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Ty ee34720331 Onboarding manual: Layer 1a/1b, ledger, Now vs Later, competitor risk note

2026-08-03 05:14:59 +00:00

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Employee Onboarding Manual — Digital Operations Partner (v1.1)

Audience: Any employee, contractor, or operator joining the company
Purpose: Give you everything you need to work inside DOP without guessing
Source of truth: The Gitea repository Tony_tech/digital-operations-partner
Status: Active operating guide (reflects system as of 2026-08-02)

Read README “Now vs Later” first. Strategy docs (strategic-frame.md, whitepaper.md) are horizon, not day-to-day SOP.

1. What this company does

Working definition

We continuously prevent Silent Customer Loss for local businesses by making sure customers can find, trust, and engage the business — and that search engines and AI systems can find, understand, and accurately represent it — often before the owner would notice something was wrong.

What Silent Customer Loss means

Problems that cost the business customers without the owner clearly seeing the loss:

Customer Path Leakage — interest exists, but digital friction blocks contact, booking, visit, or engagement (broken links, no booking button, wrong phone, dead CTAs).
Discovery Failure — the business is hard to find or is misrepresented in search, maps, or AI answers.

Three service domains

Customer Path Integrity — can a real person complete the path from interest → contact/book/visit?
AI Visibility Integrity / AEO — can search engines and AI systems find and accurately represent the business?
Local Competitive Awareness — what is happening in the local competitive set (visibility, reviews, positioning)?

What we are not (V1)

Do not sell or deliver as core offering unless separately quoted:

Social media content production
Paid advertising management
Website redesign
Branding projects
Content marketing campaigns
Full SEO campaigns
CRM / email marketing

We are a digital operations oversight business, not a general marketing agency.

2. Non-negotiable operating rules

Memorize these. They govern every task.

Agents detect and draft. Humans approve before publish.
Nothing client-facing goes live without a human sign-off in Version 1.
Evidence Model only
- Tier 1 (Verified): concrete, timestamped, observable, or instrument-backed.
- Tier 2 (Indicative): sampled, directional, probabilistic, or risk-based.
  Ambiguous findings default to Tier 2. Agents propose; humans approve final tiers.
No invented numbers, threats, or client facts.
If you did not observe it or the owner did not provide it, do not write it as fact.
Fixed order of work
Users → Problems → Requirements → Workflows → Agents → Tools
Do not design agents or tools before requirements and workflows exist.
Draft → Human Review → Locked
Every lasting artifact has a status. Never treat a Draft as Locked.
Prefer the stricter, more evidence-bound position when uncertain.
Gitea is the system of record.
Client work, templates, playbooks, and decisions live in the repo under the documented paths. Do not keep the “real” version only in chat or email.
Competitor claims about other businesses are Tier 2 by default, never the primary threat claim, and require snapshot date + source. Wrong third-party claims are a higher risk class — prefer omit.

3. Where everything lives

What	Path
Repo root / mission	`README.md`
Path to PoC (master sequence)	`docs/architecture/path-to-poc-sequencing.md`
Economics guide	`docs/architecture/economics-pricing-execution-guide-v1.md`
Client lifecycle	`docs/business-model/client-lifecycle.md`
Agent Charter	`docs/agents/agent-charter-v1.md`
Audit Playbook	`docs/agents/audit-playbook-v1.md`
Leonard GBP execution card	`docs/agents/leonard-gbp-execution-card.md`
Templates	`docs/templates/`
Client instances	`docs/clients/<client-name>/`
GBP Snapshot HTML form	`tools/gbp-snapshot-form.html`
Task reliability ledger	`docs/operations/task-reliability-ledger.md`
This manual	`docs/operations/employee-onboarding-manual-v1.md`
Strategy (LATER, not SOP)	`docs/strategic-frame.md`, `docs/whitepaper.md`

Client artifact naming (standard):

data-inventory-v1.md
threat-register-v1.md
economics-v1.md
requirements-v1.md
workflows-v1.md

Raw snapshots (when stored): data/clients/<client>/raw/...

4. The Path to PoC (how every engagement is sequenced)

Every real client engagement follows these layers in order. Do not skip.

