Don't be fancy. Just do this.
I run strategy sessions every week with business leaders trying to help them navigate the next chapter of growth and elevating their employee/customer experience using AI. A pretty clear pattern is emerging..
Most folks just need to get comfortable with AI basics.
Don’t even worry or think about the fancy stuff. It’s pointless right now.
9/10 people I talk with don’t even know what the standard tools (GPT, Claude, Gemini) are capable of or how to use them to effectively to tackle the repetitive/manual/boring stuff.
I had several sessions this week and thought I’d share some real world examples to illustrate this and hopefully give you some practical ideas you can take action on today. One is a legacy business trying to modernize operations and uncover revenue leaks. Another is a 3D printing company rethinking its pricing model and sales engine. The third is a franchise owner trying to bring AI into local marketing for the very first time.
Each has its own challenges, context, and opportunity but all are discovering how small, practical AI investments can drive meaningful progress.
The legacy business that was acquired and trying to rebuild from the inside out.
A new owner recently acquired a legacy business. Most of the systems in place were a mess. Lots of bubble gum and duct tape. No one has full visibility into what makes up the monthly revenue. Most invoices are still being mailed by hand. Employees are checking hundreds of websites every week to find names to match to product shipments. It’s slow, tedious, and error-prone.
During our session, I helped the team think through a better approach. Rather than just throw more bodies at the problem, we sketched out an AI-enabled process. Web scraping sites on a recurring schedule, filtering based on geography and timing, and pushing the results into a clean, centralized view. That alone could free up time and increase quality overnight.
Then we talked about digitizing invoicing with basic tools like QuickBooks, standardizing and tracking work in a lightweight tool like Trello, and documenting SOPs so tasks weren’t trapped in people’s heads. The goal isn’t just cost-cutting. It’s freeing up team capacity to focus on high value work like improving the customer experience and accelerating cash flow.
Key takeaways:
Don’t start with AI. Start with what’s broken
Focus first on automating repeatable tasks that slow your team down.
Use AI to enable better decisions and cleaner data.
The 3D printing company stuck on price.
This brand has a great product that is being sold across dozens of franchises, hyper-realistic 3D figurines. The challenge? Price.
Customers loved the idea at events and trade shows, but the price tag made it a hard sell. One of the founders wants to use AI to automate 80% of the rendering process, hoping it would reduce the cost of design and lower the price for customers.
It made sense in theory, but today’s AI still struggles with the complexity of quality 3D generation at scale. So we zoomed out.
Instead of trying to slash costs through unproven tech, what if they used AI to grow the top line first? We chatted through AI-powered workflows to source better leads, segment potential customers, and automatically build high-quality prospect lists. We also explored using tools like Claude/GPT/Gemini to personalize follow-ups, streamline franchisee onboarding, and retarget past customers with offers.
We talked about creating training materials using Notebook LM and HeyGen, speeding up franchisee ramp time and reducing support burden on corporate. And eventually, when the tech catches up, they’ll still be ready to apply 3D AI rendering in the future. But for now, the fastest path to growth is smarter sales.
Key takeaways:
Don’t wait for AI to perfect your product. Use it to boost top-line growth now.
Sales enablement, lead generation, and personalization are a few ways that AI shines today and can implemented now.
Train your team with AI-generated content to reduce friction and scale.
The franchise owner trying AI for the first time.
I met someone that runs a local franchise and cares deeply about the customer experience. He knows he’s underperforming on local marketing, but isn’t sure where to start. He has a small team and lean margins.
We talked about the basics. Using Claude/GPT/Gemini to generate seasonal promos and social posts. Also using it to analyze sales data and suggest where to optimize/focus. Or web scraping to analyze local competitors’ Google reviews and find what customers love/hate.
We brainstormed automating local outreach, making training materials for new hires, and feeding point of sale data into GPT to uncover trends. The key isn’t complexity, it’s consistency. He didn’t need a custom AI app. He needed AI as a co-pilot for decision-making and execution.
By the end of the call, he was ready to upgrade to GPT Plus and start experimenting.
Key takeaways:
Most businesses don’t need to spend energy/time worrying about anything fancy. Just start with consistently using the basic tools.
Sales and marketing is a great place to start. IMO, this is where small changes have big upside.
Use AI to increase focus, reduce cost, and amplify what’s already working.
Wrapping up
If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed about all the AI noise, I get it.
Most folks shouldn’t worry about the fancy stuff and just simply start using the basic tools daily and getting more and more comfortable with using it as a copilot. It will help clarify your thinking, inform better decisions, enable faster execution, and give you (and your team) a ton of time back to do the work that actually matters (like making the customer experience unique/differentiated).
If you’re struggling to get started, here are 15 ideas I’m constantly sharing with clients. They’re easy and you can do any of them in 10 minutes or less.
Use GPT to summarize your last 5 sales calls and pull out objections. Use it as a coach to help you figure out how to improve.
Drop your sales data into GPT and ask for trend analysis.
Create 10 seasonal social posts using GPT. It’s killer at images with text now.
Use Claude to rewrite your product descriptions based on customer reviews.
Scrape Google reviews from competitors and summarize what people love/hate.
Generate email campaigns using past order history x GPT.
Give GPT any docs you have on your standard operating procedures/processes (SOPs) and ask it to help write onboarding guides. If you don’t have these docs, do a brain dump into Otter/Fathom, then take the transcript and ask GPT to generate it for you 😉
Use N8N, GumLoop, or Zapier to scrape data from websites then clean/structure using GPT and store in your CRM, database, or a simple Google Sheet. This could be leads/prospects, reviews, competitor pricing, etc.
Use GPT to turn transcripts into strategy docs, then use Gamma to turn that into a presentation instantly.
Feed transcripts from meetings into GPT/Claude/Gemini and ask for action items.
Query across all your internal docs with Notebook LM. Use it to streamline training/onboarding employees.
Create a 30-day social content calendar using GPT. Feed it past content to create voice and tone guidelines.
Use GPT/Claude/Gemini to write job descriptions and interview questions.
Auto-generate outreach emails with name and region personalization.
Use GPT/Claude/Gemini to summarize sales/marketing data and share key insights.
Whether you’re running a small business, scaling a mid-sized company, or transforming a large legacy brand, just focus on streamlining/improving the basics first. If there’s duct tape or bubble gum holding something together, tackle that. If you’re doing anything manually and/or repeatedly, fix it with AI.. THEN shift gears to use AI to help you create a differentiated experience for your customers.
Onward & upward,
Drew
P.s. I publish this newsletter weekly to share ideas about building smarter, faster, and more customer-centered experiences and businesses. If this was helpful, forward it to a friend or check out past editions at stealthx.co.