What does Ardent Executive Services do?

Two things, run separately. On the AI side: AI systems, marketing automation and paid media for local service businesses, ecommerce brands and political campaigns. The other side is NIL deal tooling for brands, club programs and parents of athletes.

Do you only work with businesses in Lake Havasu City?

No. Lake Havasu City, Arizona is where Ray Dietrich is based. Clients are anywhere in the United States and the work is delivered remotely. Local clients can meet in person.

What is an AI command center?

It is five systems installed together and connected to the tools a business already uses, so lead response, review requests, content, reactivation and your Friday report all run without anyone remembering to do them. It is not one piece of software you buy; it is a setup built on the business's own accounts.

How much does Ardent cost?

Prices are published. The AI Command Center is 1,997 USD one-time for the Deep Dive and the Build, then 497 USD per month for Autopilot, month to month, cancel any time, and that includes the tool subscriptions the system runs on. The do-it-yourself AI Command Center Playbook is 197 USD and is credited toward the build if you upgrade. The Local Business AI Playbook PDF plus Prompt Vault is 17 USD. The AI Quick-Start Checklist is free. Ad management, CTV, email and bespoke consulting are scoped on the free 60-minute AI Game-Plan Call.

Is the first call really free?

Yes. The AI Game-Plan Call runs about 60 minutes and you leave with a plan of the two or three fastest wins for your business whether or not you hire anyone.

How long does a build take?

An AI command center is live inside two weeks, because business texting has to be approved by the phone carriers first; faster if no SMS is needed. Bigger front-end work such as a new website, a Shopify launch or a full email and SMS capture system runs longer, and that is scoped on the call.

Do I have to buy a bunch of software?

The system runs on a few tools that sit in your own accounts. While you are on Autopilot their cost is inside the 497 USD monthly fee. If you cancel Autopilot they become your own bills, usually under 200 USD a month. Some of those tools pay Ray a commission if you sign up through his link.

Do you work with political campaigns?

Yes. Campaign back-office, marketing, list building and paid media are part of the consulting practice.

What industries does this work for?

It works wherever a customer has to raise their hand before anything happens: trades and home services, marine and powersports, pools, salons and clinics, restaurants and professional services, plus ecommerce and DTC brands.

What is the difference between buying the playbook and hiring Ray?

The playbook is the instructions and many owners run it themselves for $17. Hiring Ray means he installs it, connects it and runs it.

How do I get in touch with Ardent?

Book the free AI Game-Plan Call from the booking link on the page, or use the contact form at https://www.ardentexecs.com/contact. Ray is in Arizona, US Mountain Standard Time year round; Arizona does not observe daylight saving.

Ardent AI · Lake Havasu City, Arizona

AI systems and marketing for businesses that can't afford to miss a lead.

Ardent Executive Services is Ray Dietrich's consulting practice. I install the AI systems that answer every lead, ask for every review, and win back customers who already bought once — and I run the paid media, email and automation around them. Local shops, ecommerce brands, and political campaigns. Havasu is home; the work is remote and nationwide.

Book a free AI Game-Plan Call Get the free checklist

The short version

What Ardent actually does

Most local businesses do not have a lead problem. They have a follow-up problem. The call comes in at 7pm while the owner is on a job, nobody calls back, and the customer hires whoever answered. The same business has hundreds of past customers it never contacts again, and a review count that stopped growing two years ago.

I fix that with five systems, installed once, running on the business's own tools — not rented from an agency. Then, where it makes sense, I run the acquisition on top: Meta and Google, connected TV, email.

Who runs it: Ray Dietrich, founder. Twenty-five years building online businesses.
Based in: Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Clients anywhere in the United States.
Works with: local service businesses, ecommerce and DTC brands, political campaigns, founders and owners.
Engagement types: consulting and advisory, done-for-you management, or self-serve products.
First step: a free 60-minute AI Game-Plan Call. You leave with a plan whether or not you hire me.

The build

The five systems

Installed as one command center, live inside two weeks.

Get found

A front door that actually captures. If your site is dead or you don't have one, I build it, with a form that works and goes somewhere. Then one job you already did becomes a week of content across your channels.

Front desk

A missed call turns into a text inside ten seconds, in your voice, and books the slot while you're on a job. Every call, text and form answered, 24/7.

Review machine

A review request after every job, without anyone remembering to send it. Replies drafted for you, including the one-star ones. An alert the day your rating moves.

Reactivate & offer

Win-backs to every past customer and every dead quote, plus triggers: somebody buys today, and eleven months from now the tune-up offer fires on its own. This is usually where the first money shows up.

Owner's brief

A Friday report: leads caught, reviews gained, money found, what your competition is doing, and what to do next week.

Services

What you can hire me for

Consulting & advisory

Strategy for small businesses, digital and ecommerce brands, and political campaigns. Find the leaks, map the plays, leave you a plan you can run yourself.

Meta & Google ads

Campaign strategy, build and management across Meta and Google, from someone who has been buying online ads since before you could pay for them with a credit card.

CTV & streaming ads

Connected-TV and streaming campaigns: the reach of television with the targeting of digital.

