Nov 4 • Wins 🌟
Built a workflow in 8 minutes that replaced my client's $15k/month agency retainer. They kept me instead.
Built a workflow in 8 minutes that replaced my client's $15k/month agency retainer. They kept me instead.
Here's what happened when I showed them what I can do:
THE INITIAL CALL
Client: "Our agency takes 2 weeks to build simple workflows"
Me: "What are they building?"
Client: "Lead qualification and routing"
Me: "Show me their last delivery"
Client: *shares screenshot*
Me: "...I can build that right now on this call"
THE AGENCY'S APPROACH
What they delivered after 14 days:
- 47-page proposal document
- 3 revision rounds
- 2 "strategy sessions"
- 1 basic workflow (12 steps)
- Monthly optimization calls (sales pitches)
Their pitch: "Enterprise-grade workflow architecture"
Reality: Manual node placement in n8n
Time: 2 weeks per workflow
Cost: $15,000/month retainer
THE BREAKING POINT
Client: "We need 6 more workflows this quarter"
Agency: "That'll require expanding the retainer"
Client: "To what?"
Agency: "$25k/month for additional workflow capacity"
Client called me frustrated.
MY DEMO (LIVE ON ZOOM)
"Give me a workflow requirement right now"
Client: "When a lead fills our form, qualify them by company size, route hot leads to sales, warm leads to nurture, cold leads to educational content"
I opened skada.ai
Typed the requirement in plain English.
Hit generate.
8 minutes later:
- Form webhook configured
- AI qualification logic built
- Multi-path routing created
- CRM integration connected
- Slack alerts automated
- Email sequences triggered
Client: "Wait... that's it?"
Me: "Test it"
They submitted a test lead.
Everything fired perfectly.
Client went quiet.
THE COMPARISON
Agency Method:
- Discovery call: 1 hour
- Proposal creation: 3 days
- Approval process: 4 days
- Build time: 5 days
- Testing/revisions: 2 days
- Total: 14+ days
- Cost per workflow: ~$5,000
My Method:
- Describe what you need: 2 minutes
- Generation: 5 minutes
- Testing: 1 minute
- Total: 8 minutes
- Cost: Functionally zero
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
Client: "Can you build the other 5 workflows?"
Me: "Right now?"
Client: "...yes?"
Built all 5 in 47 minutes.
On the same call.
While they watched.
Workflows delivered:
1. Lead scoring and assignment
2. Customer onboarding sequence
3. Support ticket routing
4. Payment failure recovery
5. Feedback collection and analysis
Agency timeline: 10 weeks
My timeline: 47 minutes
THE AGENCY'S RESPONSE
Client called to cancel their retainer.
Agency: "You need ongoing optimization"
Client: "His workflows just work"
Agency: "What about strategy?"
Client: "I described what I needed. He built it. That was the strategy."
Agency: "You'll regret this when scaling"
Client: "He built 6 workflows in under an hour"
THE REAL KICKER
Two weeks after switching:
Agency workflow broke (integration update).
Took them 4 days to fix.
My workflows?
Still running perfectly.
Zero maintenance.
Zero issues.
Client's message: "Why did agencies convince us this was complicated?"
MY NEW POSITIONING
I don't compete with agencies anymore.
I show clients what's possible when:
- You can build workflows in minutes, not weeks
- You describe requirements in English, not flowcharts
- You iterate instantly, not through revision cycles
Current client results:
- Average workflow build time: 6 minutes
- Workflows deployed monthly: 47
- Previous agency capacity: 3 workflows/month
- Cost reduction: 94%
THE UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH
Most automation agencies are solving a problem that shouldn't exist.
Workflow building isn't complicated.
The tools made it complicated.
Agencies profited from that complication.
When you remove the complication?
The business model disappears.
WHAT I LEARNED
Agencies sell time.
I'm selling speed.
They charge per workflow.
I charge for infinite workflows.
They need weeks.
I need minutes.
One client just asked: "What are you building this in?"
That's when I knew I had something different.
Who else has watched an agency take weeks for something that should take minutes?
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Built a workflow in 8 minutes that replaced my client's $15k/month agency retainer. They kept me instead.
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