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This guide is the ground truth for Nova Codes account executives. It was built on 2026-10-27 by reading the Nova Codes codebase, the sales and legal documents, the client-site toolchain, and Liam's working notes, then ranking every source by date so the newest decision wins. Where the sources disagree, the guide says so. Where nothing is written down, the guide says "ask Liam" instead of guessing.

How to read the tags

Every feature in this guide carries one of four tags. Sell only what is LIVE.

• [LIVE] Working for real clients today.
• [DARK] Built and deployed, but switched off behind a setting or an allowlist. Do not promise it or a date for it.
• [MANUAL] Liam does it by hand today. It happens, but not automatically.
• [PLANNED] In a plan, not built or not released.

The offer in one breath

"I build your new website and an AI receptionist for your business, then show you both. Free to see. If you love it, it's $297 a month. No setup fee. Cancel anytime. If not, you don't pay a thing."

Ten things to know cold

1. One product: Nova Complete. $297 a month, flat. No setup fee. No contract. Month to month. There is no free trial anymore (the trial plans were archived on 2026-10-26).
2. Quarterly is $695 every 90 days, same everything. A card-on-file option ($0 today, $297 on day 14) exists, but only Liam decides when to offer it.
3. What they get: a website built to book, an AI receptionist on its own local number that answers 24/7, Google review requests, and a welcome kit (review cards with their QR code, a 5x7 desk sign, a handmade silk bouquet they pick). "About $200 of stuff, on us."
4. We build it before they pay. The preview site and the demo receptionist are shown on the walkthrough call. If they do not buy, the preview may come down 7 days later.
5. The receptionist takes appointment requests today. It does not book live into a calendar for any client yet. Say "it takes the request and sends it to you to confirm." Never say "you're booked."
6. The receptionist does not transfer calls on salon or spa lines. It takes a message. Four founding lines keep an emergency-only transfer. Say "it takes a message so you're not pulled out of a client's chair."
7. The receptionist does not text anyone today, and it does not text back missed calls. Customer texting turns on per client after carrier approval and a company-wide go-live that has not happened. Do not promise texts.
8. Leads reach the owner by email. Today every lead alert still routes to Liam, who passes it on. Owner-direct alerts are the next step, Dee first. Say "it lands with our team within a minute and we get it to you."
9. The AI says it is an AI when asked: "You got me, I'm an AI receptionist." Never claim it is human. That rule is in the terms.
10. Never promise a number of reviews, bookings or dollars. Never offer a discount. Never volunteer the names of the tools we build on (the voice vendor, the AI model, the texting provider); the owner will see Whop on the checkout page and that is fine. Never say free forever, $0, founding, or trial.

The never-say list

• "You're booked" or "it books straight into your calendar" (request mode for everyone today).
• "It texts you" or "it texts back missed calls" (texting is dark).
• "It hands the call to you" on a salon or spa line (it takes a message).
• "Free trial," "free forever," "$0," "founding," "first 10 spots."
• Any price other than $297 a month (or $695 a quarter when Liam has posted that link).
• Any number of reviews, bookings, calls or revenue.
• "It syncs with Vagaro / Square / Booksy" unless Liam confirmed it for that app.
• "You can edit the site yourself" (there is no client editor; we make changes for them).
• "We post SEO blogs" or "we'll rank you first" (no client has a blog; no ranking promises).
• "HIPAA compliant" or anything about medical records.
• "99.9% uptime" or "redundant servers" (one server, no SLA).
• The names of the tools we build on, volunteered to a prospect. Sell the outcome, not the stack. (Whop on the checkout page and the bouquet maker in a client email are fine. The bouquet maker's name in ads is not.)
• Any unverified marketing claim as fact ("Trusted by Jordin Sparks' team," a client's "licensed" or "physician-directed" line) until Liam confirms it.

Quick answers for a live call

One line each. The full answer and the owner-facing wording are in the section named.

• Price? $297 a month, no setup fee, month to month. Quarterly $695 every 90 days. (Offer)
• Trial? No. Charged at checkout. Card on file ($0 then $297 on day 14) is Liam's call. (Offer)
• Discount? No. "The price is $297 for everyone. What I can do is make sure the welcome kit ships this week." (Offer)
• Contract? No. The agree-to-terms box at checkout. Cancel by email or text, effective end of the paid period. (Offer)
• Does it book? It takes the request and sends it to the owner to confirm. Live booking comes after their calendar is connected. (Receptionist)
• Does it transfer to me? No on salon and spa lines. It takes a message. Emergencies only on some lines. (Receptionist)
• Will it text me? Email now. Texts after opt-in and approval. Alerts route through our team today. (Receptionist)
• Does it text back missed calls? No. Built, switched off. (Receptionist)
• Spanish? Yes, per client, when turned on. (Receptionist)
• Is it a robot? It says it is an AI when asked and keeps helping. (Receptionist)
• Keep my number? Yes. Your phone rings first; missed calls forward to the Nova line. (Go-live)
• Vagaro, Square, Booksy? Keep it. We take requests; you confirm in your app. No sync promised. (Website)
• My own domain? Yes, or we buy one. Hosting included. (Website)
• Edit the site myself? No. Text us the change; we make it, usually same day. (Website)
• Reviews? QR cards and a desk sign that go to your Google review page; manager access on your listing; review texts later. Never a number. (Reviews)
• The kit? 100 QR review cards, a 5x7 desk sign in a stand, a bouquet they pick. "About $200 of stuff, on us." Order goes in the week they sign. (Reviews)
• How long to go-live? About a week. Texting approval runs in parallel and does not block it. (Go-live)
• HIPAA? No. We take no protected health information and sign no BAA. (Compliance)
• Record calls? Yes. Two-party states hear "This call may be recorded for quality." (Compliance)
• What if it goes down? One server, health-checked every 15 minutes, backed up every 6 hours, failures page Liam. No SLA. (Compliance)
• Two locations? One site and number per business. Ask Liam on pricing. (Offer)
• What do I earn? $100 monthly close or $200 quarterly close, then $33 or $100 per later payment. Never said to a prospect. (Reference)

Where to ask

Slack is where questions go and where bookings, builds and closes get posted. If this guide and Liam ever disagree, Liam wins and the guide gets fixed. If the guide says "ask Liam," ask before you promise anything.

Q&A

The offer, price, plans and terms

What we sell

There is one product an AE sells: Nova Complete. For one flat price a local service business gets four things:

1. A website built to book. Click to call, a request form, hours, services, photos, real reviews, a chat assistant. Hosted by us on the client's own domain.
2. An AI receptionist on its own local phone number that answers every call 24/7, answers questions about the business, and takes appointment requests and messages.
3. Google reviews on autopilot. Review requests after visits, a review QR code on cards and a desk sign. (Automated review texts are [DARK] until texting is approved per client; the QR kit is real.)
4. A welcome kit shipped to the shop. Review cards with their own QR code, a 5x7 desk sign in a stand, and a handmade silk bouquet for the front desk. The AE guide calls it "about $200 of stuff, on us."

The website is the hero of the pitch. The receptionist is the thing they did not expect to get for the same price.

A second package, Nova Starter (website only, $750 setup plus $97 a month), exists in the billing system but is not sold. Do not offer it. The bundle is the product.

