"Sounds good, but when and how much?"
When an independent locksmith hears "AI agent that sells over WhatsApp," the first reaction usually isn't doubt about whether it works. It's suspicion about time and money: months of setup, an open-ended invoice, and a developer who never finishes. So I won't talk theory here. I'll talk about a timeline and a price: 15 days, $4,500 USD, and at the end you have an agent that answers, qualifies, books, and collects in your locksmith shop's voice.
Here's exactly what those 15 days look like.
The 15 days, step by step
At Catalizadora we work with a method we call MAGIA: Mapping, Architecture, Generation, Implementation, and Autonomy. Applied to a locksmith shop, it looks like this.
Days 1 to 3 — Mapping
We talk about your real business. What services you offer (emergency lockout, lock changes, key copies, high-security deadbolts), your price ranges, your hours, your service area. The agent has to sound like you and know what you know: when you charge a trip fee, when you don't open cars, what you require for a late-night call.
Days 4 to 6 — Architecture
We define the flow of each conversation. The customer who texts "I'm locked out of my house" doesn't get the same path as the one asking "how much for a key copy?" We design how the agent qualifies, what it asks, when it gives a price range, when it books, and when it hands the case to you.
Days 7 to 11 — Generation
We build the agent, its WhatsApp connection, the CRM where every conversation lands, and the payment flow. This is where the bot starts answering for real, in your tone, and we test it against real cases: the 2 a.m. emergency, the tire-kicker, the haggler, the repeat customer.
Days 12 to 14 — Implementation
We connect it to your number, tune the tone, and fix any reply that doesn't sound like you. You test it, you text it like a customer, and we refine until you can't tell whether the bot answered or you did.
Day 15 — Autonomy
It goes live. The agent answers 24/7, qualifies leads, books visits, sends the payment link, follows up on open balances, and logs every conversation in your CRM. And most importantly: it's yours.
What the price includes (and what it doesn't)
Let's compare it with what you're usually offered.
| Traditional agency | Catalizadora MAGIA Solo | |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | 2 to 4 months | 15 days |
| Price | High setup + monthly retainer | $4,500 USD, once |
| Ownership | The agency's | 100% yours (code, data, conversations) |
| Recurring cost | Locked-in licenses | Pass-through ~$200-400/mo, no markup |
The $4,500 includes the full agent, its WhatsApp connection, the CRM, and the payment flow, all built for your locksmith shop. The only thing that continues afterward is the pass-through operation: around $200 to $400 USD a month in hosting and tokens, with no markup from us. No retainer. No license locking you in. If tomorrow you want to take everything, you take it, because it's already yours.
Why $4,500 and not $0 or $50,000
There are free tools promising a "chatbot." Almost always they're button trees the customer abandons, or generic replies that don't sound like your business. They don't qualify, don't collect, don't learn your operation.
And there are custom builds that cost tens of thousands and take half a year. For an independent locksmith, that's absurd.
MAGIA Solo sits at the right point: a serious agent, built to fit you, with full ownership, delivered in two weeks for the price of a few big jobs. If your operation grows to several techs and routes, MAGIA Core ($15,000) or Forge ($20,000, 12 weeks) scale the same system.
What you need to have ready
To get started you need nothing technical. You need:
- A WhatsApp number for the business (or the willingness to open one).
- Clarity on your services and price ranges.
- An hour with me for the Mapping on day 1.
We build the rest.
The mistake of waiting for the "perfect time"
The independent locksmith lives putting out fires. There's always an emergency, a van to fix, an invoice to chase. So the one project that would actually give time back, the agent, gets pushed to "when things calm down." That calm never arrives on its own.
What changes the math is the short timeline. I'm not asking for half a year of your attention or a change in how you operate. It's 15 days where I do most of the work, with one hour from you at the start and a few tests at the end. Meanwhile you keep opening doors. By day 15, you have a piece of the business that used to depend 100% on you and now runs on its own.
Every week you wait is leads texting after hours with no answer, balances aging, and customers leaving with whoever replies first. The cost of waiting isn't zero; it just never shows up on any invoice.
Start the 15-day clock
The fastest way to understand what the agent does is to talk to one. Message it on WhatsApp and watch it answer, qualify, and collect in a locksmith's voice. When you want yours, book the Mapping call and we start the 15 days: https://cal.com/pablo-estrada-hlqaql.