Dave Renaud / African Surfaris — pitch pack

Talking points for showing Dave the live-vs-preview before/after. DRAFT for Daniel's voice — nothing sent. Warm outbound — Daniel knows Dave; this is a mate showing a mate something he built, not a pitch deck. NO hard close.

60-second brief: Dave Renaud — ex-SA surfing champion, England head coach 2003–2020, running African Surfaris (SA + Mozambique surf trips, est. 2000) from the UK. Contact: dave@howtosurfbetter.com / +44 7854 870857. Flagship site is a template-locked Wix build where the only way to enquire about a multi-thousand-pound trip is a bare email link — no form, no booking, no WhatsApp, no pricing, no testimonials. Massively photogenic product, underserved by the template.

The show — before/after

Open both, ideally on a phone. His logo has been re-traced clean, his photos given room to breathe, the sunset palette drawn from his own artwork. Let him look first.

[INTERNAL: the preview shows the LOOK only. The surfer animated background and the enquiry engine were deliberately deferred — describe the funnel, don't hunt for it on screen, and don't promise the animated background as if it's built.]

Beat 1 — the funnel (lead with this)

The real story isn't prettiness, it's leaks:

Quotable: "Right now, someone dreaming about a surf trip lands on your site, and the only thing they can do is open their email app. Half of them never send it. The rebuild puts a proper enquiry flow in — a short form that captures dates, group size, ability level and what kind of trip they're after, then drops them straight into WhatsApp with you. You wake up to enquiries that are already half-qualified."

• Trip-parameter capture: when / how long / how many / ability / surf-only vs surf-plus-safari / rough budget band — so every enquiry arrives ready to quote.
• WhatsApp-first — the natural channel for gap-year and travel buyers; email fallback stays.
• Enquiries go to Dave — his inbox, his WhatsApp, his customer list. Nothing routes through anyone else.
• Room for the things the template never gave him: trip pricing (or "from" bands), testimonials from 25 years of clients, clear itineraries.

Beat 2 — the imagery

Quotable: "You've got twenty-five years of the best surf photography in Southern Africa and the template is cropping it into postage stamps. The rebuild is built around the photos — that's the whole design."

Point at specific spots: hero, the horizon footer, the trip sections. Then ask what imagery he's got that never made it onto the site (there will be a hard drive full).

Beat 3 — the multi-brand angle (soft, second beat, only if it's landing)

Quotable: "And this is just Surfaris. You've got Shaka sitting on an older site doing the same job for Sri Lanka — same treatment works there. How To Surf Better is honestly in decent shape; that stays your hub. Worth thinking of the three as one family at some point — no rush."

• shakasurfcamps.com — dated, brochure-only → the obvious rebuild #2.
• howtosurfbetter.com — healthiest of the set, already his enquiry hub — praise it, don't pitch it.
• [INTERNAL: surfcoachinternational.com unverified — possibly defunct. Don't bring it up; if HE does, "let's check what's still live."]

The content ask (if he's keen — one list, once)

1. Trip content — itineraries per trip, dates/seasons, inclusions/exclusions, prices or "from" bands, deposit + booking terms.
2. Photos & video — originals at full resolution (not the compressed site copies); the unused archive especially.
3. Testimonials — a handful of past-client quotes; his coaching pedigree (England Surfing, ISA) as trust markers.
4. FAQ raw material — the questions every enquirer asks him anyway.

Launch keys — set the expectation early, at signature

Same list, same framing as every build: "the day we agree, I need the keys, once."

1. Domain/DNS access for africansurfaris.com.
2. WhatsApp Business — starts day one. Business verification takes 2–14 days, so it begins at signature and go-live follows it. No same-day switch-on — say this before anything is signed.
3. Google Business Profile access (and ad accounts later, if marketing ever comes up — costs nothing to grant now).

If price comes up (don't force it — this call is the show)

Quotable holding line: "Let me put a proper scope in writing rather than guess at it over coffee — you'll have a number and exactly what it covers."

• [INTERNAL — the BUILD number is UNCONFIRMED, do not quote on the call: two conflicting frames exist. Delivery recipe (process/02) prices the Repaint package at R28 000 / $2 750 / £2 040; PRICING.md §5 has "Rebuild" at R7 500 on the cheap-door volume model. Dave is UK-based (£) and warm — Daniel must pick the frame per PRICING.md — confirm before quoting.]
• [INTERNAL — monthly care IS settled (PRICING.md 🔒 2026-07-29, all verticals): Host R450/mo · Maintain R850/mo · Grow R2 500/mo, month-to-month, no lock-in; founding clients get 50% off for 12 months (R225 / R425 / R1 250). Maintain is the one to name if he asks what keeping it running costs. Anything outside a plan is R1 000/hr, minimum one hour — the client-facing rate, safe to say out loud.]

Call shape (relaxed, ~15 min of substance)

1. Catch up properly first — this is Dave.
2. "Built something with your site — want to see?" → the before/after.
3. Beat 1 funnel → Beat 2 imagery → Beat 3 multi-brand (only if warm).
4. If keen: content ask list + the WhatsApp-verification expectation.
5. Close soft: "Want me to scope it properly and send it over?" That's the whole ask. No deadline, no pressure — the preview does the selling.

Likely questions — quick answers