Choose an AI consultant by asking them to describe one business workflow, show relevant evidence, and put the deliverables, access, costs, testing, and support responsibilities in writing. Local availability matters when your team needs it. The ability to complete and maintain the agreed work should be visible before you sign.
Om Concepts provides AI consulting and implementation for Lehigh Valley businesses. These are the questions we suggest bringing to a conversation with us or another provider. They work whether you need staff training, workflow automation, a custom agent, a receptionist, or changes to the website and systems around them.
Eight questions to ask
1. What will the first deliverable do?
Ask the consultant to describe the first usable result in plain language. “When an inquiry arrives, this process creates a draft record, identifies missing information, and assigns a reviewer” gives you something to inspect.
Then ask where the work starts and stops. Identify the person responsible for the next step. A proposal should distinguish a recommendation report, a configured tool, staff training, and a deployed workflow because each has a different acceptance standard.
2. Why does this approach fit?
A consultant should explain why the proposed mix of tools fits your workflow, budget, and staff capacity. Some jobs call for a form connection or a clearer process. Others require an agent to interpret information and take approved actions.
Ask what the team can reuse from your current software. If a website, CRM, marketing process, or internal tool also needs work, request a clear explanation of that dependency and a separate scope. This helps you see how the broader project affects the first result.
3. What evidence can we inspect?
Ask to see a relevant example and have the provider explain its status: illustration, controlled demonstration, internal operation, or client deployment. Request the original task, resulting artifact, human review step, and an example of how an exception was handled.
Evidence should match the capability being sold. A useful website conversation can demonstrate intake or service routing. Phone forwarding, live transfers, calendar changes, and reliable customer-call handling each need their own checks. Ask how the proposed tests will establish those capabilities for your business.
4. What counts as accepted work?
Agree on a short set of tests before implementation begins. Include ordinary requests, incomplete information, corrections, duplicate submissions, and a connected system being unavailable. Write the expected outcome for each case.
The proposal should name who reviews the results, how defects are corrected, and what remains outside scope. Ask whether a change in your requirements creates additional work. This gives both sides a clear way to distinguish a defect from a new request.
5. What will we own and control?
Ask who owns the business accounts, data, configuration, custom code, documentation, and domain or phone number involved. Have the consultant state any third-party licenses or restrictions that affect what you receive.
Then ask what happens if the engagement ends. You should understand the export process, handover materials, account access, ongoing dependencies, and any work needed to move providers. Put those terms in the agreement instead of assuming that an implementation fee settles every ownership question.
6. What access does it require?
Have the consultant list the accounts and information needed for each task, including whether the system can only read information or also change it. Ask which actions require human approval and how access can be removed.
Use sanitized examples during evaluation where possible. Confirm where business information will be stored, who can inspect it, and how retention is decided. The business security checklist provides a starting inventory for the conversation; account-specific decisions still belong in the implementation scope.
7. What will operation cost?
Request separate amounts or estimating assumptions for implementation, software subscriptions, model or phone usage, hosting, support, and later changes. Ask what volume the estimate assumes and who receives usage alerts.
A recurring fee should describe the work or allowance it covers. Find out what happens when a connection breaks or usage rises. Our AI implementation cost guide shows current Om Concepts offers and the cost questions that sit alongside a package price.
8. Who handles the next problem?
Ask who will respond when a workflow stops, a staff member needs help, or business information changes. Confirm support hours, response expectations, escalation, and the person on your team who will make decisions.
Training and handover should explain how staff recognize a failure and continue the work. Ask for a demonstration of that fallback. A working manual path gives your team a practical way to serve customers while a problem is investigated.
Compare the written answers
Use the same workflow and example inputs when speaking with each provider. Keep this worksheet beside the proposals and write down the evidence or document supporting each answer.
| Decision | Evidence to request | Space for your notes |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | First deliverable, boundaries, connected tools, and delivery stages | To complete |
| Capability | Relevant example with its operating status explained | To complete |
| Acceptance | Test cases, expected results, reviewer, and correction process | To complete |
| Ownership | Account, data, code, license, and handover terms | To complete |
| Cost | Implementation, recurring assumptions, support, and exclusions | To complete |
| Continuity | Support contact, response terms, fallback, and exit process | To complete |
Mark unanswered items as open questions. A smaller proposal with clear boundaries may be easier to evaluate than a broad promise that leaves testing and ownership for later.
Make local delivery specific
If you are comparing AI consultants serving Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, Whitehall, or nearby Lehigh Valley communities, explain what local access means to your team. You may need a workshop at your workplace, remote sessions between appointments, or training repeated for another shift.
Ask who will attend, what preparation staff need, and whether travel or follow-up is included. A service-area statement alone does not confirm those arrangements. Put the agreed format and schedule alongside the deliverables.
Where to start with Om
Start with the website concierge to explore a service need and see how the conversation handles intake and routing. Use that interaction to form questions about your own workflow. Evaluate any proposed phone, booking, or business-system connection through its separate acceptance tests.
For additional context, the internal agent intake case study describes Om Concepts' own operating workflow. Its internal status and sanitized public view matter when judging what it demonstrates.
The AI consulting and automation page explains the service paths and the $500 AI Readiness Assessment. That assessment includes a 90-minute discovery session, workflow review, opportunity map, and recommendations; its fee credits toward implementation.
Bring a real task, your current tools, and the written questions above. The first conversation should leave you with a clearer decision about scope, evidence, and the next useful piece of work.
