Exodus Labs AIWhy there is no price list
A voice agent answering one clinic line and an ordering system running across three branches are not the same project. Putting them in the same price box means one of them is subsidising the other, and you have no way of knowing which one you are.
A number published before we understand your work is either padded to cover the worst case, or low enough to get the meeting and then revised. The first wastes your money. The second wastes your time and starts the relationship with a correction. We would rather do neither.
What we will not do: quote you in a chat window, quote you on a first call before we have looked at anything, or give you a range so wide it tells you nothing. If you push, the answer stays the same, and you can hold us to that.
The shape of it
Every engagement has the same two parts, and they are always quoted separately so you can see what you are paying for.
The build, paid once
Designing it, building it, connecting it to what you already use, testing it against real cases and putting it into service. It is a fixed price agreed before anything starts, written into the order form. If the scope changes, we tell you before the work happens, not on the invoice afterwards.
The run, paid monthly
Hosting, monitoring, repairs and keeping the system current as your hours, prices and services change. This is not a support contract you hope never to use. It is the reason the system still works in month six.
We will not sell you a build without a run. A system nobody is watching quietly stops working, usually without telling anyone, and then it is your customers who find out first.
Third party costs, paid by you
Phone numbers, call minutes, messaging fees and anything charged by a provider whose account is in your name. These sit with you rather than being marked up through us, and we tell you what to expect before the build starts rather than after the first bill.
What moves the number up
- How many systems. One is a project. Three at once is three projects.
- How many places it has to reach. One phone line is not the same as five branches with different hours.
- How many languages. Each one has to be built and tested properly, not translated and hoped for.
- How unusual your connections are. Common tools are quick. Software with no proper way in takes real work, and sometimes it is not worth it. We say so.
- How complicated your rules are. Pricing with twelve exceptions takes longer than pricing with two.
- How much traffic it carries. Volume affects the running cost, not usually the build.
What brings it down
- Starting with one system. The one with the biggest leak, proven, then the next. This is what we recommend to almost everyone.
- Having your information in order. Hours, services, prices and rules written down somewhere already, even in a spreadsheet.
- One decision maker. Every extra approval step adds a week and a week costs money.
- Using tools that connect easily. Which we will tell you during the audit, before you spend anything.
- Being honest about what you do not need. Half the features people ask for in the first meeting never get used. We will point at them.
How to work out whether it is worth it
You do not need us for this arithmetic, and you should do it yourself before you talk to anyone in our industry.
- Take the job you want to hand over. Count how many times it happens in a week.
- Multiply by how long it takes, and by what an hour of that person's time actually costs you.
- Add what you lose by not doing it. The calls that ring out. The quotes that arrive late. The empty slot nobody refilled. This part is usually larger than the first part and almost nobody counts it.
- Compare that yearly figure against the build plus twelve months of run.
The audit does exactly this with your real numbers and shows you the working. If it does not add up, the audit says so and you have spent nothing.
What is included without being charged for
- The audit itself, in writing, with no obligation.
- Changes during the build after you have seen it working. That is what showing it early is for.
- Fixing anything that was built wrong. A defect is not a change request.
- Keeping the system current with your hours, prices and services while the run agreement is live.
- A standard export of your data if you leave.
The terms around the money
- Fixed price for the build, agreed before work starts.
- Run fees can be revised once a year, with thirty days notice. If you do not accept it, you can end the run without penalty.
- Thirty days notice to end the run, from either side.
- No exit fee, and no charge to get your data out.
- Taxes and withholding in your country are yours, and we tell you upfront rather than surprising you.
All of it is in the terms of service, written to be read.
Get the real number
The audit is free, it is a written document, and it ends with a figure for your specific case. You are free to take it and do nothing, or take it to someone else.