Email marketing

Sequences, campaigns and automations. I have built and monetized lists in the millions.

Marketing automation

The wiring that captures every lead, follows up on its own, and runs the busywork.

Done-for-you digital media

Don't want to run it yourself? I run the whole thing — media, content, automation — end to end.

Start without hiring anyone

What it costs

Every price is on this page. Nothing here is "contact us for pricing."

The AI Command Center — done for you

$1,997 + $497/mo

Deep Dive, Build, then Autopilot. All five systems installed in your own accounts, live inside two weeks. Autopilot is month to month, cancel any time — and while it's running, the tool subscriptions your system runs on are included in the $497.

Book the Game-Plan Call

The AI Command Center Playbook — do it yourself

$197

All five machines taught step by step, every copy-paste prompt, and the offer-audit method that found $68,081 in one store. Credited toward the build if you upgrade.

Get the Playbook

AI Quick-Start Checklist

Free

One page. Gets your first AI system live today. No card.

Download it

The Local Business AI Playbook — PDF + Prompt Vault

$17

The seven-day playbook plus the prompt vault. Five systems, set up once, in your own accounts.

Get the PDF + Vault

The book, on Amazon

$2.99 Kindle · $9.99 paperback

The Local Business AI Playbook: How to Get More Customers Without Hiring an Agency by Ray Dietrich.

Get it on Amazon

The guarantee

You can't really lose here.

The Game-Plan Call is free and you keep the plan either way. And within 60 days of your command center going live, it's catching leads, asking for reviews and waking up old customers — or the $497 stops and I keep working, free, until it does.

Why me

Ray Dietrich

I am not an agency that read about this. I am a direct-to-consumer operator who runs the same systems inside my own companies — co-owner and CMO of a multi-million-dollar retail and DTC brand that runs lean on AI agents and a weekly read on the numbers.

1M+ followers built on a media brand run with AI.
$68,000 in unattended discounting found in a single afternoon inside my own store's order data.
Three books written in my own voice with AI, including the book on AI for local business.
25 years of this — eight-figure ecommerce one year, a shop with one truck the next.

You own everything I build. It lives in your accounts, under your login. While I'm running it, the tools are covered inside the $497; if you ever cancel, they're yours to keep.

Book the free Game-Plan Call Ask a question first

Questions

Straight answers

What does Ardent Executive Services do?: Two things, run separately. On this side: AI systems, marketing automation and paid media for local service businesses, ecommerce brands and political campaigns. The other side is NIL deal tooling, linked at the bottom of this page.
Do you only work with businesses in Lake Havasu City?: No. Lake Havasu City, Arizona is where Ray is based. Clients are anywhere in the United States, and the work is delivered remotely. Local clients can meet in person.
What is an AI command center?: It is the five systems above, installed together and connected to the tools a business already uses, so lead response, review requests, content, reactivation and your Friday report all run without anyone remembering to do them. It is not one piece of software you buy; it is a setup built on your own accounts.
How much does it cost?: Published, not hidden. The AI Command Center is $1,997 one-time for the Deep Dive and the Build, then $497 a month for Autopilot — month to month, cancel any time, and that includes the tool subscriptions your system runs on. The do-it-yourself Playbook is $197, and it is credited toward the build if you upgrade. The PDF + Prompt Vault is $17. The Quick-Start Checklist is free. Ad management, CTV, email and bespoke consulting get scoped on the free Game-Plan Call.
Is the first call really free?: Yes. It runs about 60 minutes, and you leave with a plan of the two or three fastest wins for your business whether or not you hire anyone.
How long does a build take?: A command center is live inside two weeks. Two and not one because the phone carriers have to approve business texting before it delivers reliably; if you don't need SMS, it can be faster. Bigger front-end work — a new website, a Shopify launch, a full email and SMS capture system — runs longer, and that gets set on the call rather than guessed at here.
Do I have to buy a bunch of software?: The system runs on a few tools — the platform, business texting, a site if you need one. They sit in your accounts, and while you're on Autopilot their cost is inside the $497. If you cancel Autopilot, they become your bills — usually under $200 a month, and less if you already have some of them. Nothing gets connected to an account you don't control. Full disclosure: some of those tools pay me a commission if you sign up through my link; I'd point you to them either way, it's what I run.
Do you work with political campaigns?: Yes. Campaign back-office, marketing, list building and paid media are part of the consulting practice.
What industries does this work for?: It works wherever a customer has to raise their hand before anything happens — trades and home services, marine and powersports, pools, salons and clinics, restaurants, professional services — plus ecommerce and DTC brands, where the same follow-up mechanics run on a bigger list.
What is the difference between buying the playbook and hiring you?: The playbook is the instructions, and plenty of owners run it themselves for $17. Hiring me means I install it, connect it and run it, so it is working while you are still on the job.
How do I get in touch?: Book the free Game-Plan Call on the booking link on this page, or send a message through the contact form. Ray is in Arizona, US Mountain Standard Time year round — Arizona does not observe daylight saving.

Looking for the NIL side? Athlete deals, NIL contract templates and deal review are a separate practice with its own products and its own pages — start at the NIL section. Nothing on this page is part of that, and nothing there is part of this.