Check & MateDocs

Check & Mate AI is a complete AI-powered sales platform built for tabletop game publishers. It combines trained AI sales personas, a proven sales methodology engine, gamified training arenas, live coaching from DwAIght (our master sales AI), a full commerce engine with financing and invoicing, and real-time escalation that puts you in the loop when it matters most.

Your AI doesn't just talk — it thinks, adapts, calculates financing live, protects your margins, and escalates to you in real time when a deal needs your approval. All without leaving the dashboard.

Core Concepts

• Games — Your products, complete with pricing, descriptions, and landed cost that protects your margins.
• AI Personas — Your virtual sales reps. Each has a unique voice, personality, and backstory — but they all run on the same proven methodology.
• Sales Methodology — The C&M scripture. Six core principles baked into every persona automatically. The persona is the costume; the methodology is the skeleton.
• AI Arena — Gamified sales training where your AI sells and you watch it perform against 8 retailer scenarios at 4 difficulty levels.
• C&M Coaching — Flip the script: YOU sell, the AI plays the retailer, and DwAIght reviews your performance.
• Commerce Engine — Sales dashboard, flexible financing, invoice templates, Stripe Connect payouts, and tier-based transaction fees.
• Real-Time Escalation — When the AI hits a decision point, it pauses the call, notifies you in-app, and waits for your approval before proceeding.
• DwAIght — The master sales AI coach. Always runs on the best available model (Claude Opus). Reviews coaching sessions and provides expert feedback.
• Stores & Contacts — Your target retailers with cross-publisher intelligence and per-persona relationship memory.
• Campaigns — A game + persona + store list = a campaign. Launch one to start making calls.
• Store Intelligence — Cross-publisher shared knowledge about stores (buying patterns, preferences). Privacy-isolated per publisher.
• Contact Memory — Per-persona relationship memory. Your AI remembers past conversations, preferences, and objections.

Get your full sales engine running:

1. Create your account

   Register with your company name and email. You start on the Free tier with full access to training features.

2. Add your first game (with landed cost)

   Add your game details including your landed cost per unit. This is critical — the AI uses it to ensure you never close a deal where you're underwater.

3. Create an AI persona

   Build your virtual sales rep. Choose a voice style, personality, and backstory. The sales methodology is baked in automatically.

4. Test in the AI Arena

   Watch your AI sell against realistic retailer scenarios. Start on Easy, work up to Expert. Review the end-of-call scorecard to see exactly how it performed.

5. Try C&M Coaching

   Flip roles — you sell, the AI plays the retailer. DwAIght reviews your performance and gives expert feedback.

6. Set up Stripe Connect

   Connect your Stripe account (Starter tier+) to receive payouts from closed deals. Quick Express onboarding — takes minutes.

7. Launch a campaign

   Select a game, persona, and store list — then let the AI start closing deals for you.

Each game you add becomes a product the AI can pitch. Better game descriptions and accurate pricing lead to better sales conversations.

Tips for Great Game Entries

• Include player count and play time in the description
• Mention what makes it unique — the AI uses this to differentiate against competitors
• Add sell sheet URLs when available — these can be referenced in follow-up emails
• Set realistic minimum order quantities — the AI won't oversell
• Use the category field accurately — it helps the AI position your game within the store's existing selection

Your Landed Cost per Unit

Your landed cost is what each unit actually costs you — manufacturing, shipping to your warehouse, everything before it goes to a retailer. This number is critical because:

• It protects you financially. The AI will never structure a deal where the down payment is less than your landed cost. You're never out of pocket.
• It enables smart financing. When the AI offers monthly payment plans, it ensures the initial payment covers your cost floor first.
• It drives escalation decisions. When a deal approaches your cost floor, the AI escalates to you for approval rather than risking a bad deal.
• It's shown during escalation. When you review a proposed deal, you'll see your landed cost vs. the down payment — green means you're covered, red means you're not.

Set this in Games → Edit → Your Landed Cost (per unit). This number is never shared with retailers.

Personas are the voice of your sales team. Each persona has a unique personality — but every single one runs on the C&M sales methodology automatically. The persona is just the costume; the methodology is the skeleton.

Voice Styles

• Warm & Friendly — Best for indie stores and relationship-building
• Confident & Direct — Great for experienced buyers who don't want small talk
• Thoughtful & Consultative — Ideal for stores looking for category advice
• Energetic & Enthusiastic — Works well for party games and mainstream products
• Professional & Measured — Best for chain buyers and formal contexts

Personality Tips

• Give your persona specific knowledge — "knows the competitive strategy game market inside out"
• Include backstory — it makes conversations more natural and consistent
• Match persona to product — a kids' game needs a different voice than a complex euro game
• You can create multiple personas and A/B test them in the Arena

AI Model Tiers

Each persona runs on an AI model determined by your subscription tier. Smarter models produce more nuanced, creative, and effective sales conversations.

