“$995/month, no contract”
Cheap until year two. Twelve grand a year for a system you don’t own, tuned by someone who doesn’t sit in your shop. We install, train your people, and leave the machine with you.
Sales kill-shot · category, not feature bingo
We’re not a $995/month AI team. We’re not a six-week MSP pilot.
Naperville-to-Chicago shops now sell monthly managed AI (receptionist, dispatcher, “AI office”) or 6–8 week consulting pilots. We sell a five-day install with a $15,000 or $30,000 bet: make or save the fee in six months — or we worked for free.
One-liner: They rent you an AI employee by the month. We bet a week of our life that we make or save you the fee. Different product.
Side-by-side
| Monthly AI retainers | MSP / Big-firm pilots | Steve Holland AI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Managed AI receptionist / “AI team” by the month | Roadmap + 6–8 week (or quarter) pilot | 5-day immersion + install |
| Price signal | ~$995/mo · ~$12k/year, cancel anytime | Quoted after discovery; weeks of billable time | $15k or $30k once (+ travel if on-site) |
| Clock | Live in ~48 hours — then you pay forever | 6–8 weeks for a small pilot | Five days. Exit sign-off inside the week. |
| Skin in the game | 90-day “results” language, still a retainer | You buy hours and a deck | Make/save the fee ≤6 mo or we ate the week |
| Who does the work | Their remote stack on your phone number | Consultants + your stretched IT | Me, in your business, training your people |
| Fit | Want a rented answering service with AI branding | Need a vendor for compliance theater | Owner wants less waste / more money this quarter |
Their pitch → street answer
“Live in 48 hours”
Fast to bolt a voice agent on the number. Slow to fix labor leaks, dead CRM, review routing, and the owner still doing $15/hr work at 8pm. That’s the week.
“6–8 week AI pilot”
That’s a calendar, not a P&L. We don’t have six weeks of your life. We have one. Map day one. Build and train days two through five.
“We’ll write you a roadmap”
You already know the leaks. Free Labor Leak Checklist first. If the dollars aren’t there, we tell you — we don’t sell a $999 assessment then a bigger SOW.
When they’re the better buy
You want a rented phone-answerer and you’ll pay every month. You want an MSP to own security paperwork. You will not give us five days. Then buy them. Come back when missed calls and payroll waste hurt more than a subscription.
Close: Rent AI by the month if you want a landlord. Don’t confuse a retainer with an operations install. Week one is the P&L — $15k or $30k · free checklist · qualify.
See if you qualify Book 15-min pre-qual (630) 937-9690
Also: vs content tools · FAQ · ROI calculator · Chicago / Yorkville