Price and plans

Say the price as one number: $297 a month. Pair it with "no setup fee" and "month to month."

Facts that go with the table:

• No setup fee on any Nova Complete plan.
• No free trial. The old 14-day trial plans were archived on 2026-10-26. Any document that says "14-day free trial," "30-day trial" or "first charge on day 14" for the monthly plan is stale.
• No yearly plan.
• Every plan is billed in advance for its period (30 or 90 days).
• No usage charges. Call minutes, the phone number and hosting are inside the one price.
• Discounts: none. "The price is $297 for everyone. What I can do is make sure the welcome kit ships this week." Any price change needs Liam in writing. A 100%-off promo code is not a supported way to give a free month; the system would hold the order for Liam.
• The "free forever" Founding-10 program is over (five businesses took it; closed 2026-10-13). Never say free forever, $0, founding, or "first 10 spots."

How checkout works

• Billing runs through Whop hosted checkout. The owner types their own card into Whop's page. Nova never collects, types or stores a card. You never do either.
• The link you send is always the per-client link Liam mints and posts in Slack next to the preview link. It is monthly or quarterly. Never send a bare whop.com plan link and never a trial link. If you do not have the link, ask in Slack before the call.
• On a yes, drop the link in the Meet chat and stay on while they tap it in. Tell Liam in Slack which plan they picked.
• At checkout the owner ticks "I agree to all terms and conditions." That checkbox is the whole agreement. There is no contract to sign, no e-signature.
• The terms are at nova-codes.com/terms (version dated 2026-10-26) and linked on every checkout page.
• After payment, Liam onboards the client by hand from the brief Doc, about 15 steps. [MANUAL] The automated flow (welcome page, intake form, automatic build, forwarding kit email) is built and proven with a test client but not switched on. [PLANNED]
• On the card-on-file link, the checkout page may show the 14 days as "days free." The terms say that is the same $0 period, not a trial. If the checkout page ever shows a different price, number of free days or first-charge date than the terms, the checkout page controls that purchase. If an owner asks "so it's a trial?": "It's a card on file. Nothing today, and the first $297 is on day 14 unless you cancel before then."

Owner-facing wording

The price, on the intro call: "Between now and our next call we build you a new website and an AI receptionist that answers as {Business}. On the next call I show you both, and you call it and hear it answer. If you love it, it's $297 a month. No setup fee, month to month. If not, you don't owe a thing." Then: "If I build it and you love it, is $297 a month doable for the business?"

The close: "Here's the deal, same as I said on the first call. $297 a month. No setup fee, month to month, cancel anytime. When you say yes, we point your number at the receptionist, your site goes live on your domain, and the welcome kit ships this week: your review cards, the desk sign and the bouquet. Want to get it going?"

Monthly vs quarterly (only when they ask or Liam posted both links): "It's $297 every 30 days, or $695 every 90 days if you'd rather pay a quarter at a time. Same everything. Which do you want?"

How they pay: "I'll drop a secure checkout link in the chat. You put your own card in, tick the agree-to-terms box, and that's it. There's no contract to sign. I'll stay on while you do it."

When the first charge happens: Monthly or quarterly: "Your card is charged today, then every 30 (or 90) days from today." Card on file, only if Liam gave you that link: "Nothing today. Your card goes on file, and the first $297 is on day 14. If you email or text us 'Please cancel my plan' before day 14, you're never charged."

Cancelling: "Month to month. To cancel, email liam@nova.codes or text 'Please cancel my plan' to (737) 257-3405. You keep everything through the end of the period you already paid for, and you're not charged again."

Refunds: "We bill in advance, so a period you've already paid for isn't refunded, but cancelling means no further charges and you keep the service until that period ends."

Discount ask: "The price is $297 for everyone. What I can do is make sure the welcome kit ships this week."

The terms, in plain words

These come from the clickwrap Terms of Service, version dated 2026-10-26.

• Who they contract with: Nova Codes LLC, a Texas LLC, Austin, Texas. Contact liam@nova.codes. Texas law.
• Renewal: starts the day of purchase, renews every 30 days (monthly) or 90 days (quarterly) until cancelled. Card on file: $0 at checkout, $297 on day 14, then every 30 days.
• Cancel: any time, by emailing liam@nova.codes, texting "Please cancel my plan" to (737) 257-3405, or in their Whop account (if they set up a Whop login at checkout; the terms say "if you use it"). Liam prefers email or text so the AEs see it. Takes effect at the end of the paid period. Texting only STOP or CANCEL stops texts; it does not cancel the plan.
• Refunds: fees are paid in advance and are not refunded for a partial period, except where the law requires it.
• Failed payment: Nova tries to reach them within 5 business days; unresolved after 10 days, service may be suspended until paid.
• Taxes: fees exclude taxes; the client is responsible for any that apply. Whether Whop adds sales tax at checkout is not documented. Ask Liam.
• Ownership: the software, templates, prompts and configurations are Nova's, licensed to the client while subscribed. The client owns their Client Data: customer contacts, appointments, call transcripts and other business data. Nova does not use it to train AI models without explicit consent.
• On cancel: access ends at the end of the paid period; the client can request an export of their data within 30 days, after which Nova may delete it. The public site promises "we help you take your website and number with you." What exactly they keep of the site files or a Nova-registered domain is not written down. Ask Liam before promising.
• No guarantees: no specific number of bookings, reviews or revenue. The AI may misunderstand callers; the client is responsible for monitoring it.
• AI disclosure: the client may not configure the receptionist to mislead callers; it must identify itself as an AI assistant when asked.
• Liability cap: the fees paid in the 3 months before the claim.
• The client's own compliance: the client is responsible for TCPA, state telemarketing and Do Not Call rules, CAN-SPAM and call-recording disclosure laws when communicating with their own customers.
• Breach: Nova may suspend or end service for a breach not fixed within 15 days of notice, or at once for something uncurable like fraud or non-payment more than 30 days overdue.
• Changes to the terms: Nova may change them; material changes get a new "Last Updated" date and an email. (Nothing promises a price lock; see the open questions.)
• Preview: free, no obligation; if they do not subscribe, Nova may take it down 7 days after the walkthrough.

Who we sell to

• Target today (since 2026-10-24): beauty and wellness. Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and techs, lash and brow studios, med spas and estheticians, skincare, IV therapy, hair removal, massage, spas, wellness centers, tattoo and piercing, plus dog groomers.
• Still accepted: handymen and contractors. They are in the terms and the AE guide. If one books, sell to them. No new ads target them.
• The buyer: the owner, usually a woman over 30, with a client all day and unable to get to the phone.
• US only, nationwide. The ad pages block visitors outside the US. No international clients.
• Not sold: anything HIPAA-covered. Nova makes no HIPAA, medical or PHI claims and signs no BAA. A med spa can book consults and answer general questions; medical intake stays with their staff.

Q&A

The website

What a client site is

Every client site today is a hand-built, one-page site plus three legal pages, hosted on Cloudflare Pages, then moved to the client's own domain at go-live. [LIVE] It is built before the close, shown on the walkthrough, and after they pay it becomes their real site with their changes folded in.

