Planning an AI installation for a small Hampshire business, step by step

Installation is not coaching

In coaching, the owner implements with guidance. In an installation, someone sets the system up for you. They are different services, and installation is scoped and quoted separately from Dean Keating's coaching. This resource helps you plan an installation whoever does it, so you can compare quotes sensibly. A fuller walkthrough is in Dean's guide to AI installation for small businesses in the UK, linked below.

Phase 1: the access inventory

Check account ownership before planning the installation. Before anything is installed, make a sheet listing each system involved, who the account owner is, who has admin rights, and whether two-step verification is on. Include email, website admin, domain registrar, booking software, Google Business Profile and accounting package.

• Accounts in a former employee's name need transferring first.
• Accounts held by a web designer need either a handover or a named contact.
• Never share a personal password; use invited-user access where the system offers it.

Phase 2: map what data moves where

Fill in your own version with your own answers. It is a planning aid, not legal advice or a statement that any setup meets your obligations.

Phase 3: run it in shadow mode first

For the first stretch, the system drafts and suggests but nothing goes to a customer without a human sending it. Keep a log of each draft and whether it was sent as is, edited, or thrown away. The log is your evidence of whether the installation is ready to be trusted with more.

Worked example: a fictional test script

Fictional example. Names and messages are invented.

Imagine "Example Cleaning Co", invented, with a helper that drafts replies to new-job enquiries. Before accepting the install, the owner prepares twenty made-up test messages, including awkward ones.

• "How much for a 3-bed? Need it today." Pass if the draft does not invent a price and asks the right questions.
• "Cancel my booking." Pass if it is flagged for the owner, not answered automatically.
• A message in capital letters and anger. Pass if it is routed to the owner with no cheerful template reply.
• A message with a fake phone number and no postcode. Pass if the draft asks for the missing details.
• A blank message. Pass if nothing is sent.

Human checks that never go away

• Complaints, cancellations and anything involving money are read by a person.
• A named person checks the log weekly.
• Any change to the prompts or rules is written down with a date.

Acceptance checklist

• All twenty test messages behave as written, shown to you live.
• You hold admin access to everything installed.
• A one-page document explains what it does and does not do.
• There is a documented, tested way to switch it off.
• The quote's scope matches what you see delivered, line by line.

Measuring after go-live

Pick a before-and-after pair you can count: minutes per week on routine replies, median time to first response, or the share of drafts sent unedited. Check at two and six weeks. If drafts are being heavily rewritten, the fix is better examples, not blind trust.

Next steps

Dean is based in Horndean, Hampshire, and help is available remotely. This is an affiliated editorial resource, not an independent recommendation. To ask about coaching or to discuss whether a separately scoped installation fits, call 07810 666662 or WhatsApp 07418 627304. Terms are agreed directly.