Layer	Name	What you produce	Human gate
1a	Public Account Intelligence	Data Inventory (public / Tier 2 ceiling)	Inventory matches what was publicly observable
1b	Owner-access Intelligence	Upgraded inventory (Tier 1 eligible)	Owner-gated fields confirmed
2	Threat Diagnosis	Threat Register	Each threat verified/downgraded/rejected
3	Economics & Pricing	Economics doc + pricing bands	Owner conversation required
4	Requirements	Outcome-based requirements	Scoped to pricing band
5	Workflow Engineering	Operational workflows	Cadence matches real business hours
6	Agent Build & Test	Working agents on real data	Human reviews full run
7	POC Delivery	Demo + gap doc + retainer framing	Owner has seen live draft alert

Cold audits complete at Layer 1a (or Draft Benchmark). Do not claim full Layer 1 engagement-ready without 1b or explicit Tier 2 ceiling acceptance.

Layer 3 cannot be skipped for paid path. Without owner economics, downstream pricing and scope are speculative and must be labeled as such.

Full detail: docs/architecture/path-to-poc-sequencing.md

5. Day-one cold audit workflow (what you actually do)

This is the current production procedure for a new prospect / first assessment — Layer 1a path.

Step A — Open a client folder

Create docs/clients/<client-slug>/ if it does not exist.
Add a short README.md with location, phone, website, layer status table, and known public sources.
Copy templates into the client folder as Draft documents:
- Data Inventory
- (Threat Register only after Inventory is ready for human review)

Step B — Public digital baseline (no owner access yet)

Collect only what exists:

Website (live paths, broken links, contact/booking surface, NAP)
Public social links from the site
Review/directory presence (Yelp, etc.) at a factual level
GBP via the GBP Snapshot Form (see Step C)

Rules:

Public observation = Tier 2 until owner access upgrades it.
Record Snapshot Date for every source.
Missing sources are gaps, not silence.

Step C — GBP snapshot (required human sensor for cold audits)

Open tools/gbp-snapshot-form.html in a browser.
While looking at the Google Maps / GBP listing, fill every field (2–5 minutes).
Click Generate for Leonard → Copy or Download .txt.
Paste the full block to Leonard (or the designated audit agent) with instruction to follow: docs/agents/leonard-gbp-execution-card.md exactly.

Leonard must:

Map intake fields into the Inventory GBP row only
Fire only threat rules R1–R3 if conditions match
Not invent fields or write solutions

You (human) then review and approve or correct. Record scored runs in docs/operations/task-reliability-ledger.md.

Step D — Data Inventory (Layer 1a)

Use docs/templates/data-inventory-template.md and the Audit Playbook.

Required minimum sources:

GBP (or explicit “missing/unclear”)
Website
Primary social channel(s)
Booking/scheduling (or “not visible”)
Review surfaces if observable

Exit only when a human has signed the review gate → Locked (1a) or Draft Benchmark with blockers.

Step E — Threat Register (Layer 2)

Only after Layer 1a is human-confirmed (or explicitly accepted as Draft Benchmark with documented blockers).

Rules from the Audit Playbook:

One primary fact per threat
Evidence Snippet must be concrete
Data Recency must reference inventory snapshot dates
No solution language (“fix the 404s” is forbidden here)
Severity: Critical / Major / Minor — when unsure, choose lower
Competitor facts: secondary only, Tier 2, snapshot + source

Step F — Stop at the gate

Do not invent economics. Do not write requirements or workflows until Layers 2 and 3 allow it.

If GBP is still incomplete, either:

Complete the form and update, or
Explicitly document “GBP unresolved” as a blocker and freeze as Draft Benchmark for training only

6. How to work with agents (Leonard and others)

Roles

Human operator (you): eyes on Maps/owner access, final decisions, locks, client communication.
Director / lead (architecture): sequence, standards, repo integrity.
Leonard (audit agent): form-fill and template-faithful drafting under Playbook + execution cards.
Aggregator (when used): merge sequential agent outputs; prefer stricter evidence-bound position; no scope creep.

Hard limits for agents

Stay inside the assigned layer.
Never self-lock a document.
Never invent client revenue, WTP, or threat counts.
GBP ingest without the execution card is out of process.

Scoring Leonard (training)

Use the rubric in docs/agents/audit-playbook-v1.md (0–2 on evidence, tier discipline, scope, recency, template fidelity). Pass ≥ 7/10 with no zeros. Log every scored run in the task reliability ledger.

7. Client lifecycle (commercial path)

High-level path (see full doc for detail):

Prospect
Qualification
Initial Assessment (Layers 1a–2 style work)
Evidence classification
Proof-of-Concept fix (low-risk, scoped, human-approved before publish)
Before/After report
Retainer offer
Ongoing monitoring
Periodic reporting
Renewal / expansion
Cancellation / offboarding

GTM motion: proof before retainer. We do not lead with a cold subscription pitch.

Good V1 fit: local service, owner- or small-team operated, depends on local discovery/calls/bookings, meaningful lifetime value. Priority verticals include home services, auto repair, salon/spa (non-medical), boutique fitness, and similar.

