Consultants should start with OLVA: a private AI assistant on your client calls, a free 9-minute lesson. In a practice copy of OLVA, a third-party assistant that runs on your computer instead of joining the call as a bot, you save your client notes as a reusable context, get a private answer when the client asks a hard question, catch a wrong number with a fact check, and turn the meeting into minutes, a follow-up email and an editable PowerPoint deck. Client calls are a consultant's product, so that is where AI helps first.
The path is five free lessons and about 45 minutes. One uses OLVA; four use ChatGPT only.
Which lesson should a consultant take first?
Take the OLVA lesson first. The example is Northgate Advisory, a made-up consulting firm, on a client call. What it teaches beyond the tool is the habit: prepare the context before the call, check numbers live, and leave the call with minutes and a follow-up already drafted. If you'd rather not use a live assistant, start with the meeting summary lesson instead.
How do you turn any client meeting into owners and dates?
Summarize a Meeting Transcript turns a transcript into a summary, decisions, an action items table with an owner and a due date for every task, open questions and a follow-up email. It takes 9 minutes. "Not stated" marks every task without an owner, which is the list you raise before the next call.
Why learn prompt structure third?
Because proposals, kickoff agendas and status reports repeat across clients. Prompt Writing 101 shows the four parts of a reliable request, Role, Context, Task and Format, and has you save it as a template. It takes 8 minutes.
How do you answer scope questions without giving work away?
Use the routine in Reply Faster: Customer Emails. Paste the thread with the facts you can stand behind, which for a consultant is the statement of work, get a draft, and have ChatGPT match every promise to a fact. It takes 9 minutes. The check catches a friendly "sure, we can add that" that turns into unbilled work.
Why does a consultant need the AI search lesson?
Because prospects now ask ChatGPT who to hire. Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT has you play a small CPA firm that ChatGPT doesn't name yet, find out why, and use ChatGPT to fix the gaps with your own facts. It takes 10 minutes. The same steps apply to a consulting firm, and agencies can run them for clients.
Which prompts can you copy today?
Three prompts to paste into your firm's approved AI tool. Fill in the brackets.
You are a consultant at [FIRM]. Here are my discovery call notes: [PASTE]. Draft a kickoff meeting agenda for [CLIENT]: goals, scope as agreed, roles, first deliverables with dates, risks and open questions. Use only the notes; mark anything unconfirmed "TO CONFIRM".
A client asked for extra work: [PASTE REQUEST]. Our statement of work says: [PASTE SCOPE]. Draft a friendly reply that says whether this is in scope, quoting the line, and if not, offers a short change request with what we'd need to price it. No commitment to dates or cost.
Here is a 20-page report: [PASTE]. Write a one-page executive summary for [AUDIENCE]: the question, the answer in two sentences, three findings with the page each comes from, recommendations and decisions needed.
Fuller versions with filled-in examples: client kickoff agenda, scope change reply, statement of work draft, executive summary from a report and discovery call prep.
Terms to know: statement of work, scope creep, kickoff meeting, quarterly business review, utilization rate and AI note taker.
How long will this take, and what do you need?
About 45 minutes in total. The practice versions are free. To work for real:
- Lesson 1 needs OLVA; check its site for current plans.
- Lessons 2 to 5 need ChatGPT, which has free and paid plans. Use a business plan with data controls for client material.
Check each vendor's pricing page for current plans.
Try it free, step by step
OLVA: A Private AI Assistant on Your Client Calls. Give OLVA your client notes, get private answers and fact checks during a Zoom call, then turn the meeting into minutes, a follow-up email and a PowerPoint deck. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of OLVA, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Start the free lessonWhat should a consultant keep a human on?
Keep the advice and the client's confidential material in your hands.
- The recommendation is yours. AI can organize findings; the judgment you're paid for isn't something to outsource.
- Client confidentiality. Check your contract and the client's policies before pasting their material into any AI tool, and get consent before recording calls.
- Check numbers and sources. AI can misquote a figure from a report. Trace every number in a deliverable back to its source.
Key takeaways
- Consultants should start with the OLVA lesson, or with Summarize a Meeting Transcript if they'd rather not use a live assistant.
- The five-lesson path takes about 45 minutes.
- The promise check, used against the statement of work, catches scope creep in friendly replies.
- The AI search lesson shows how to get named when prospects ask ChatGPT who to hire.
Frequently asked questions
- Is it OK to use AI on client calls?
Only with the client's consent and within your contract's confidentiality terms. Tell clients what tool you use and what happens to the recording.
- Can AI write my proposals?
It can draft from your discovery notes and past proposals. The pricing, scope and recommendation still need your judgment and review.
- Does this path work for agencies too?
Yes. Agencies run the same client calls, scope conversations and reports. The consulting and agencies hub collects the lessons for both.