JRInteractive Company Brain Demo

Summit Home Services is a fictional demonstration company created to show how an AI Company Brain works.

Common Mistakes

Pete SandovalReviewed 2026-06-274 min read

Purpose. A candid, standing list of the operational mistakes Summit actually makes, kept so we stop re-learning them the expensive way. Pete maintains it from QC findings, complaint patterns, and the monthly ops meeting. Nothing here is theoretical; every entry has happened more than once. New hires read this in week one. Add to it without shame; the only bad mistake is the one we hide.

The list

  1. Quoting a firm price on the first phone call. A rep gets pushed by a caller and names a number; the site visit finds twice the damage, and now we are negotiating against ourselves. Fix: ranges only until a site visit or photo review, per Pricing and Estimating Rules. The only firm pre-visit number anyone states is the $450 emergency dispatch fee.
  1. Thin handoff packages on "simple" jobs. The rep skips the promises list because it is just a repair, and the crew shows up not knowing we agreed to also reseat the downspout. Fix: the full package from Project Handoff SOP on every job. Pete bounces incomplete packages, and the delay lands on the rep, not the crew.
  1. Verbal promises that never reach paper. "Yeah, we'll take care of that section of gutter too," said in a driveway, remembered by the customer forever, written down nowhere. Fix: anything promised out loud goes on the promises list the same day, or the person who said it calls the customer and corrects it.
  1. Skipping pre-work photos. The crew is behind, they start tearing off, and three weeks later we cannot prove the driveway crack was already there. Fix: the CompanyCam pre-work set from Crew Dispatch SOP is mandatory before the first tool comes off the truck. This one habit has paid for itself many times over.
  1. Letting the customer go quiet-days without an update. Nothing was wrong; we just said nothing, and the customer filled the silence with worry, then anger. Fix: the fixed cadence in Customer Update SOP. If there is no news, "no news, on schedule, next update Friday" is still an update.
  1. Duplicate or stale GHL records. Two opportunities for one job, or a job sitting in Estimate Sent three weeks after it was verbally won. Follow-up automation then does something embarrassing. Fix: one job, one opportunity; stages move the day reality changes. Rosa audits weekly per GoHighLevel CRM Rules.
  1. Negotiating scope changes in the field. A customer asks the crew lead "while you're up there, could you also..." and the lead says yes to be nice. Now there is unpriced work and an unhappy surprise on the invoice. Fix: crews say "I'll have Pete call you today." Pete and Tara price it; the customer approves it in writing before anyone does it.
  1. Booking Tara past the 3-day promise. Rosa fills the calendar to be helpful, Tara falls behind, and estimates slide past the 3-business-day promise we advertise. Fix: the booking throttle in Estimate Scheduling SOP; slow the visits, never the deliveries. If a slip is unavoidable, we call before day 3.
  1. Freelancing the emergency fee. Someone quotes $350 to be sympathetic at 2am, or forgets to mention the tarping charge, and the invoice becomes a fight. Fix: $450 flat plus tarping, credited if we do the permanent work, quoted identically by everyone including the answering service, per Emergency Job SOP.
  1. Explaining warranty or insurance coverage from memory. A well-meaning crew lead tells a customer "insurance will cover that" or misstates our workmanship warranty, and we inherit the gap. Fix: warranty terms come from the signed estimate, insurance outcomes come from the adjuster, and coverage questions route per the Escalation Matrix. Nobody ad-libs coverage.
  1. Sitting on a complaint while we figure out whose fault it was. Two days of internal forensics reads as two days of silence to the customer. Fix: acknowledge same day, assign an owner, then investigate, in that order, per Complaint Escalation SOP.

How this list stays honest

  • Pete reviews QC findings and complaint tags monthly and adds or retires entries.
  • Any team member can nominate an entry at the ops meeting. Naming the pattern is enough; naming the person is not the point.
  • An entry that has not recurred in a year gets retired to keep the list sharp.

Related

Want documentation like this for your business?

Every Company Brain engagement produces documents at this level of detail — captured from your team, organized, and wired into an agent.

Book a Strategy CallSee the agent use it
Book a Strategy Call