What is on the page, top to bottom (verified on Hair by Dee's site, the current template):

• Header with the business name and a Book button.
• Hero: eyebrow line ("Now booking · Southwest Houston"), headline, one paragraph, two buttons (Book and Call), a status pill ("Taking new clients. Dee confirms every appointment."), a photo with a sticker ("Licensed Texas stylist" where true).
• Info strip: hours, where to find them, "Call any time, we answer 24/7."
• Services: a card per service with a real price or "Ask for price," add-ons, and a "how pricing works" note. The owner decides whether prices show.
• How it works: three steps.
• Gallery ("Styles from the chair") and, where the owner wants it, a style board.
• About: owner photo, name, three short paragraphs, a Book button.
• Reviews: real Google reviews quoted word for word with first name and last initial, or a "Be one of our first reviews" block when the business has none. Never invented reviews.
• Visit: where, hours, phone, a Request a time button, a Call button.
• Book: the request form.
• Footer: copyright, legal business name where it differs, street address, phone, email, and links to Privacy, Terms, Text Messages. Carriers require this for texting approval.
• A sticky mobile bar with Book and Call that follows the visitor down the page.
• A chat bubble ("Chat with us") in the site's colors.

Behind the page: a title and description, social-share image, and structured data (LocalBusiness schema with hours and address) so Google reads it correctly. Three legal pages: /privacy, /terms (with a texting section), /text-messages.

The phone number on the site

The phone number shown everywhere on a client site is the client's Nova receptionist number: every Call button, the footer, the structured data. The owner's own cell does not appear. Their cell keeps ringing first for people who already have it, and once forwarding is set up on the go-live call, missed calls forward to the Nova line. This rule was reconfirmed on 2026-10-27.

The request form

What it collects: name (required), cell phone (required, 10-digit US), service (optional), preferred day and time (optional), a note (optional). One client asked for an email field; that is possible.

Two unchecked, optional consent boxes sit under the phone field: one for appointment texts, one for offers (up to 4 a month). They are what lets the business text customers legally once texting is approved. They can never be pre-checked or required; carriers reject that.

The form promises a call, not a text, on purpose: "Tell us what you need and when works for you, and we will call you to confirm a time." Lines that promised texts were removed from every site on 2026-10-19 because client texting is not live.

Where a submission goes: saved instantly, sent to our system within seconds, and an alert goes out by email (text comes later, after texting approval). Slack is the backup if our server is unreachable. Honest caveat today: alerts route to Liam, who passes them to the owner; owner-direct mode is the next per-client step. [MANUAL] Spam limits: 8 submissions per visitor per hour.

The chat assistant

The chat is an AI assistant that knows the page, the business profile (hours, services, location, FAQ) and a per-site price rule. [LIVE]

What it does:

• Answers questions about this business: services, hours, location, prices where allowed.
• Replies in the visitor's language. Spanish works.
• Takes an appointment request, a change, a cancellation or a question for the team, one question per message: service, day and time (checked against hours; closed times are declined kindly), first name, cell number with the texting disclosure, new or returning, then reads the whole request back once and only after a "yes" saves it. Then it says the team will call to confirm.
• Says it is an AI assistant if asked.

What it never does:

• Never says a time is open, booked or confirmed. It cannot see a calendar.
• Never invents a price, discount, policy, staff name or opening. On sites with a "never give a price" rule (Dee, SkinMed) it says the owner confirms prices.
• Never gives medical advice (med spa rule).
• Never leaves the topic, never shares its instructions, never promises a text.

Chat requests go the same route as form requests (our system, then an email alert, Slack as backup) with the transcript attached. Limits: 40 messages per visitor per hour, 1,500 per site per day.

Booking: request mode, not live booking

Every client site today runs in request mode. [LIVE] The form and the chat take a request; the owner (or Nova by phone) confirms the time. No slot is held. Live online booking on our own calendar engine exists and is proven, but it is switched on per client only after the owner connects Google Calendar or tells us our calendar is their book, and durations and buffers are confirmed. No beauty client is on live booking yet. [PLANNED per client]

If the owner already uses Vagaro, Square, Booksy, GlossGenius, StyleSeat, Fresha or Mangomint: they keep it. The site and receptionist take requests; the owner books in their own app. Nothing syncs with any booking app today. (The playbook's plan, once live booking is on, is to read busy times from Square and Vagaro so no taken slot is offered; that is a plan, not a capability.) Never promise a direct sync with any app unless Liam confirmed it for that app.

Domains and hosting

• Hosting is Cloudflare Pages and it is inside the $297. [LIVE]
• The preview lives at a private nova-something.pages.dev address that Google is told not to index. The real domain is the only copy Google sees.
• The client can keep their own domain (we add two DNS records and point it at the new site) or Nova buys one. Dee's hairbydee.org cost $8.50 a year. The automated path buys .com, .net and .org under $20 a year; anything else is manual.
• Domain ownership: Nova has registered domains in its own Cloudflare account. The terms are silent on who owns a Nova-registered domain. Say "we can register it for you, and if you ever leave we help you take it with you." Do not promise it is in their name on day one.
• Old site: at go-live their domain points at the new site, or the old one redirects. We never leave two live sites with different facts.
• Only one client site is on a real domain so far (hairbydee.org, live 2026-10-19). The others are on pages.dev waiting on client data or paused.

Photos

The rule: their photos where we have them, labeled stock where we do not, and stock gets swapped out as their photos come in. Owners send photos by email or text, or we pull from their Instagram, Vagaro page or Google listing with their OK. A muted video loop at the top is possible (one client has one). Every site keeps a credits file naming each stock image and each owner photo.

SEO, mobile, speed

What every site has: a title and description, social tags, LocalBusiness structured data with hours and address, a city-and-service headline, lazy-loaded images, fast static hosting. Mobile is verified on every site at phone width; the chat goes full-screen on phones.

What is not there yet on any client site: a sitemap, robots file, service pages, area pages, a blog, Search Console. A client SEO system (service pages, approved weekly posts, sitemaps) is planned but not shipped. [PLANNED]

Approved public line: "Every site is built to be found. It's fast, it works on phones, and it has your city and services in the right places. We also help you clean up your Google Business Profile. Ranking takes time, so we will never promise you the top spot."

Do not quote a speed score. Do not say blogs are running. Do not promise a ranking.

How fast, and the pre-close flow

• A preview site plus a receptionist has been built the same day as the intro call. Typical: within a day or two.
• Go-live on their domain comes after they confirm every fact on the walkthrough, usually within about a week of the close. Texting approval is the slow part (days to weeks) and does not block the site.
• Liam's decision on 2026-10-27: the polished site built before the close is the client's draft after they pay. Their intake answers update it, they review it, then it goes live on their domain.

Edits after launch

There is no client-facing editor. Every change is made by Nova: text or email us, we edit, rebuild the chat so it knows the new page, redeploy and test. Same-day turnaround has been typical (photo swaps, new services, copy changes). There is no written turnaround promise, so say "quick," not "within X hours." The marketing site's line about "two or three taps" means running Nova is simple, not that they edit the site themselves.

