# What do $2M to $20M local business owners actually say about AI and marketing? The Main Street Agency Brief from Verbatim, by Gerard Blokdyk of The Art of Service, is a USD 497 one-off advisory for agencies that sell AI, funnels or lead generation to local trade businesses. It gathers what HVAC, plumbing, electrical and other local owners and operators said on 900+ podcasts in the last 30 days, every quote linked to the second it was said, and turns it into pains, recipes, lanes, traffic and a build agenda for one trade vertical. Page: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/evidence-for-agencies-selling-ai-to-local-businesses ## Signs your agency is pitching on guesswork - Our proposals sound like every other AI agency. - Owners say the leads are junk. - We can't prove the pain before the pitch. - We need the owner's own words for the deck. ## The Main Street Pain Grid It shows the five parts of the brief as five shopfronts on one street; a lit window means linked moments exist for your trade. - **Pains**: what owners said is costing them - **Recipes**: what worked, with numbers - **Lanes**: offers no agency pitches yet - **Traffic**: how owners say they buy - **Build agenda**: pages and offers for your pitch ## Why do local owners need evidence, not claims? A founder who builds funnels for local businesses said on a podcast that owners in the $2 million to $20 million band can pay, and that agencies still charge $20,000 for a good funnel. A home-services agency said on another show that it now wins only 30% of its lead disputes. Owners hear the same AI pitch every week. An agency that opens with what owners in the trade said out loud, playable at the second, is not one more claim. ## What does the brief contain? 1. **Pains.** What owners in your trade vertical said is costing them, in their words. 2. **Recipes.** What worked for operators, with the numbers they reported. 3. **Lanes.** Offers nobody is pitching that trade yet. 4. **Traffic.** How owners say they find and buy services. 5. **Build agenda.** The pages and offers to build into your pitch, with ready-to-run build prompts. Delivered within two business days, read by a person before it is sent. ## FAQ ### How do I find what local business owners say about AI? Verbatim tracks 900+ business podcasts and keeps short, attributed quotes from founders and operators, including owners of local trade businesses. Search the library for your trade, or order the Main Street Agency Brief at USD 497 and get the month's evidence for one vertical, every quote linked to the second. ### What evidence helps an agency pitch HVAC or plumbing companies? Owners' own words about leads, crews, calls and costs, with the numbers they reported, carry more weight than an agency's claims. The Verbatim Main Street Agency Brief collects them for one trade, each quote playable at the second it was said, so it can open a deck or a proposal. ### How much does the Main Street Agency Brief cost? The Verbatim Main Street Agency Brief is USD 497, paid once, delivered within two business days. It is a Verbatim Advisory One brief focused on one trade vertical. If you want the same evidence every month, the Verbatim Advisory Monthly brief is USD 297 a month, cancel any time. ### Which trades does it cover? Any local trade you name on the order form: HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, cleaning, landscaping and other home and building services. Gerard reads the library for that vertical first. If there are too few first-hand moments for one trade, the brief widens to the nearest trades and says so. ### Can I use the quotes in client proposals? Yes, as short quotes with attribution and a link to the moment, which is how Verbatim publishes them. The full episode belongs to its publisher, so link to it rather than copying it. Every quote in the Main Street Agency Brief plays from the exact second it was said. ### How are speakers verified? Every Verbatim quote links to the second it was said, so you can hear the speaker yourself. Speakers introduced by name on the episode are marked verified. Shows flagged as possibly machine-made are reviewed by a person and excluded if they are, so they never reach a brief. - Order the Main Street Agency Brief, $497: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/advisory/start?plan=once&focus=main-street&src=main-street - See sample trade evidence: https://verbatim.theartofservice.com/main-street-sample-evidence Updated 2026-11-02. Verbatim by The Art of Service, Brisbane, Australia.