8. Economics conversation (Layer 3) — human only

No agent can close Layer 3 alone. You need a direct conversation with the owner covering:

Current revenue baseline (owner-provided)
Ad spend if any (owner-provided)
Owner estimate of what a problem “like this” costs monthly
Willingness to pay ranges for:
- Band A: detection only
- Band B: detection + draft response
- Band C: fuller escalation with recommended next action

If the owner declines numbers, document Tier 2 speculative and flag risk to any retainer discussion. Do not invent figures.

Guide: docs/architecture/economics-pricing-execution-guide-v1.md

9. Publish / change control

Anything that changes a client-facing surface requires human approval first, including:

GBP edits
Review replies
Q&A answers
Hours, phone, booking links
Website or directory updates
Business/service descriptions

Until a specific task type has a documented reliability run of ≥ 100 error-free executions in docs/operations/task-reliability-ledger.md, the human gate stays on for that task type. Empty ledger = never auto-publish.

10. Communication standards

Internal docs

Status header: Draft / Human Review / Locked (and 1a vs 1b where relevant)
Last Updated date
Evidence tier on factual claims
Blockers listed explicitly

Client-facing language

Separate Verified vs Indicative clearly
No scare tactics from Tier 2 alone
No guaranteed rankings, AI citations, or “we’ll get you #1”
Reports answer: what we watched, what changed, what we found, what we fixed/recommended, what remains at risk, what happens next
Competitor comparisons: provisional, relative, never prosecution from thin Tier 2 alone

11. First-week checklist for a new hire

Day 1 — Orientation

Read this manual end to end
Read README.md (including Now vs Later), Agent Charter, Audit Playbook
Skim Path to PoC sequencing and Client Lifecycle
Open tools/gbp-snapshot-form.html and click through once (empty is fine)

Day 2 — Shadow the system

Read Overcome Fitness client folder end to end (docs/clients/overcome-fitness/)
Note what is Draft vs what is still blocked; identify 1a vs full Layer 1
Identify the open GBP gate and why Layer 3 is blocked

Day 3 — Practice cold audit mechanics

Fill GBP form against a practice listing (or Overcome Fitness)
Generate Leonard paste block
Draft or revise a Data Inventory row from the intake without adding solutions

Day 4 — Threat discipline

Write 2–3 practice threats that each contain exactly one primary fact + evidence snippet + recency + tier
Have a lead score them against the playbook rubric and log the score in the ledger

Day 5 — Gate fluency

Explain aloud when Layer 1a can lock, when 1b is needed, when Layer 2 can lock, and why Layer 3 needs an owner
List V1 exclusions from memory

12. Current system state (so you know what is real vs aspirational)

Real and usable now

Mission, evidence model, operating rule
Full Path to PoC sequence with Layer 1a / 1b
Templates for Layers 1–2–4–5
Audit Playbook + Leonard GBP execution card + competitor evidence rules
GBP HTML form
Task reliability ledger (counters start at zero)
First benchmark client instance (Overcome Fitness) in Draft on 1a path

Not built yet / do not pretend exists

Locked production client package with full economics
Automated Places API pipeline (optional future)
Fully automated Leonard → Gitea commit loop without human facilitation
Standard client-facing report template (still to productize)
Implementation code under implementation/ (scaffold only)
Public Assessment AI / fixed-fee product stack (strategy horizon only)

When in doubt: if it is not in the repo as a Locked or Active operating doc, it is not process.

13. Escalation

Escalate to the lead/director when:

A client asks for out-of-scope work (ads, redesign, social production)
Evidence is ambiguous and a Tier 1 claim is being requested
Owner access is required to progress and is delayed
An agent output invents numbers or solutions inside Layer 1/2
You are unsure whether something is publish-gated

Default action when stuck: document the blocker, do not invent past it.

14. Glossary (short)

Term	Meaning
GBP	Google Business Profile (Maps / local panel listing)
DOP	Digital Operations Partner
Tier 1 / Tier 2	Verified vs Indicative evidence
Layer 1a	Public baseline inventory (cold audit)
Layer 1b	Owner-access inventory (engagement)
Locked	Human-approved; safe to build the next layer on
Draft Benchmark	Training/reference package; not client-locked
WTP	Willingness to pay
PoC	Proof of Concept
NAP	Name, Address, Phone consistency

Version: v1.1
Maintainer: Lead / Director
Update rule: When Path to PoC, Playbook, or cold-audit tooling changes, this manual must be updated in the same change set or immediately after.

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