What we will not build

• No e-commerce, online payments, deposits, carts or gift cards. If they take deposits in Square or Vagaro, we link to that.
• No multi-location template. One site, one number, one address per business. A second location is a second site; flag it to Liam.
• No Spanish version of the page (the chat answers in Spanish; the page is English).
• No client self-serve editor, no blog yet, no live booking yet.

How to demo it

Use the prospect's own preview, or Marigold Hair Studio (nova-marigold-hair.pages.dev) for practice. Never demo on Dee's live site. Open it on your phone first, then share your screen; owners judge the phone version.

1. Hero: "This is what a client sees when they Google you at 11 pm. Your best work up top, your hours, and one button to book."
2. Tap Call. "That number is your Nova receptionist. Every call from the site gets answered, day or night. Your cell still rings first for people who already have it."
3. Services: "You decide what shows. Real prices if you have a menu, 'ask for price' if you quote by the look. Nothing here is a guess; you confirm every line before it goes live."
4. Gallery: "Your photos, your work. Send us a few from your phone and we swap them in. Stock is only a placeholder and it's labeled."
5. Reviews: "These are your real Google reviews, word for word," or "This block asks for your first one, and the cards and sign do the same."
6. Visit and the sticky bar: "On a phone, Book and Call follow you down the page. Most salon sites have no call button at all."
7. The form: fill it in with your own name, show the two unchecked boxes, submit, read the success line aloud. "Every request lands with us in minutes. Those two boxes are what lets you text them back legally."
8. The chat: tap a chip, then type in Spanish. "She knows your page, your hours and your prices, answers in their language, and takes a request. She never promises a time; you confirm it."
9. Footer: "The boring part carriers and Google check. Already done."
10. If they want to see other looks, nova-codes.com has six "Our work" cards (real client sites, screenshots only) and eight "Sample designs" (barber, nails, lash, med spa, IV therapy, massage, tattoo, dog grooming; fictional businesses). Then: "We build yours before you pay. You see it on this call, we fix anything you want, and when you say yes it becomes your real site on your own domain in a few days."

Ask "What would you change?" and write it down. That list goes to Liam.

Lines that land: "Pretty is nice. Booked is better." "Built for phones, since that's where your clients find you." "Instagram is where people fall in love with your work. Google is where they book it."

Q&A

The AI receptionist

What it is

Every client gets their own AI receptionist on its own local phone number. It answers every call, 24/7, as the business ("Hi, this is the receptionist at {Business}, how can I help?"). It knows the business from a profile we build: name, hours, address or service area, services, FAQ facts, price rule, Spanish on or off, recording notice on or off. It answers only from those facts. If a question is not covered, it offers to take a message instead of guessing. [LIVE]

Under the hood (never said to a prospect): the voice runs on Retell with an ElevenLabs voice and a gpt-4.1 brain. Our own server handles the tools (messages, requests, alerts). Any document that says Vapi is stale.

What the caller hears

• Greeting: "Hi, this is the receptionist at {Business}, how can I help?" In two-party-consent states it starts with "This call may be recorded for quality."
• Voice: "Grace" (female, American, warm) for salons, spas, med spas and groomers. Other niches get a male voice ("Brian"). Changing a voice is an agent-level change by Liam, not self-serve.
• Style: one or two short sentences per turn, one question at a time, says "Sure." and "Got it." the way a person does, reads times, dates, prices and phone numbers as words so they come out right.
• Hold: if the caller says "hold on," it says "Sure." and waits.
• Silence: a gentle nudge after 10 seconds of silence, at most twice.
• Spanish: per client. When on, the greeting adds "Para español, diga español," and the whole flow runs in Spanish with the same rules. Two founding clients have it on.
• "Are you a robot?": "You got me, I'm an AI receptionist. Still happy to help; what's going on with your appointment?" That is the only scripted character break. It never names Nova Codes or any platform on a client line.

What it can answer

Hours (as fact), where they are (storefront: the street address when asked; home studio or mobile: the service area, never an invented address), services, and anything in the FAQ facts (owner's name, parking, what to bring, deposit policy, cancellation policy). After hours it answers the same way and never lets a caller hang up empty-handed.

Prices: the default is never to quote a price. "Prices depend on the style and the hair, so {Owner} confirms the exact price with you. I can send her a request for you." A client can switch one flag so it quotes only the figures on their list, never rounded or guessed. Three founding clients quote prices; the rest do not. Groomers usually do.

It never collects an email address (first name and phone only), never pitches software or AI, never apologizes for being an AI, and stays in scope ("we only handle hair and beauty services").

Booking: request mode today

Every client line runs in request mode. [LIVE]

What happens when a caller wants an appointment: it collects the service, preferred day and time, a backup time, first name, and whether they are new or returning, reads it back once, saves it as an appointment request, and says: "Perfect, I've sent that to the team, and they'll call you to confirm the exact time."

It never says a time is confirmed or booked, and it never promises a text (client texting is not live).

Live calendar booking exists and is proven: checking availability in the client's time zone, offering two spaced slots, creating the event, rescheduling and cancelling. It is switched on per client only after the owner connects Google Calendar or confirms our calendar is their book, and durations and buffers are confirmed. No client is on it yet. [PLANNED per client]

Booking apps: no direct sync exists with Vagaro, Square, Booksy, GlossGenius, Fresha or Mangomint. The receptionist takes the request; the owner books in their app. Say: "Whether it can write straight into your app depends on the app, and Liam confirms that before go-live." Never promise a sync.

Messages, transfers, emergencies

• "Can I talk to {Owner}?" It does not ring them. It says "Of course, let me help with that," offers to take a message, gets the name and what to pass along, saves it, and says someone will get back to them.
• Transfers: salon and spa lines never transfer. Four founding lines keep an emergency-only transfer (a real emergency the caller states, like someone hurt) that rings the owner's cell for 20 seconds; two lines have no transfer tool at all. In testing the transfer never fired. Say: "It takes a message so you're not pulled out of a client's chair. Real emergencies are the only exception."
• Med spa lines: never give medical advice, diagnoses, dosages or suitability opinions; take name and phone and say a provider will call; anything urgent, call your doctor or 911.
• Hurt or in danger (salon lines): "hang up and call nine one one."
• Spam: it answers every call like a person would. A post-call check flags obvious robocalls and silent lines so they do not become leads. It never hangs up on a hesitant real caller.
• Voicemail: there is none. The receptionist is the voicemail; it answers every call.
• Two calls at once: yes. The account handles 20 calls at the same time across all clients.

How the owner gets the lead

Every message, appointment request and call writes a durable record and goes out three ways: an email (subject "New message from {caller} (ending in 1234) for {Business}," with name, phone, what they said, call notes and a tap-to-call button), a one-line text, and a Slack line to Nova. The call summary and any message from the same call arrive as one email. Call recordings, transcripts and summaries are stored per call.

Honest today: all client lines are in operator mode, so the email and text go to Liam, who passes the lead on. Owner mode (their email first, then their cell once texting is allowlisted) is the next per-client step; Dee is first. [MANUAL] Say: "It lands with our team within a minute, with their name, number and what they said, and we get it to you. Email straight to you, then texts to your cell, come as your account is switched over." Do not promise direct owner alerts ("you get an email within a minute") until Liam confirms that client is in owner mode.