• Free / Starter: GPT-4o-mini — fast, capable, great for training and standard calls
• Growth: GPT-4o — more nuanced objection handling, better creative problem-solving
• Enterprise: Claude Sonnet — top-tier reasoning, the most sophisticated sales conversations
• DwAIght: Always runs on Claude Opus (the best available model), regardless of your tier

You can upgrade your AI model independently of your subscription tier. Want Claude Sonnet on a Growth plan? Purchase the model upgrade separately.

The AI Arena is where your sales AI gets battle-tested. Choose a persona, a game, a scenario, and a difficulty level — then watch your AI sell to a simulated retailer. The retailer is AI-generated with a dynamic backstory, organic objections, and realistic behavior.

How It Works

1. Select a game and persona to test
2. Choose a retailer scenario (8 options, from easy to brutal)
3. Select a difficulty level
4. Click or type retailer responses — you play the store buyer
5. The system judges each exchange in real time (not you, not the AI — the system)
6. Watch the warmth meter and objection tracker as the call progresses
7. At the end, get the full scorecard with "the reveal"

8 Retailer Scenarios

• Friendly Indie — Enthusiastic owner, warm start, easy close
• Budget Gatekeeper — Tight budget, needs financial justification
• Burned Skeptic — Bad experience with indie games, trust issues
• Full Shelf Problem — No shelf space, needs rotation argument
• Boutique Outsider — Doesn't usually carry games, needs category education
• Chain Buyer — Corporate process, data-driven decisions
• Eternal Thinker — Won't commit, always "needs to think about it"
• Hard No — Flat rejection, maximum difficulty

4 Difficulty Levels

• Easy — 2-3 objections, warm start, forgiving retailer
• Medium — 3 objections, cool start, standard resistance
• Hard — 3-4 objections (mostly hard + maybe one medium), cold start
• Expert — 3-4 objections (one extreme + hard/medium mix), cold start, unpredictable personality — but always winnable

Live Tracking

• Warmth Meter (0-100) — Real-time gauge of the retailer's receptiveness. System-judged, not self-reported.
• Objection Tracker — See which objections have surfaced and whether they're resolved. Objections persist — changing the subject doesn't clear them. The retailer will circle back.

The Scorecard & The Reveal

After each session, you get a full scorecard: Need Establishment, Probe Depth, Creative Problem-Solving, Objection Resolution, Methodology Adherence, and Outcome — each scored 1-5. Plus "the reveal": which objections were handled, which were missed, what the AI could have done differently, and whether genuine need was established.

Escalation in the Arena

Escalation triggers naturally during Arena sessions. When the AI hits a decision point (creative financing, unusual deal structure), it pauses with "Let me check with my team..." and sends you a real-time notification. You approve, modify, or reject — and the AI continues seamlessly.

In C&M Coaching, the roles flip: you are the sales rep, and the AI plays the retailer. After the session, DwAIght — the master sales AI running on Claude Opus — reviews your performance and provides expert coaching feedback.

How It Works

1. Choose a game, scenario, and difficulty
2. The AI "answers the phone" as a retailer with a proper greeting ("Hello, [Store Name], this is [Name]...")
3. You sell — pitch your game, handle objections, try to close
4. The AI responds as a realistic retailer (same 8 scenarios, same 4 difficulty levels as the Arena)
5. DwAIght watches the entire session and provides a detailed performance review

What DwAIght Evaluates

• Did you probe to bedrock, or stop at surface-level objections?
• Did you get creative with solutions, or fall back on canned responses?
• Did you ask for the sale, or let the conversation fizzle?
• Did you validate before redirecting?
• Did you end with a concrete next step (or close), not a vague "let's keep in touch"?

Coaching uses the same methodology and scenarios as the Arena — but practicing your own skills is where the real growth happens.

Every AI persona on Check & Mate runs on the same foundational sales methodology. This isn't optional — it's baked into every call, every scenario, every training session. The persona is the costume; the methodology is the skeleton.

The One Truth

There is only one real objection: NEED. Every other objection — money, timing, authority — is a solvable problem once the customer believes they genuinely need your product. If they believe they need it, they'll find the money, make the time, and get the authority. If they don't, no technique will save you.

