📘 Internal Sales Guide

The Trellis Sales Playbook

Everything you need to demo, pitch, and close. Market data, buyer profiles, objection handling, and word-for-word scripts.

Part 1

The Market Opportunity

1M+
U.S. restaurant locations
152K
Single-location full-service restaurants
10,488
Med spas in the U.S.
$248M
Combined TAM at $129/mo

Why Now: Three Converging Forces

1. AI Just Got Good Enough — Until 2024, AI content was obviously generic. With Claude Opus 4.6, AI can learn a brand voice and produce content indistinguishable from human-written copy.

2. AI Search Is Replacing Google — 400M+ people use ChatGPT weekly. Google AI Overviews appear on 50%+ of results. Trellis tracks AI visibility — most competitors don't know it exists.

3. Agency Costs Are Unsustainable — Average retainer: $3K–$7K/mo. Trellis delivers 80% of the value at 2–4% of the cost.

$6.5B
Restaurant mgmt software market (2025)
14.7%
Annual growth rate (CAGR)
$8.4B
U.S. med spa market (2025)
13.2%
Med spa CAGR
Part 2

Know Your Buyer

Who They Are

  • Owner or GM of a 1–3 location restaurant
  • Revenue: $500K–$5M/year · Team: 10–50, no marketing hire
  • Uses smartphone, Instagram, maybe Square/Toast — not a power user

Their Daily Reality

  • Works 60+ hr weeks — marketing is item #47 on the to-do list
  • Spends 6+ hours/week on marketing — mostly sporadic Instagram posts
  • Has tried ChatGPT for captions — sounds generic
  • Either overpaying an agency ($2K–$5K/mo) or doing nothing

🔥 Pain Points

  • "I don't know what to post" — blank screen paralysis
  • "My Google reviews are a mess" — unanswered 1-stars dragging rating
  • "People can't find us online" — invisible on Google Maps
  • Rising food costs (97%) and labor costs (98%) squeezing margins
  • Competitor down the street is killing it on TikTok

💡 Purchase Triggers

  • A bad review they didn't respond to
  • Seeing a competitor's viral TikTok
  • Agency contract renewal shock ($3K+)
  • A peer recommending something that works
  • Being shown real data about missed opportunities (SEO audit → $3,350/mo untapped)

How to Talk to Them

  • Lead with time savings: "15 minutes a week instead of 6 hours"
  • Show, don't tell: pull up their actual Google listing, show the gaps
  • Use dollar amounts: "You're leaving $3,350/mo in search traffic on the table"
  • Don't be salesy — they get pitched daily by DoorDash, Yelp, agencies

Who They Are

  • Practice owner, medical director, or practice manager
  • Revenue: $500K–$3M/year · Team: 3–15 staff
  • Often a clinician-turned-business-owner — great at treatments, learning business

Their Daily Reality

  • Treating patients all day, marketing happens at 9pm on the couch
  • Instagram is critical — 70% of clients follow med spas on social
  • Before/after content is king but needs careful handling
  • Competition exploding — new med spas opening constantly
  • 50% invest in digital marketing, but most aren't doing it well

🔥 Pain Points

  • "My Instagram has stalled" — organic reach declining
  • "How do I compete with the new med spa 2 miles away?"
  • "Spending $2K/mo on ads but can't tell if they're working"
  • "Reviews are good but not showing up in searches"
  • Client acquisition cost keeps rising

How to Talk to Them

  • Lead with brand voice: "Trust is everything in aesthetics. Generic AI hurts credibility."
  • Emphasize professionalism — the platform must feel premium
  • Reviews = trust signals: "92% check reviews before booking a treatment"
  • SEO: "When someone searches 'Botox near me,' do they find you or your competitor?"

Disqualify Fast

  • Chain restaurants (50+ locations) — different buying process entirely
  • Brand-new, no online presence — need a website first
  • $0 marketing budget, unwilling to start — mindset issue
  • Looking for a website builder — we optimize marketing, not build sites
  • "Just make me go viral" — wrong expectations
Part 3

Competitive Landscape

Direct Competitors

PlatformPriceStrengthsTrellis Wins
Popmenu$179+/mo + add-onsWebsite builder, established brandAll-in-one, lower price, brand voice AI
Owner.comCustomSEO sites, direct ordering, VC-backedContent + reviews + SEO + GBP scope
Marqii~$100+/moReputation mgmt, hospitality-specificFull content studio + reviews + SEO
Bloom IntelligenceCustomCustomer data platform, WiFi mktgSelf-serve, social-first, simpler

The Status Quo

SolutionReal CostReality
DIY$720+/mo in time6+ hrs/wk at $30/hr. No strategy, generic output.
Agency$3K–$7K/moExpensive. Slow, cookie-cutter, reports nobody reads.
Freelancer$500–$2K/moQuality varies. No SEO, reviews, or GBP. Constant turnover.
Do Nothing$$$$ lost30% of consumers avoid businesses with outdated social.

