AI & Search Transformation · Onboarding
Roman Blinds Direct
Onboarding call run sheet + everything we already know
Tue 8 Sep 2026 · Bernie + Arlen Dalzell (dev: Matthew) · term starts today · 6 months
Where things stand, 30 seconds
- Signed: full 6-month AI & Search Transformation. $25,000 up front, $6,000 credited from the Nov 2025 sprint, $19,000 invoiced (+GST, due end of month, confirm it arrived).
- Already delivered: keyword + AI-prompt strategy (490 approved keywords), page-by-page on-page plan, 33-question master FAQ, content roadmap, 3 calibrated articles signed off in April and held for the new site.
- Onboarding form: completed in Nov 2025, no need to redo it.
- Product range: effectively confirmed, Arlen (18 Aug): everything on staging carries to live, more products added after launch, nothing deleted.
- Top priority: Arlen wants the site live asap and that depends on content. The open question: actual page copy vs metadata.
If you only get 10 minutes, the three must-asks
1. The content fork. "Your product and collection pages on the new site, do they already have the descriptions and copy written in, or is it the metadata and on-page side (titles, descriptions, headings, FAQs) you need from us?"
If copy exists, we refresh and optimise it, which is exactly what this is built for. If pages are blank, agree the small launch-critical list to fast-track first.
2. Access. "Is the new site live yet, and can Matthew set us up with WordPress admin, add teamempathyaccess@gmail.com? We'll also want a couple of plugins on the WooCommerce so we can deploy our on-page work directly."
Our old login was staging-only, and Numero's handover means nothing carried over automatically.
3. The audience gap. "Paint me a picture of your ideal customer, who are they, what stage of life, what do they ask before they buy?"
The one thing the original onboarding never captured. The audience section was left blank in Nov 2025 and no persona work exists anywhere in the file. Fill it today.
What we already know, don't re-ask, confirm
The numbers
| Average lifetime value | ~$4,000, many repeat customers across a 20-year history (their estimate, Nov 2025) |
| Online revenue | ~$12,500/month (Nov 2025), with peaks like $28,000 in Oct 2025 |
| The goal | $500K-750K/yr online (~$62.5K/mo), a 4-5x on today, plus "get my domain authority back where it used to be" (Bernie) |
| The backstory | The previous site did $15-20K/week before an earlier agency's $30K rebuild tanked the rankings (SEO never migrated). Recovery is the real benchmark. |
| Ad spend | ~$4,000/month average across Facebook, Mailchimp and Google Ads (4-year average, media only) |
| Tracking | Sales recorded in the shop platform only, no lead/enquiry tracking, reviews requested ad hoc by email |
Closest competitors (their top 5, Nov 2025)
- Bargain Blinds & Curtains, bargainblinds.co.nz
- Blinds by Tuiss, blindsbytuiss.co.nz
- Curtain Studio, curtainstudio.co.nz
- Rods & Blinds, rodsandblinds.co.nz (actively running Google Ads)
- Budget Blinds, budgetblinds.co.nz
Brand facts (verified across the strategy + FAQ work)
| Who they are | NZ-owned made-to-measure manufacturer, 40+ years, private sewing workroom at 47 King Street Hamilton (no showroom, free samples instead). NZ-wide + international delivery. |
| Products | Custom roman blinds, curtains (sheer/thermal/blackout), roller blinds (blockout/sunfilter/thermal), true + faux wood slat blinds, motorisation. Not sold: aluminium venetians, honeycomb/cellular, readymade curtains, eyelet/grommet curtains, wave tracks. |
| USPs | Supply your own fabric · affordable motorisation (from $220, 5-yr motor warranty) · low-cost nationwide delivery · up to 6 free samples · DIY & save (~30% vs retail) · measuring/install video guides · 2-year guarantee · 50+ five-star Google reviews |
| Delivery | Flat fee by island: $35 North / $50 South. "4 to 6 weeks depending on workload." International on request. |
| Voice | Friendly industry expert, "professional without being overly technical" (Arlen's words). Proof-backed: a stat, table or expert insight per section. Terminology: curtain tape, single/double pleat, inverted pleat. |
| Comms | Slack was their stated preference in Nov 2025 (then email, WhatsApp), offer them the shared channel. |
Strategy headlines (already agreed research)
- Biggest win: build a /blinds/ hub. "Blinds" (5,400/mo) and every "blinds nz/[city]" term has no page to land on, the nav currently points at /roman-blinds/.
