The Sophie Project

Could this be your silver bullet?

Sophie runs Meritage in Saint Paul. She answers the phone. She triages email. She manages the calendar, posts to social media, and never forgets a follow-up. She's not a chatbot — she's operational infrastructure, built from real problems solved in a real restaurant.

The Origin

Twenty years of knowing exactly what was needed. Now, finally, the technology to make it real.

Every restaurant operator knows the feeling. The phone rings during service. Emails pile up over the weekend. Institutional knowledge walks out the door every time someone leaves. Revenue disappears into the gaps between what needs to happen and what actually gets done.

The solutions have always been the same: hire more people, work longer hours, accept the chaos. But the problems aren't about effort. They're about capacity. Human attention doesn't scale.

Sophie isn't a chatbot. She's the administrative infrastructure that hospitality has always needed — and that technology has only just made possible.

Sophie was built at Meritage over months of real operation. Every feature exists because it solved an actual problem. The HR workflows, the calendar management, the email triage, the social media posting — none of it was theoretical. All of it was tested in production, refined through use, and proven before it became a product.

Now we build them for other operators.

The difference between a chatbot and operational infrastructure

What you've seen before

  • Scripted responses that frustrate guests
  • Can't actually do anything — just deflects to "call us"
  • No memory of previous conversations
  • Breaks the moment someone asks something unexpected
  • Makes your brand feel cheap
  • Exists to reduce liability, not serve guests

What Sophie actually does

  • Answers calls with your voice, your knowledge, your standards
  • Handles reservations, answers questions, captures leads
  • Triages email and responds to routine inquiries
  • Manages your calendar and coordinates bookings
  • Posts to social media on schedule
  • Routes complex issues to you — with context

Built in modules. Proven in production.

Every node was developed to solve a real problem at Meritage. They've been refined through months of actual operation — not theoretical use cases.

📞
Voice & Phone
Answers calls, handles inquiries, captures messages, routes when needed
📧
Email Triage
Reads, categorizes, responds to routine inquiries, escalates the rest
📅
Calendar
Coordinates calendars, creates reminders, makes your calendar system usable
🎯
Lead Capture
Qualifies inquiries, captures contact info, follows up automatically
📱
Social Media
Scheduling posts, assisting in content development, helping create a consistent presence
👥
HR & Staff
Onboarding workflows, staff communication, document management
💬
Chat Widget
Immediate response to simple questions, available on your website 24/7
📊
Financial Intake
Receives financial information and sends weekly reports on what's coming in
The Business Case

The math that hospitality operators already know.

These are conservative estimates based on industry averages. Your numbers may be higher.

What missed calls cost

Average reservation value $150
Missed calls per week 10-15
Conversion rate if answered 40%
Lost revenue per week $600-900
Annual lost revenue $31,200-46,800

What an administrative assistant costs

Average salary range $45,000 – $65,000
Benefits & taxes (~25%) $11,250 – $16,250
Training, turnover, management $5,000 – $10,000
Total annual cost $61,250 – $91,250

Hiring an admin assistant

$61,000 – $91,000
per year, plus missed calls
vs

Operations Partner

$29,500
Year 1 ($14,500 + $1,250×12)

Half the cost of a hire. Available 24/7. Never calls in sick. Year 2 costs $15,000 — while the value compounds as the system learns the operation.

Three-Year Comparison:
Hiring vs. Sophie

Year 1
Hire: $76,000
Sophie: $29,500
Savings: $46,500
Year 2
Hire: $76,000
Sophie: $15,000
Savings: $61,000
Year 3
Hire: $76,000
Sophie: $15,000
Savings: $61,000
Traditional admin hire (mid-range) Operations Partner
3-Year Cost: Admin Hire $228,000
3-Year Cost: Operations Partner $59,500
3-Year Savings $168,500

Based on mid-range admin salary of $55,000 + 25% benefits + $10,000 annual turnover/training costs. Sophie also captures revenue from missed calls that a single admin can't answer.

Investment

Two paths. No surprises.

Choose the scope that fits the operation. Both include ongoing optimization and support.

Start Here

Administrative Assistant

Multi-channel agent built around the biggest pain points

Setup & Build $9,500
Monthly $950
  • Voice agent trained on your brand
  • 2-3 integrated channels
  • Choose your operational nodes:
  • Lead Capture & Qualification
  • Calendar Management
  • Email Triage & Response
  • Chat Widget
  • Ongoing optimization & support

Start with what's most urgent. Add nodes as the operation grows.

Complete System
The Full Build

Operations Partner

The complete system. The same infrastructure that runs Meritage.

Setup & Build $14,500
Monthly $1,250
  • All channels: Voice, email, chat, forms, social
  • All operational nodes:
  • Lead Capture & Qualification
  • Calendar Management
  • Email Triage & Response
  • Chat Widget
  • Social Media Management
  • HR & Staff Communication
  • Financial Intake & Reporting
  • Custom Workflows
  • Priority support & continuous optimization

The complete infrastructure, built the same way we built our own.

Next Step

Start the conversation.

Describe what's taking up too much time. We'll respond with an honest assessment of whether this is the right fit — and what it would take to build.

Sophie
Sophie Briand Administrative Assistant