Our Unfair Advantages

  1. Brand Voice Learning — Learns the business's actual voice. Competitors use templates.
  2. All-in-One for $129 — Content + Reviews + SEO + GBP + Intelligence. Others = 3–4 tools.
  3. Magic Onboarding — Dashboard populated with real data in 3 minutes.
  4. AI Visibility (GEO) — Tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews. Nobody else does this for SMBs.
  5. Content Intelligence — See what's viral in your niche and adapt it.
  6. Built by a Restaurant Owner — Not VCs guessing. Built from lived experience.
Part 4

The Stat Arsenal

Use in conversations, decks, and demos. All sourced 2025–2026.

Social Media & Discovery

74%
of diners choose restaurants from social media
55%
of TikTok users visit after seeing food content
99%
of restaurants have social media (only 69% have a website)
400M+
weekly ChatGPT users searching

Reviews & Revenue

88%
trust reviews like personal recs
5–9%
revenue bump per half-star
31%
more spend at well-reviewed businesses
18%
revenue uplift from positive reviews

Time & Cost

6+ hrs
per week owners spend on social
$3K–$7K
average monthly agency retainer
15 min
per week with Trellis
$129
per month — Trellis Pro

Med Spa Specifics

70%
of clients follow med spas on social
92%
check reviews before booking
$500–700
average client spend per visit
5%/yr
male clientele growth rate
Part 5

What Trellis Does

⚡ Magic Onboarding — The Wow Moment

5 steps, ~3 minutes. The biggest differentiator in the first interaction.

  1. Business Info — Name, type, location, website
  2. Connect Accounts — Google, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok (OAuth)
  3. Brand Voice Analysis — AI reads existing content & learns their voice
  4. Content Preview — Shows AI content in their voice before paying
  5. Dashboard Ready — Reviews synced, SEO queued, content plan generating

Why it wins: Most SaaS = empty dashboard. Trellis arrives with data and content. Reaction: "Wait, it already knows my brand?"

📊 Dashboard Overview

Health Score (0–100), Action Items (prioritized to-do list), Stat Cards, Activity Feed, AI-inferred Customer Personas, and Shots Needed (what to photograph next).

✍️ Content Studio

The core product. AI generates 5–7 posts/week with hook frameworks, full captions in brand voice, shot descriptions, purpose tags, attention scores. Approve/skip workflow. Compose page for one-offs with multi-platform publishing. Visual calendar.

🔥 Intelligence Feed NEW

Pulls viral content from TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram in your niche. "Inspire" button takes a trend straight into Compose. Filter by platform, sort by views/engagement.

⭐ Reviews Module

AI review responses in brand voice. Sentiment analysis, response queue, rating trends, one-click send. Never miss another review.

🔍 SEO Module

SEO Score, site audit, keyword tracking, AI Visibility Score (ChatGPT/Perplexity/Google AI), competitive grid, opportunity feed with dollar values, copy-paste implementation fixes.

📍 Google Business Profile

Health score, quick actions, post management, performance metrics, competitor tracking, Autopilot mode.

🖼️ Media Library

AI-categorized uploads, collections, used-in tracking across posts.

Part 6

Pricing & Positioning

StarterPro ⭐Enterprise
Price$49/mo$129/moCustom
AI Posts30/mo150/moUnlimited
Review Responses10/moUnlimitedUnlimited
SEO AuditsMonthlyWeeklyContinuous
Auto Weekly Plan✗✓✓
Intelligence Feed✗✓✓
GBP Autopilot✗✓✓
Locations13Unlimited
Users15Custom

How to Position $129/mo

🎟️ Current Promo

VIPFIRST5 — 100% off first month of Pro ($129 value). 10 max redemptions. No contract, cancel anytime.

"Try it free for a month. If it doesn't save you time in 30 days, cancel. No hard feelings."

Part 7

The 5-Minute Demo

Pre-Demo Prep (5 min before)

  1. Look up their Google Business Profile — star rating, review count, unanswered reviews
  2. Check their Instagram — follower count, last post date, frequency
  3. Google "[business] + city" — where do they rank?
  4. Note 2–3 specific things to mention in the demo
1
0:00 – 0:30
The Hook — Make It About Them
Don't start with "Let me tell you about Trellis." Start with something specific.
"I looked at your Google listing — you're at 4.2 stars with 230 reviews, but 15 unanswered in the last month, including two 1-stars. That's costing you customers. Want to see how Trellis handles that?"
2
0:30 – 1:30
Dashboard — "Your Marketing Command Center"
Show Health Score, Action Items, Stat Cards. "Everything in one place instead of 5 different tools."
3
1:30 – 2:30
Content Studio — "Your Content Team for $129/mo"
Show a weekly plan. Click into one post — hook framework, caption, shot description.
"Your job? 15 minutes reviewing, approve what you like, skip what you don't. Done for the week."
4
2:30 – 3:30
Reviews — "Never Miss Another Review"
Show review feed. Generate an AI response live.
"Written in 2 seconds, in your brand's voice. One click to send."
5
3:30 – 4:30
SEO & GBP — "Getting Found"
Flash SEO score + dollar opportunity. Flash GBP health + autopilot.
"$3,350/month in search traffic you're not capturing. Trellis shows you what to fix and how."
6
4:30 – 5:00
The Close
Go for the setup. Magic Onboarding is itself a selling moment.
"Full AI marketing team for $129/month. First month free. Want to get set up? Takes 3 minutes."
Part 8

Objection Handling

Tap any objection to see the recommended response.