- Defend roman blinds, already ranking #8-9 on "roman blinds" / "roman blinds nz". Careful, additive-only changes there.
- Curtains is the sleeper giant, the biggest search territory, thinly built and barely interlinked today.
- Motorisation is the margin story: re-slug /affordable-motorisation/ → /motorised-blinds/.
- Approved already: venetian → wooden-slat 301 merge (Matthew ready), roller sub-collection dedupe pending a canonical decision.
Set the expectations (your talking points)
- We start from a live site and build on it. Don't hold the launch for perfect pages, go live, we sharpen from real data.
- Phase one: technical + on-page foundations, priority blog refreshes and new articles (the 3 calibrated articles upload as soon as we have access).
- Product & collection pages: once the content strategy's confirmed, the on-page and metadata layer moves fast, usually within a couple of weeks, deployed straight into WooCommerce.
- Full product-description rewriting comes in phases as those workflows land in Notable. Blog refreshes take priority meanwhile.
- ~100-150 pieces over the six months, approval points before anything ships, AI-Ready at 80/100 is the goal.
Mine their voices, the real job of the hour
Story & positioning
- Bernie, take me back, 40 years of making blinds in Hamilton. How did it start, and what's the story you're proudest of?
- The old site was doing $15-20K a week at its peak. What was working then that we should bring back?
- What do you want to be THE name for? What should someone ask ChatGPT and get Roman Blinds Direct back?
- The top-5 competitor list from last year (Bargain Blinds, Tuiss, Curtain Studio, Rods & Blinds, Budget Blinds), still the right list? Who's hurting you most right now?
Customers (the gap, go deep here)
- Who's the ideal customer? Age, life stage, renovating or building, DIY confidence?
- Walk me through a typical order, what do they ask before buying? What almost stops them?
- Who are the repeat buyers that make up that $4,000 lifetime value, what brings them back?
- Kartika and the team hear customers every day, what words do customers themselves use?
- Trade/commercial or wholesale customers (the Wholesale Blinds arm), in scope for this work, or consumer only?
Products & seasonality
- Best sellers and margin heroes, is motorisation the growth bet? (Woodlook faux wood, supply-your-own-fabric, energy + climate blackout and grey blackout were flagged popular.)
- When's the buying peak? (Oct did $28K, is pre-Christmas the season?)
- Anything new coming to the range we should build content around?
Claims & house rules (confirm on the record)
- Confirmed claims we'll lean on: 2-year guarantee, 5-year motor warranty, up to 6 free samples, save ~30% factory-direct, $220 motorisation entry, healthy-homes/thermal angles. Anything to add or retire?
- Anything we must NEVER say? (We already know: no products you don't sell, no showroom wording, correct pleat terminology.)
Ways of working
- Who approves content and how fast? (After calibration, review-before-publish sits with you.)
- Slack was your preference back in Nov, want the shared channel, or stay on email?
- Who runs Google Ads now that Numero's gone? (They held the ads retainer.) We'll work alongside whoever does.
- Matthew's role, does he action our technical specs, or do we deploy directly once we have access?
Technical loose ends to confirm
- Venetian → wooden-slat 301s and canonicals, actioned by Matthew yet?
- Roller sub-collection duplicates (blockout / sunfilter / thermal on two URLs each), canonical decision was parked, settle it.
- Go-live date + the 301 map from the old site, who owns redirects at cutover?
- Site-wide consistency fixes: delivery wording ($35/$50, "4 to 6 weeks"), showroom references removed, and the About page still shows the OLD address (25 Vialou Street, should be 47 King Street).
- GA4 + Search Console carry over at launch (we hold access) · Google Merchant Center, exists? who owns it?
- Backlink history: Prabin / Pure SEO built earlier authority, worth auditing what survives.
Close the call
- Recap: access this week → strategy confirmed against the live site → content plan approved → production starts.
- Confirm the invoice landed, payment by end of month.
- Book the next touchpoint before hanging up.