The automation clients actually pay for is the chore they already hate
A small automation shop owner learned that ambitious end-to-end pitches get nods but no sales, while one dreaded recurring task — the weekly report nobody wants to assemble, the copy-paste between two tools, the follow-ups that fall through — sells immediately when it quietly disappears. Price it against the hours it eats, not the impressiveness of the system, and the bigger projects follow once trust is earned. Lead with the chore they hate.