Price

"$129/month is a lot for us"
How much time do you spend on marketing per week? At $25/hr, 5 hours = $600/month of your time. Trellis cuts that to 15 minutes. You're saving money AND getting better results.
"Can't I use the Starter plan?"
Starter gets you started, but Pro is where the magic happens — unlimited reviews, weekly SEO, auto content plan, intelligence feed. And your first month of Pro is free.

"I Can Do This Myself"

"I already use ChatGPT"
ChatGPT doesn't know your brand — every prompt starts from zero. Trellis learns your voice once and keeps it consistent. Plus — are you also doing SEO, reviews, and GBP in ChatGPT?
"I use Canva + Later/Buffer"
Those help you make and schedule posts. They don't tell you WHAT to post, manage your reviews, audit your SEO, or track AI search visibility. Trellis does the thinking, not just the doing.
"My nephew does our social"
Great! Trellis would make their job way easier — full plan with captions, hooks, and shot lists ready to go. It's a force multiplier, not a replacement.

Trust & AI

"AI content sounds generic"
Most AI IS generic because they use cheap models. We use Claude Opus 4.6 trained on YOUR content. Pull up Content Studio — read a caption. Can you tell it's AI? Most people can't.
"I don't trust AI with my reviews"
Nothing goes out without your approval. Trellis writes the first draft in 2 seconds — you're still the editor. Think fast copywriter, not autonomous bot.

Competition

"I already have an agency"
How much are you paying? Trellis does content, reviews, SEO, GBP, and intel for $129/mo. Use it alongside them or redirect that $3K+ elsewhere in the business.

Stalling

"I need to think about it"
First month is free, cancel anytime, no contracts. Zero risk. If it doesn't save you time in 30 days, cancel. But once that first weekly plan lands, you won't want to.
"Can you send me info?"
Absolutely — but the best way is to try it. Setup takes 3 minutes and month one is free. Want to do it together right now?
"Need to talk to my partner"
Let me set up the account now so you can show them a live dashboard with real data. Way more convincing than a PDF. We can cancel if they're not on board.
Part 9

Vertical Playbooks

Lead Story: Content Fatigue

"Every restaurant owner knows they should post more. Nobody knows what to post. Trellis eliminates blank-screen paralysis with a full weekly plan — hooks, captions, shot lists — in their actual voice."

Key Demo Moments

  1. Content Studio → weekly plan with food-centric hooks and shot descriptions
  2. Reviews → AI responses to positive and negative reviews
  3. SEO → keyword opportunities ("birria near me" — 1,900 monthly searches)
  4. GBP → how optimization impacts "near me" visibility

Platform Priority

  • Instagram: 74% of diners use it to choose restaurants
  • TikTok: 55% visit after seeing food content
  • Facebook: 59% use for discovery (especially 45+)
  • GBP: Make-or-break for "near me" searches

Revenue Impact Closer

"Every half-star on Google = 5–9% more revenue. $1M restaurant = $50K–$90K. Responding to reviews is the #1 way to improve your rating."

Lead Story: Trust & Credibility

"In aesthetics, your brand voice is everything. Generic AI hurts — clients need confidence before booking a $500+ treatment. Trellis learns your professional tone and maintains it everywhere."

Key Demo Moments

  1. Content Studio → treatment-focused plans with before/after guidance
  2. Brand Voice → professional, clinical-yet-approachable tone
  3. Reviews → treatment-specific responses with empathy
  4. SEO → treatment keywords ("microneedling SLC," "Botox near me")

Platform Priority

  • Instagram: Before/after content, visual trust-building
  • TikTok: Treatment videos go viral — 41% of 18–24 use it for discovery
  • Google: "Med spa near me" and treatment-specific searches
  • Facebook: Better for 35+, good for promos and events

Revenue Impact Closer

"Average client = $500–$700/visit. 3 new clients/month from better marketing = $1,500–$2,100 new revenue. That's 10x your Trellis subscription."

Part 10

The Trellis Origin Story

Use when they ask "who built this?" or "why should I trust you?"

"Trellis was built by Tanner, who owns Muertos Cantina — a Mexican restaurant in Salt Lake City. He was living the exact problem: working 60+ hours, knowing marketing was falling behind, too busy to fix it.

He tried agencies ($3K/month for mediocre social posts). Tried DIY (posting at midnight after close). Tried ChatGPT (generic captions that didn't sound like him).

So he built what he wished existed: an AI that learns your brand voice, generates a full plan every week, manages reviews, audits SEO, and optimizes your Google presence — all for less than one hour with an agency.

Muertos Cantina is our first customer. We use Trellis every day. It's not something built in a lab — it's something built because we needed it."