The Four Objection Types

• Money — "Too expensive" / "Not in the budget." This is a structure problem — solve it with creative financing, bundles, restructured deals.
• Timing — "Not right now" / "Maybe next quarter." This is an urgency problem — connect to current pain or upcoming opportunity.
• Need — "We don't need it" / "Not a fit." The only true objection. Probe until you know for sure — but if genuinely absent, walk away.
• Authority — "I need to check with my partner." This is a commitment problem — make them the champion for the decision.

Six Core Principles

1. Probe to Bedrock

   "Money's tight" is not bedrock. Keep probing in the direction of their stated concern until you hit a number, a timeline, or a specific constraint. That's bedrock. Now you can work with it.

2. Think Outside the Box

   Once you know the real constraint, get creative. Don't match objections to canned closes — invent solutions. The AI does math live: calculates monthly payments, compares to usual spend, restructures deals in real time.

3. Escalate, Never Fold

   "Let me check with my team" is infinitely better than "let's keep in touch." If the AI can't solve it, it escalates to you for approval. Every call ends with a closed sale, a specific next action with a specific date, or a tested hard no.

4. Get Commitment

   Sales is a transaction. At some point, you ask for the money. The AI treats payment collection as a natural next step, not an awkward ask.

5. Protect the User

   The AI will never close a deal where you're underwater. Down payment must be ≥ your landed cost. You're never out of pocket before receiving payment. Non-negotiable.

6. Sales is Service

   This isn't extraction. The AI genuinely helps retailers solve problems. If the product isn't a fit, it says so. Credibility over commission. Always.

This methodology is applied universally. Training and coaching feedback improves the entire sales brain — not individual personas. A well-trained publisher's AI closes better across ALL personas.

The commerce engine gives your AI the tools to actually close deals, process payments, and get you paid. Available on Starter tier and above.

Sales Dashboard

Your command center at Dashboard → Sales. Track every deal your AI closes:

• Sales feed with status badges (pending review, approved, invoiced, shipping, completed)
• Revenue summary — total closed, total collected, pending, monthly projection
• Click into any sale for full deal structure, AI reasoning, financing schedule, and invoice controls
• Approve or reject pending sales

Flexible Financing

The AI can structure payment plans with any number of months — not a fixed template. It calculates financing options live during the call based on the total amount, your landed cost, and the retailer's stated budget.

• Down payment must be ≥ your landed cost — this is non-negotiable. The AI enforces it automatically.
• Monthly installments are calculated from the remaining balance
• Each monthly payment corresponds to a shipment
• The AI proposes the structure; you approve, modify, or reject via escalation

Invoice Templates

Generate professional invoices from any closed sale. Invoices include your company branding, line items, payment terms, financing schedule, and a "Pay Now" link. Add shipping costs post-sale, then send directly to the retailer via email.

Stripe Connect — Get Paid

Connect your Stripe account via Express onboarding (takes minutes). Once connected:

• Retailer card payments are collected automatically
• View your available balance on the Sales dashboard
• Request payouts to your bank account
• Track payout history

Transaction Fees

Check & Mate charges a sliding transaction fee based on your subscription tier:

• Starter: 1.5% per transaction
• Growth: 1.0% per transaction
• Enterprise: 0.5% per transaction
• Free tier: No sales access (training only)

Standard Stripe processing fees (2.9% + $0.30) apply separately. Your payout is the sale amount minus platform fee minus Stripe fees.

When your AI encounters a moment that needs your judgment — a creative deal structure, an unusual request, a deal approaching your cost floor — it doesn't guess. It escalates to you in real time, right in your dashboard.

How It Works

1. The AI determines it needs your approval (deal structure, creative financing, unusual terms)
2. It tells the retailer: "Let me check with my team on that — can you give me just a moment?"
3. A full-screen notification appears on your dashboard — wherever you are in the app
4. You see: retailer name, store, call summary, proposed deal card, AI reasoning, and margin indicator
5. You choose: Approve, Modify (adjust the deal terms), or Reject
6. The AI returns to the call and continues based on your decision

The Notification

• Pulsing border overlay that appears on every dashboard page
• Deal card showing: product, quantity, total, down payment, monthly payment, financing months
• AI reasoning: why it thinks this deal works
• Margin indicator: your landed cost vs. the proposed down payment (green = covered, red = not)
• Countdown timer (3 minutes default)

Timeout & Graceful Fallback

If you don't respond within the timeout (default 3 minutes, configurable up to 10), the AI handles it gracefully: "I couldn't reach them right now, but I want to make sure we get this right for you. Let me call you back [specific day/time]." It schedules a follow-up with full context — the retailer is never left hanging.