Owner texts, when on, obey quiet hours (8am to 9pm their local time).

Texting

The receptionist does not send or read texts. [DARK]

• Missed-call text-back ("sorry we missed your call") is built but switched off. Do not say it texts back.
• Customer texts come from the client's own registered number, after carrier approval (days to weeks). Only Nova's own number and Dee's are approved, and even those only reach a short allowlist today.
• Inbound texts to a client number land in our ops inbox for a person; nothing auto-replies.

The phone number and forwarding

• We buy one local number per client, matching their area code when possible, falling back to a nearby one when the carrier is out (one client in 203 got 475). About $2 a month, inside the price.
• Honest status: as of the last forwarding log (2026-10-21) no founding client's forwarding had been proven by a joint test call, and Dee's was still pending on 2026-10-25. Forwarding is the design and the go-live step, not something you can describe as already running for a named client.
• The owner keeps their existing number. The design is conditional forwarding: their phone rings first; on no answer or busy, the carrier sends the call to the Nova number. They can turn it off any time with one code.
• The owner gets a one-page sheet in Liam's voice with their carrier's codes and their Nova number filled in, and the forwarding is set up together on the go-live call with a joint test call (Liam calls, the owner lets it ring; Liam calls again, the owner declines; both should reach Nova).
• Carrier codes from the forwarding kit: Verizon 71 + number (no answer or busy), off 73. AT&T wireless 61number# (no answer), 67number# (busy), off ##61# and ##67#. T-Mobile, Mint, Metro 61*number# (no answer), 67*number# (busy), off ##004#. Cable and VoIP business lines (Comcast, Spectrum, RingCentral) use the provider's portal; we click through it together. Google Voice cannot do conditional forwarding.
• A personal cell can be forwarded; only the no-answer and busy codes are used, and the owner is warned that personal missed calls will reach the receptionist too.
• Brand new business with no number: the Nova line becomes the business number on the sign, cards and Google.
• "One number for calls and texts" (porting their number to us) happens later, only after texting is approved. Not on day one.
• After go-live, a daily check flags any forwarded line with zero inbound calls for 7 days, in case forwarding broke.

Recording and consent

Calls are recorded and transcribed. For two-party-consent states the greeting discloses it; the flag is set from the client's business address. The list used by the system: CA, CT, DE, FL, IL, MD, MA, MI, MT, NV, NH, OR, PA, WA (a common legal summary, not legal advice). Two caveats: the audit could not confirm from the prompt files that the four two-party founding clients' greetings actually carry the recording line, so confirm with Liam before telling one of those clients it does; and the 30-day recording deletion is what the privacy policy says, while the voice vendor's own retention setting is unconfirmed. Transcripts and summaries are kept while the client is active plus about a year. There is no owner-facing player today; Liam can pull a recording on request.

Reliability

Retell reachability is checked every 15 minutes, a daily test call proves credit exists (after a day in October when credits hit $0 and calls were refused, auto-recharge is now on), and failures page Liam. Each update to our own server pauses the booking and message tools for 1 to 3 minutes; the receptionist still answers during that window and the call details are retried. One server, no formal SLA. Be honest about that if asked.

Changes after launch

A fact change (hours, a new service, a policy line) is a profile edit and takes effect on the next call, no deploy. "Tell us and it's fixed the same day." A behavior change in our server (alerts, tools) is a code release, about 25 minutes plus a short pause. Internal caution: every agent runs on its live draft with no pinned prior version, so a bad prompt edit is live on the next call with no one-click rollback (version pinning is planned). Liam backs up and verifies every write, but there is no "undo" to promise.

How to demo it

What you have in hand: the demo number Liam texted you (a pool number pointed at the prospect's own agent for about two hours around the call), or Marigold Hair Studio (512) 598-5711 for practice. Never Dee's line (346) 676-1667, which is a live client. Never the Nova line +1 737-418-1679 as "their" receptionist; it answers as Nova Codes.

Set-up line: "Now call this number from your phone: {demo number}. It answers as {Business}. Ask it what a client would ask. Try to book something." Then mute and let the owner run it.

Steer them toward the moments that land:

1. The greeting, and the recording line if they are in a two-party state (say it is on purpose and switchable).
2. "Are you open Sunday?" It answers with their real hours and pivots to grabbing a time.
3. Ask for a price. It refuses warmly and routes to a request. If they want prices quoted, that is one flag.
4. Ask for a service by its real name (balayage, sew-in, deep tissue). It is tuned to their jargon.
5. Try to book. It collects the request and says it sent it to the team to confirm. Say out loud what just happened: that request is now in our system with the caller's number attached from caller ID.
6. "Can I talk to {Owner}?" It takes a message instead of ringing them. That is the point: the owner is not interrupted mid-client.
7. "Are you a robot?" It owns it and keeps going.
8. "Hold on a sec." It says "Sure." and waits.
9. If Spanish is on, say "español" after the greeting.

After they hang up, the line that is true today: "That's what every missed call turns into now. It answers every call, takes the booking request with the caller's number attached, and the message lands with our team within a minute and we get it to you. And the review cards and sign in your kit do the asking for you." Do not say "it texts back anyone you miss," "it hands the call to you," "you get an email within a minute" (not until that client is in owner mode), or "after each visit it asks for the review" (automated review asks are switched off).

Saying "you're booked" after the demo is an automatic fail in our interview scorecard. Say "it took the request and sent it to you to confirm."

Q&A

Reviews, the welcome kit, and account management

Google reviews: what is live today

The one review ask that reaches real customers today is the printed kit. [LIVE]

• Every client's review QR codes (on the business cards and the desk sign) go through r.nova.codes/their-slug, a redirect we control. It sends the customer to the client's Google "write a review" page, or to their website until a Google listing exists.
• Because we control the redirect, a printed QR never needs reprinting. The day a client's Google listing goes live, Liam flips the target and the same cards start sending people to Google.
• The redirect counts scans per client, per source (card vs sign), per day. The counts exist, but no report reads them yet; Liam can pull them by hand if an owner asks. Do not promise a scan dashboard.
• The QR goes straight to Google. There is no star filter in front of it.

The automated review ask by text and email after a visit (request, a 30-day follow-up if no review, a 1-year follow-up) is built and runs in dry-run every day, but it sends nothing. [DARK] It needs the client's texting approval, the customer's marketing consent (the second checkbox), a "showed" appointment signal that is itself dark, and a company-wide go-live. No real client's customer has received an automated review request from Nova. The AE guide's line "every finished job triggers a review request by text" describes the future state.

The star-gated review link (4 to 5 stars go to Google, 1 to 3 go to a private form that pings the owner) exists only on that dark texted path. [DARK] Do not sell it as live.

Review detection and AI-drafted replies exist in code but depend on the client forwarding Google's review emails to us, which no client has set up, and on Google API access that is still pending. [DARK] Replying to reviews for the first month is a manual promise: "we draft replies for them." [MANUAL]

The review giveback (one meal to a hunger-relief charity per Google review, any rating, $10 monthly minimum) is deployed with everything switched off. [DARK] Do not mention it to owners or customers, and never name the charity.

