Case study · United Stations

They asked for training.
We built them a sales platform.

United Stations sells advertising for some of South Africa's best-loved stations. Their team was already using AI to write proposals. The proposals were getting faster, and more generic.

See what we built
8 daysfrom the first meeting to a working demo
2core AI workshops for the whole team
6tools built around how they actually sell
Learn it + build ittraining and development, in one engagement
The brief

"Use AI.
Use it properly."

United Stations is the Johannesburg audio and digital sales house behind Kaya 959, Jozi FM, Algoa FM, OFM, Smile 90.4FM and Moneyweb. Their marketing team invited me in to talk about AI training.

The message was clear: they weren't against AI. Their people were already using it every day. They just wanted it used well, so every proposal sounded like United Stations, not like everyone else's chatbot.

What we found when we listened
→

Generic proposals

Client briefs were pasted into AI and the answer pasted straight into proposals, so ideas often didn't fit the station.

→

Briefs at 10pm, due at 8am

One proposal often had to cover several stations at once, with very little time to do it well.

→

Station facts scattered everywhere

Audience figures, rate cards and presenter profiles lived in long PowerPoint decks that were hard to keep current.

→

A hidden data risk

Client names and plans were going into free AI tools. Nobody had realised what that meant under POPIA.

What we delivered

Training first.
Then the tools to make it stick.

Training changes habits. Tools keep them. So alongside the workshops, I built a set of tools around the way the United Stations team actually works, each one designed to make the right way the easy way.

01 · Learn it

Two hands-on AI workshops

AI Fundamentals gives everyone a clear, honest picture of how AI works, what it can't do, and how to use it safely. From Generic to Specific teaches the team to brief AI properly, so proposals come back specific to the client, the station and the objective.

  • Built around their own proposals and stations
  • Half training, half practical labs
  • Safe use and POPIA built in, not bolted on
Workshop 1AI FundamentalsHow AI works, its limits, and safe use
Workshop 2From Generic to SpecificBriefing AI so proposals fit the client and station
Format2 or 3 hours eachHalf training, half hands-on labs with their own work
ToolsGemini firstThe AI they already have in Google Workspace
02 · Proposal Coach

A coach in every rep's pocket

A simple app the team opens before and after they use AI. It turns a client brief into a strong prompt, checks a draft for generic wording and unsourced numbers, and holds the house rules for safe AI use. Nothing typed into it leaves the browser.

  • Brief builder with a brief-strength meter
  • "Generic or Specific?" draft check and team game
  • Approved station facts, ready to paste
Proposal Coach home screen
03 · Proposal Studio

Proposals as beautiful web pages

Reps start from the brief, let AI draft it with the real station facts, edit in place and send a branded web proposal, with a PDF and PowerPoint version if the client wants one. A built-in check scores every draft before it goes out.

  • Talk, paste or drop in the client brief
  • Rate-card pricing that fits the budget
  • One standard for every station and every rep
Proposal Studio editing a web proposal
04 · The Audioverse

A 107-slide rate card, turned into a portal

Their station information lived in a very long PowerPoint deck. I rebuilt it as an interactive media kit: station pages, audiences, line-ups, rate cards and live listening, all in one place and easy to keep up to date.

  • "Who do you want to reach?" audience matcher
  • Campaign planner and ready-made packages
  • Printable one-pagers for every station
The Audioverse interactive media kit
05 · Website

A website that sells, not just informs

A full redesign of their website with the Audioverse at its heart. Advertisers can say who they want to reach, listen to the stations live and send a qualified enquiry that goes straight to the right station contact.

  • Search across the whole site
  • Enquiries routed by station
  • Built to their brand, ready for their team to run
Redesigned United Stations website home page
06 · Sales desk

One place to run the sales team

A private staff area that brings it together: new proposals, client requests and a sales dashboard connected to HubSpot. Managers can create board packs and personal account-manager reports in one click, as PowerPoint or a web page.

  • Booked vs target, pipeline and win rates
  • "Revenue radar": the next best opportunity for each client
  • Data-health checks that keep HubSpot accurate
Sales dashboard showing sample data

Shown with sample data.

AI-assisted.
Human-made.

How it came together

Listen first.
Then build fast.

Nothing here started as a product idea. Every tool came from something the team said in the room, and was shown back to them as a working demo within days, not months.

That's what AI makes possible now: a small business, or a busy sales team, can have tools built around exactly how they work, without a big software project.

1

Listen

One meeting with the people who write the proposals, to hear what really slows them down.

2

Train

Workshops that build real skill and judgement, using their own work as the material.

3

Build

Working tools in their brand, shown early and shaped by their feedback.

4

Hand over

Everything set up so their own team can run it, with support when they need it.

What would you build
for your business?

Learn to do it yourself with AI, or have it built for you. Start with a free 5-minute AI Time Audit, or just send me a message.

Take the free AI Time Audit Start a conversation