Is the build fee too much to implement AI in my advisory firm
The build fee is roughly four months of an internal marketing director's salary, or about half what an RIA spends in a year on FMG Suite, an SEO consultant, and a content writer combined. Whether it's too much depends on what the implementation replaces and what it produces, not on the sticker price alone.
What the build fee is being compared to
| Alternative | Year-one cost | Recurring |
|---|---|---|
| Internal marketing director (W-2) | $140K-$200K all-in | Same, every year |
| Fractional CMO for RIAs | $60K-$120K | Same, every year |
| FMG Suite + SEO consultant + content writer stack | $45K-$90K combined | Same, every year |
| Quiet Machines implementation | Build is scoped from the audit (one-time) | Optional Lights-On only |
What the build fee actually covers
- Three days on-site at the firm, installer in the office, not on Zoom.
- The brain build, Client Brain, voice library, prompts, operator playbooks.
- Wiring the brain into email, CRM, calendar, document storage, and compliance.
- 90 days of Lights-On remote operation after the on-site.
- Printed Operator Runbook, training recording, and the handoff one-pager.
When the build fee is too much
It's too much for a solo advisor under $30M AUM with no team to put the implementation to work. It's too much for a firm that wants the principal to keep doing all the work and just have AI as a Google replacement. It's too much for a firm that won't actually change a single workflow after the implementation lands.
When the build fee is the right number
It's the right number for a firm with $50M-$2B AUM, a principal who is the bottleneck on content and prep, and a team of two to twelve who can absorb the new workflows. At that shape, the implementation pays for itself the first time it shaves a quarter's worth of the principal's evenings.
The math the founders usually do
Most implemented firms compare the build fee against either (a) the cost of one more advisor hire they were going to make and now don't have to, or (b) the lost revenue from the next ten prospects who never got followed up. Either of those clears the implementation cost in year one.
What we do not do for the build fee
We don't rebuild your website. We don't run your ad accounts. We don't take over your tool billing. The price is for the implementation, the brain, the wiring, the handoff. Marketing execution stays with the firm.
How to think about the price against actual time savings
The cleanest way to evaluate the build fee is against principal hours, not vendor invoices. A founder-advisor at a $200M firm typically spends six to ten hours a week on work an implemented brain absorbs: meeting prep, client letters, follow-up drafts, content calendar, lead triage. At a conservative $400/hr opportunity cost, the implementation pays for itself somewhere between month four and month eight. After that, the math is in the firm's favor every quarter. The flat-price structure exists because firms who don't pay for the implementation don't make the workflow change required to get the value back, and we'd rather price for that than do free work that doesn't stick.
The other way founders evaluate is against the next decision they were going to make. If the firm was about to hire a $90K associate to absorb prep and client communications, the implementation does most of that work for half the year-one cost and zero ongoing salary. If the firm was about to spend $40K on an FMG-style content vendor, the implementation replaces the need for outside content production by giving the firm a brain that drafts in-voice on demand. In either case, the build fee is a smaller commitment than the alternative the firm was already prepared to make.
What the implementation does not promise
It does not promise more AUM in 90 days. It does not promise a specific number of prospects. It does not promise that every team member will love it on day one. What it promises is a working brain implemented by the end of the on-site, a firm whose principal can stop being the bottleneck on prep and content, and a runbook the firm owns. That's what the build fee buys, the implementation itself. The firm growth that follows is a function of how the firm uses the implementation, not a guarantee bolted onto the price.
Sources
You don't buy the build fee on faith. You buy it on the audit. AI visibility audit →