Google Business Profile

We need liam@nova.codes added as a Manager on the client's Google Business Profile. It is on the Signed checklist and is done on the walkthrough by screen share: business.google.com, People and access, Add, liam@nova.codes, Manager. [MANUAL]

Why: to keep the listing's name, phone, hours and address matching the website and the texting registration, add photos and services, reply to reviews, and later read review counts.

Three cases: claimed and theirs (add Liam); exists but unclaimed (claim it on the call; Google verifies by video, postcard in about a week, or phone); none (create it at business.google.com/create with the exact public name and address, then add Liam). Only the owner can create a listing. Until it exists the review QR points at their site.

Two Google approvals are pending: the Business Profile API access request (resubmitted 2026-10-22, quoted 7 to 10 business days) and the OAuth app verification (submitted 2026-10-20, 4 to 6 weeks). Manager access by invite works regardless. Dee, our live client, has no Google listing yet as of 2026-10-25, so her review QR goes to her website; do not use her as the "reviews" example.

What we promise and do not promise about reviews

• Never promise a number of reviews.
• Never fake a review or invent proof. Sites quote real Google reviews word for word or show "Be our first review."
• We do not block anyone from leaving a review.

Say: "We get you more Google reviews two ways. First, the kit: business cards and a counter sign with a QR code. A client scans it and lands right on your Google review page. We control the link, so if your Google listing changes we just update it; you never reprint. Second, we get set up as a manager on your Google listing so we can keep it correct and help you reply to reviews. Review texts after visits come later, once your business is approved for texting and your customers have opted in."

No listing yet: "Until your listing exists, the QR goes to your website. The day your listing is live, we point it at Google. Creating the listing is the one thing only the owner can do; it takes about ten minutes on your phone and I'll walk you through it."

Bad reviews: "We don't block anyone from leaving a review and we never fake one. We reply to every review for the first month so the listing looks alive, and if something negative comes in, you tell us and we help you draft a calm reply."

The welcome kit

One kit per client, shipped straight to the shop, paid for by Nova: [MANUAL ordering; Gelato print automation live for one client]

• 100 business cards. Front: five stars, "Love your visit? Tell Google. Scan the code and leave {Business} a quick review. It takes about a minute and it means the world to a small business," the QR, "Scan to review." Back: wordmark or logo, phone, address, city, website, tagline.
• A 5x7 desk sign in a clear acrylic stand. "Enjoyed your visit today? Scan to leave us a Google review. It takes about a minute, and it helps neighbors find us," a large QR, phone and address.
• A welcome bouquet from the Nova Codes collection at Diane James Home, with the gift note "Welcome to Nova Codes. Liam."

Every client's kit PDFs live in a shared Drive folder (parent folder "Nova Closing Kits," with a "Shared with clients" subfolder). The AE can show the desk-sign PDF on the walkthrough.

Costs to Nova (never said to a client): cards $15 to $20, sign $10 to $15, holder $8 to $13, shipping $8 to $15, bouquet $160 to $195. "About $200 of stuff, on us" is the approved line.

Timing: order right after the walkthrough. Cards and sign arrive in about 3 to 5 business days; the bouquet is made to order and takes about two weeks. The close script says "ships this week," meaning the order goes in this week. Safer wording if pressed: "we order it this week; the cards in about a week, the bouquet in about two."

When the kit lands: text the client a photo of how to set it up (holder by the register, cards in a small stack next to it) and ask them to scan the sign once so the first scan shows up.

The bouquet

• Collection link, used in every email, text, doc and script about the kit: https://www.dianejameshome.com/collections/nova-codes-petite-bouquet
• Eight picks: Head Over Heels (white peony, $170), Pink Lemonade (pink peony, $170), Annabelle (white hydrangea, $160), Endless Summer (blue hydrangea, $160), My Maggie ($195), Bubblegum Bloom ($180), Bonnie Blush ($195), Oh My Darling ($180). Single-stem faux florals in a glass bud vase, handmade to order, ship in about two weeks.
• The client picks on the walkthrough or closing call. Send the link, let them choose, write the pick in the brief Doc under "Signed." Their pick is them saying yes without saying yes.
• Say "a bouquet that lasts" or "a little something for your home," never "fresh flowers." They are faux.
• The maker may be named in calls, emails and texts with a client. Never in ads.
• The old six-color map (Magenta Marvel, Sublime, Sun Kissed) is retired. Pick within the collection; anything else goes to Liam.
• Month 3 and month 6 gifts: designed and coded but fully off. [DARK] Today the month-3 gift is a reminder set at the day-30 review, and the AE coordinates it. Nova pays for all client gifts; the AE never buys gifts without written approval.

The account-management loop the AE runs

From the AE contract (2026-10-27):

• Quarterly check-in. A short phone check-in with each closed client about every three months, shortly before their next monthly or quarterly bill: confirm the service is working, fix small issues or escalate them, and keep the client on.
• Gifts and thank-yous. Coordinate the welcome kit, gift and thank-you touches the Company provides, following the Company's process. Nova pays.
• Records. CRM and call notes current the same day as each call or check-in (outcome, next step, client commitments).
• Reporting. A short written weekly summary (calls taken, closes, check-ins, notable feedback) and a weekly review call with Liam.
• Pay. $100 per monthly close, $200 per quarterly close, then $33 per monthly payment or $100 per quarterly payment after the first. No check-in gate on pay. The close fee reverses on refund, chargeback or cancel within 30 days.

What to cover on the quarterly call: calls answered, requests confirmed and how fast, the site still correct (hours, prices, photos), the kit on the counter, reviews gained and QR scans, anything the owner wants changed. Use the client's own numbers only, never a cross-client comparison; revenue is always "estimated." Log the outcome and next step the same day.

Churn signals to watch: calls not being answered, bookings below the client's own prior 30 days, a sharp drop in the last 7 days, a failed or disputed payment, an open setup gap (calendar, number, reviews, site). Billing problems escalate first and are never handled by automation.

The first month (Liam's playbook): a day-7 check-in (15 minutes: listen to two or three real calls together, fix wrong answers the same day, confirm the kit arrived) and a day-30 review (30 minutes: numbers, turn on what was waiting, collect the testimonial video, set the month-3 bouquet reminder). Confirm with Liam who runs those for your clients.

An AI customer-success manager (daily health scoring, value recaps, nudges, escalations) exists but runs in dry-run and sends nothing. [DARK]

Escalating and cancels

• Escalate in Slack, same day, with the business name and the issue. Client details stay in the brief Doc. "Let me check with Liam" when unsure.
• Cancel path (terms, 2026-10-26): email liam@nova.codes or text "Please cancel my plan" to (737) 257-3405, or cancel in Whop. Effective at the end of the paid period, no partial refund. Card-on-file clients must cancel before day 14 to avoid the charge. STOP alone does not cancel.
• Liam wants AEs to see cancel requests, which is why email and text are the preferred routes. The console flag that would surface them is not built; Liam relays today. [PLANNED]
• A cancel within 30 days of the first payment reverses the AE's closing fee.

Past-customer win-back texts

A client's past-customer list can be imported in week 1 (name, phone, email, last visit). The win-back text engine is built but off. [DARK] The rule when it turns on: no text to the imported list until texting is approved and the owner approves the exact message; one message with STOP; no more than one a month. Do not promise a blast.

