: Math checks, duplicates Routes to: QuickBooks, Xero, Sheets Use: 60% of clients TEMPLATE 2 - FORM EXTRACTION Extracts: Customer info, selections, uploads Validates: Required fields, formats Routes to: CRM, database, Airtable Use: 30% of clients TEMPLATE 3 - DOCUMENT CLASSIFICATION Analyzes: Document type, routing rules Extracts: Type-specific fields Routes to: Department workflows Use: 10% of clients CURRENT NUMBERS: 8 active clients 7 use templates with minor customization 1 truly custom (complex requirements, charged $3,200) Average delivery: 2.5 hours Average revenue: $1,750 Effective rate: $700/hour