Why we charge $1,000 for an audit (and credit 100% if you go further)
Free audits select for the wrong buyer. The $1,000 floor is a filter — and the credit makes the math work for anyone who continues.
Free audits cost more than paid ones. Not in dollars — in selection.
A free audit selects for buyers who want to be sold to. They show up curious, they take the readout, they ghost. The ones who become clients are a minority of the ones who said yes to the free thing.
A $1,000 audit selects for buyers who already believe automation moves the needle in their agency. They pay because they want the artifact, not the pitch. By the time we deliver the readout, half the decision is already made.
Why $1,000 and not $500 or $5,000
Five hundred is too cheap to feel like a commitment. Five thousand is in Blueprint territory — the conversation shifts from 'show me what's possible' to 'tell me what to build.' One thousand is the floor where the buyer treats the deliverable as a real artifact and we're still profitable at three hours of senior time.
The 100% credit
The Audit fee credits 100% toward a Blueprint within sixty days of delivery. That's the bridge. The buyer who likes what they saw doesn't pay twice for the diagnostic phase.
It's not a discount. It's the same money, applied where it produces leverage. We get a paid lead-qualification step; the buyer gets a guarantee that diligence isn't a sunk cost.