Support after launch

• Email liam@nova.codes, or text (737) 257-3405, or reply HELP to any Nova text. Nova's own line is +1 737-418-1679. Owners also get Liam's cell on the go-live call.
• Response promise in the terms: "promptly during normal business hours." No formal SLA.
• The client changes nothing technical themselves. Hours, prices, services, photos, the receptionist's answers: they ask, we apply it. There is no client portal.
• "Their list is theirs. If they leave, they get a CSV. We never sell or share numbers."

Q&A

The sales process: lead to close

Where leads come from

• A Meta ad (video, image or song) sends an owner to a landing page on grow.nova-codes.com. Half see a quiz first, half see the video page.
• Live pages: /founding, /founding/salon, /founding/dog-grooming, /founding/quiz, and the niche pages /for/hair, /for/nails, /for/lashes, /for/med-spa, /for/groomers. Massage, spa, wellness and tattoo have no page yet and use /founding.
• Ads: a one-time rule was set to switch the paid campaign on 2026-10-28, but Liam's decision on 2026-10-25 was that paid ads wait until automated onboarding is ready. Check Slack for whether ads are running before you expect volume. Nothing in the funnel is cold calling or list building.

What the page promised them, word for word, so you hold yourself to it: "Built for you first. Free to see. $297/mo only if you love it." "Free to see. No card. No setup fee." "A quick 15 minute call. I build your website and receptionist. Then I show you both on a 30 minute Google Meet." "THE CATCH? There isn't one. If you love it, it's $297 a month, month to month. If not, you don't pay a thing." Pillars on the page: "Pro Website: Built to bring in customers. Live in days." "AI Receptionist: Answers every call 24/7." "5-Star Reviews: Fills your Google profile." "Leads to Your Phone: Never lose a customer to voicemail."

The testimonials on the landing page (Justin Smith, Cody Dawe, Dana Isaiah) are about working with Liam's team on other work. They are not Nova salon client results. Do not quote them as such.

The quiz and the estimate

Six taps: business type; what happens when they can't pick up (I call back later / They leave a voicemail / Honestly, they probably call someone else / I always pick up); calls or texts slipping per week (0 to 2 / 3 to 5 / 6 to 10 / More than 10); value of one appointment (Under $75 / $75 to $150 / $150 to $300 / $300+); website (I'm proud of it / It's outdated / I don't have one); reviews (I ask in person / Hardly ever / I don't).

The estimate math: slipped calls per week bucket maps to 1, 4, 8 or 12; value bucket maps to $50, $110, $225 or $400; estimate = calls x 4.3 weeks x 0.5 (half would have booked) x value, rounded to the nearest $50, minimum $50. Shown as "You could be leaving about $X a month on the table" with "A rough guess from your answers, not a promise." If they said 0 to 2 and "I always pick up," no estimate is shown. Quote the brief's estimate as written; do not recompute it on the call.

After the quiz: "We'll build yours and show it to you first. Free to see. No card. Love it? It's $297 a month. No setup fee. Cancel anytime." Then first name and email, then Calendly.

Booking and the calendar

• Intro calls are 15 minutes on Calendly ("Quick Intro Call with ..."), booked within a 3-day window.
• The walkthrough link is secret: calendly.com/nova-codes/walkthrough (30 min, Google Meet, required cell question). Calendly sends the confirmation, 24-hour and 1-hour reminders, and a cancel text; emails come from liam@nova.codes.
• Calls land on the nova@nova.codes Google calendar with Google Meet links. The AE guide's older line says liam@nova.codes and 12 to 5 PM Eastern; the calendar was moved to nova@ on 2026-10-26 with a Mon to Fri 7am to 7pm ET schedule, and it drifted back once on 10-27. If a booking is missing, check Calendly's "add events to" calendar, and confirm with Liam which hours to honor.
• Every visit, lead, booking and walkthrough plus daily spend lands in the Google Sheet "Nova Founding 10 Leads."
• The salon video the prospect watched (youtu.be/JUq_aG3l150) and the landing-page copy above are the context the owner brings into the call. Calendly sends its own confirmation and reminder texts only if the prospect filled in Calendly's optional "Send text messages to" box; Nova's own prospect reminder texts are switched off. [DARK] So do not assume every prospect got a reminder.

Before every call: the brief

When a lead books, our system writes a Google Doc brief into the Drive folder "AI Receptionist Closer Prep" within about a second and pings Slack with the link. A cancel renames the Doc "CANCELED" and never deletes it.

The brief gives you: their name, cell, email, business type and city; their quiz answers (or "Direct booking, no quiz answers"); the estimate in one line; "Say this first" (a one-line opener built from their own answers); the likely objection and how to frame it; "Ask in the first two minutes" (business name, website, Google listing, who answers the phone today).

If the brief says "Direct booking, no quiz answers," you ask the pain questions yourself in the first few minutes. If a quiz booking shows the wrong business type, the real type is in the Calendly invitee's utm_term field.

Most intro calls are on Google Meet, but the original intro event was a phone event, so check the brief: it shows either a Meet link or a number to call. Only the walkthrough must be on Meet.

Know cold, every call: $297 a month, no setup fee, month to month. We build it first and they see it before paying. The welcome kit ships when they sign. Two-party consent states (CA, FL, PA, WA, CT, IL, MD, MA, MI, MT, NH, NV, OR, DE): if you record, say so at the top.

Join the Meet two minutes early with your camera on. If they have not joined by minute three, call their cell. Most pick up.

Call 1: the intro (15 minutes, Google Meet)

Three jobs: understand their phone problem, collect what the build needs, book the walkthrough before you hang up. Do not pitch hard. The build sells on call 2.

• 0 to 2, open: "Hey {Name}, it's {you} from Nova Codes. Thanks for grabbing a time. Where are you calling in from?" Then the agenda: "I'll ask a few questions about the business and the phones. Then I'll tell you what we build for you this week. Then we pick a time for me to show it to you. Sound good?"
• 2 to 6, pain: quote the quiz back. "You said about 6 calls a week slip through and a client is worth about $110. That's around $1,400 a month going to whoever picks up. Does that feel right?" No quiz: ask the six questions in order: who answers the phone now; what happens when you're with a client or after hours; how many calls or texts slip a week; what one client is worth; how's the website; how do you get Google reviews. Write the numbers down.
• 6 to 8, what happens next: "Between now and our next call we build you a new website and an AI receptionist that answers as {Business}. On the next call I show you both, and you call it and hear it answer. If you love it, it's $297 a month. No setup fee, month to month. If not, you don't owe a thing." Soft check: "If I build it and you love it, is $297 a month doable for the business?" A yes or "probably" is enough. A hard no means stop, thank them, and do not book the walkthrough.
• 8 to 13, the build list: "I need a few details so it sounds like your shop, not a template." Business name as the receptionist should say it; address or service area; hours; top services and whether prices are said on the phone (default no, except groomers); current website and Google listing; booking app (Vagaro, Square, Booksy, GlossGenius, Mangomint, Fresha, none); Instagram handle or where to grab photos and a logo; tone (warm, quick, formal); anything it should never say; the owner's cell for alerts and the emergency-only transfer (salon and spa lines do not hand ordinary calls to the owner; see the Receptionist section).
• 13 to 15, book the walkthrough: "It's 30 minutes on Google Meet, because I share my screen to show you your site. I've got Thursday at 2 or Friday at 11, which is better?" Book it live on the walkthrough link, 2 to 3 business days out, by typing their name, email and cell. "You'll get a text and an email with the Meet link. This one has to be on Meet so you can see the site. I'll have it ready."

