Why I abandoned my SOPs (and turned them into AI coaches instead)

Author

Jeff Sauer
June 28, 2025

In partnership with

Free AI coaches now available (built from my agency brain)

Two years ago, I set myself a goal: create five SOPs per week documenting how to run an agency business.

It was ambitious. I recorded my thoughts while walking, using Otter.ai to capture everything from employee onboarding processes to pricing strategies to pitch techniques.

The plan was solid. We'd create beautiful PDFs and checklists, host them on ProfitSchool, and help agency owners systematize their businesses.

But something didn't click.

We never really distributed them. They just sat there. Digital artifacts collecting digital dust.

And as AI evolved rapidly during those 18 months, I started questioning the entire premise.

Who prints out SOPs anymore?

Who follows static checklists in a world that's constantly changing?

I'd created relics before they even had a chance to be useful. The guilt of wasted effort hung over me.

So I shelved the project. Wrote it off as a sunk cost.

Until recently… 

A simple thought hit me: What if these SOPs weren't meant to be read? What if they were meant to be interacted with?

Instead of printing SOPs out, what if we embedded all that knowledge into custom AI agents that could guide you through exactly what you need, when you need it?

No more searching through documents. No more static checklists that don't adapt to your situation.

Simple conversation. Easy answers. Judgement-free guidance.

So that’s what we did. 

We took all those SOPs, plus years of course content, client interactions, and research, and transformed them into specialized AI coaches that live inside our ProfitSchool community.

The best part? I decided these shouldn't be locked behind another paywall. If they sat on ice for 18 months, the least I could do was make them accessible to everyone in our community for free, forever.

The Three AI Coaches We've Released:

1. Clarity Coach - Built by Mercer, this is the same system he uses daily to gain clarity on priorities and next steps. It helps you decide which systems to work on and how to make progress when you're stuck.

2. Pricing Pilot - This one's mine. It draws from 20 different sources on agency pricing, including 12 SOPs I created specifically on this topic. I genuinely believe ProfitSchool has the best pricing tools for agency businesses available. No more guessing what to charge - just have a conversation with the bot.

3. Offer Oracle - This incorporates my book Service Stacking and everything I know about creating compelling agency offers (learned from personally selling 8-figures of agency services). It helps you build value ladders, match offers to client awareness levels, and structure your services for maximum impact.

Together, these three AI coaches cover the core elements of our O.P.S. operating system, giving you instant access to guidance that previously sat unused in our archives.

They're free forever inside ProfitSchool. The only "catch" is you need an account in our community to access them.

I encourage you to try them out, even if you've never used AI tools like this before. Form the habit of consulting these coaches when you need answers. See how consistent, purpose-built AI can transform your decision-making process.

This isn't just about making use of content that was gathering dust. It's about showing you what's possible when you start thinking "AI-first" in your business.

We're currently in the middle of our Battle of the Bots Workshop, where we're teaching exactly how to build systems like these. These three coaches serve as a proof of concept - a demonstration of what's possible when you transform your knowledge into interactive AI experiences.

If you're curious about building something similar for your business or clients, there's still time to join us. Or simply experiment with these tools and see how they might inspire your own AI implementations.

The world is changing rapidly. Our approaches need to change too.

What feels like wasted effort today might just be tomorrow's breakthrough. 

All you need to do is find the right packaging.

To Your AI-First Success,
Jeff Sauer

P.S. I've created three ways to help you succeed, depending on how much support you need:

Join our FREE Community: Get instant access to our resource library, growth tools, and a network of forward-thinking entrepreneurs.

ProfitSchool Pro: Join our live sessions multiple times per week where I personally guide you through implementing AI-first systems that scale.

Done-For-You Solutions: Let our expert team build custom AI automations that increase your profit per employee and help you scale without adding headcount. [See if this is right for your business]

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