Escalation Settings

Configure in Settings → Escalation Preferences:

• Auto-approve threshold — Deals under a certain dollar amount skip escalation entirely
• Timeout duration — How long the AI waits for your response (default 180 seconds)
• Notification sound — Toggle audio alerts on/off

No external tools, no SMS, no Twilio — everything happens inside your Check & Mate dashboard.

Choose the tier that fits your business. Upgrade anytime as you grow.

AI Model Upgrades

Want a better AI model without changing your tier? Purchase model upgrades independently:

• GPT-4o: +$29/mo
• Claude Sonnet: +$49/mo
• Claude Opus: +$99/mo

DwAIght (the master coaching AI) always runs on Claude Opus regardless of your tier or upgrades — no extra charge for coaching quality.

You can add stores manually or import via CSV. Each store can have multiple contacts.

CSV Import Format

Store Types

• indie — Independent game stores (FLGS)
• chain — Multi-location retail chains
• boutique — Specialty/gift shops that carry games
• national — National distributors and big-box retailers

Contact Decision Authority

Set the decision authority level for each contact. The AI adjusts its approach: owners get direct proposals, while staff get information to pass along.

A campaign combines a game, an AI persona, and a list of target stores. When live calling is available, the AI handles the full call flow — from greeting to close — using the C&M methodology, with real-time escalation when needed.

Campaign Lifecycle

1. Draft — Configure the campaign (game, persona, store list, schedule)
2. Active — Campaign is running, calls are being made
3. Paused — Temporarily stopped (can resume)
4. Completed — All stores in the list have been contacted

Road Show is a premium feature (Enterprise tier) that enables in-person event and convention sales support. Your AI helps prep pitches, track booth conversations, and follow up with contacts made at trade shows and conventions. More details coming as this feature expands.

The analytics dashboard tracks call outcomes, conversion rates, persona performance, and revenue metrics. As you use the Arena, run coaching sessions, and close deals, your analytics populate with actionable insights.

Connect Check & Mate AI to your existing tools (CRM, inventory, analytics) via webhooks. When events happen — calls complete, sales close, escalations fire, campaigns finish — we'll send an HTTP POST to your endpoint in real time.

Setting Up a Webhook

1. Go to Settings → Webhooks in your dashboard
2. Click + Add Webhook and enter your endpoint URL
3. Select which events you want to receive (or choose "All Events")
4. Copy the signing secret immediately — it's only shown once

Available Events

• call.started / call.completed / call.sale / call.callback / call.rejected / call.failed
• campaign.started / campaign.completed / campaign.paused
• sale.created / sale.approved / sale.invoiced / sale.completed
• escalation.created / escalation.resolved / escalation.expired
• intelligence.new — New store intel discovered
• contact.followup_due — Follow-up calls due today

Verifying Signatures

Every delivery includes an X-CheckMate-Signature header. Verify it by computing HMAC-SHA256(request_body, your_secret)and comparing against the header value. Failed deliveries retry up to 3 times.

Get email alerts without leaving your inbox. Check & Mate AI sends notifications for key events:

• Campaign Summaries — Stats breakdown when a campaign completes (calls made, sales, conversion rate, top close)
• Call Outcomes — Real-time alerts for individual call results (sales, callbacks, rejections)
• Weekly Digest — Monday morning recap of your week's performance
• Follow-Up Reminders — Daily alerts for callbacks due today
• Invoice Sent/Paid — Confirmation when invoices are emailed and when payments are received

Configure your email preferences in Settings → Email Notifications.

• Start with the AI Arena. Run at least 3-5 scenarios per persona before going live. Work up through difficulty levels.
• Try C&M Coaching yourself. Selling is the best way to understand what your AI is doing. DwAIght's feedback is invaluable.
• Set your landed cost accurately. This is your financial safety net. The AI uses it to protect you on every deal.
• Match persona to audience. Use warm/friendly for indie stores, professional for chains.
• Write detailed game descriptions. The AI can only sell what it knows.
• Set accurate contact authority levels. It changes the entire conversation approach.
• Configure escalation settings early. Set your auto-approve threshold so you're only interrupted for deals that truly need your attention.
• Review call transcripts and scorecards. They show exactly what's working and what isn't.
• Set up Stripe Connect before your first campaign. Don't miss payouts because onboarding wasn't done.
• Keep store data current. Outdated contacts waste calls and can damage your brand.