Within 10 minutes after the call: paste the build list into the brief Doc under "Build notes" and post in Slack "Build: {Business}, {niche}, walkthrough {day} {time}." Liam builds from that.

Between the calls

• Liam builds the site and receptionist from your build notes, usually the same day, and posts in Slack: the preview link (a private nova-something.pages.dev address) and the demo phone number.
• The demo number is a pool number pointed at the prospect's build about 30 minutes before the walkthrough for about two hours. It answers as their business only around the call. The real client number is bought at onboarding.
• Night before, text from your own phone (the AE guide's instruction for this one text; log that you sent it in the brief Doc so the record stays in Company tools): "Hey {Name}, your new site and receptionist are ready. I'll show you both tomorrow at {time}." Send a screenshot of the site, not the link. The screenshot gives them a reason to show up; the link gives them a reason to skip the call.
• Morning of: no link or number by then, ask in Slack.

Call 2: the walkthrough (30 minutes, always Google Meet, camera on)

• 0 to 2: "Hey {Name}! Ready to see it? Anything change since we talked?"
• 2 to 12, the site: share your screen and walk the home page top to bottom (photos, call button, book button, services, hours, reviews). Text them the link: "Open it on your phone too. That's where your clients will see it." Ask "What would you change?" and write every answer down. Those go to Liam.
• 12 to 18, the receptionist: "Now call this number from your phone: {demo number}. It answers as {Business}. Ask it what a client would ask. Try to book something." Mute. Let them run it. After they hang up: "That's what every missed call turns into now. It takes the booking request and sends it to you to confirm, and it lands with our team within a minute and we get it to you. And the review cards and sign in your kit do the asking for you." Say "sends it to you to confirm." Never "you're booked." Do not say "it texts back anyone you miss," "it hands the call to you," "you get an email within a minute," or "after each visit it asks for the review" (see the Receptionist and Reviews sections for why).
• The kit (2 minutes): share the desk-sign PDF from the kit folder. "This is what ships to your shop the week you sign: 100 review cards with your QR code, this sign in a stand for the counter, and a bouquet for the front desk." Drop the bouquet collection link in the chat: https://www.dianejameshome.com/collections/nova-codes-petite-bouquet. "Pick the one you'd want on your counter." Write the pick down. Her picking one is her saying yes without saying yes.
• 18 to 22, tie-down: "So that's the website, the receptionist and the reviews. Does this line up with what you wanted to fix?" Then: "Is there anything that would stop us from getting you live this week?" Handle objections (below).
• 22 to 27, close: "Here's the deal, same as I said on the first call. $297 a month. No setup fee, month to month, cancel anytime. When you say yes, we point your number at the receptionist, your site goes live on your domain, and the welcome kit ships this week: your review cards, the desk sign and the bouquet. Want to get it going?" On a yes: send the per-client checkout link in the Meet chat, stay on while they tap it in, tell Liam in Slack which plan they picked. "Is there a partner or anyone else who needs to sign off?" If yes and absent, book a 10-minute call with both before hanging up.
• 27 to 30, after the yes: run the Signed checklist (in the Go-live section), book the go-live call about a week out, and say: "Over the next few days we finish your site, register your texting, and get your number ready. On the go-live call we forward your phone and you're live. Your kit ships this week."
• Not a yes today: "No problem. What would you need to see to feel good about it?" Answer that one thing. Then: "The site stays up for a week. Let's put 10 minutes on the calendar for {day} so you don't lose it, and I'll hold the {bouquet} for you." Book it before hanging up.

Post in Slack: "CLOSED: {Business}, {city}, go-live {day}."

The recommended way to close

• Let the product sell. The site on their phone and the receptionist in their ear do more than any pitch. Your job is to get them to touch both.
• Make it theirs before you say the price. "What would you change?" and "Pick the one you'd want on your counter" turn a demo into their site and their kit.
• Use their numbers. The quiz estimate and the value of one client are the only math you need. "One extra booking a week covers it."
• Say the price once, plainly, with "no setup fee, month to month, cancel anytime," then stop talking.
• Objections get two sentences and a question back. Never a speech.
• Always leave with a next step on the calendar: checkout, a partner call, or a 10-minute follow-up.

Objections

Say the short answer, then ask a question back. Do not pile on.

• "Is it really free to see?" "Yes. It's already built. You pay nothing unless you keep it."
• "Will it sound like a robot?" / "My clients are particular." "You just heard it. If someone asks, it says it's an AI assistant and keeps helping. What did you think of how it sounded?"
• "I already use Vagaro / Square / Booksy / GlossGenius." "Keep it. The book button on your site goes to it. The receptionist takes the booking request and sends it to you to confirm. Whether it can write straight into your app depends on the app, and Liam confirms that before go-live." Never promise a sync.
• "I'm not techy." "You don't touch anything. We set it up and we walk you through it on the go-live call."
• "$297 is a lot." / "$297 is a lot for one person doing hair." Use their number. "You said one client is worth about $110. One extra booking a week covers it. And it's month to month, so if it isn't paying for itself you cancel." Or: "You said a new client is about $150. Two extra bookings a month covers it, and you told me about 6 calls a week are slipping."
• "Let me think about it." "Totally fair. What specifically do you want to be sure about?" Answer that one thing, then book the 10-minute follow-up. The site stays up a week.
• "I need to ask my partner / my husband." "Of course. Let's get the three of us on for 10 minutes. Thursday or Friday?"
• "What happens to my old website?" "We point your domain at the new one. Nothing is lost, and the old one is still yours."
• "Can you give me a discount?" / "Can you do $200 for the first few months?" "The price is $297 for everyone. What I can do is make sure the welcome kit ships this week." Any pricing change needs Liam.
• "Most of my people DM me on Instagram. Do I even need this?" "Keep doing that. This is for the calls you can't get to while you're mid install. Those are the ones going to someone else right now. How many of your DMs come after someone already tried to call?"
• "Wait, did it just book me?" "It took the request and sent it to you to confirm. Live booking into your calendar gets connected at go-live." Never "yes, you're booked."
• "Is there a contract? Can I cancel anytime?" "No contract. Month to month, cancel anytime; you keep the service through the period you paid for." Answer calmly and keep moving. A flustered answer turns into "email me everything."
• "What if it doesn't work for me?" "It's month to month. If it isn't paying for itself, you cancel and you've only paid for that month." Do not say "that's why it's a free trial"; there is no trial.
• "Why so cheap? What's the catch?" "There isn't one. If you love it, it's $297 a month, month to month. If not, you don't pay a thing."
• "How do people find me? Do you do SEO or ads?" Not scripted. Do not promise rankings, page one, or leads. Safe truth: the site goes on their own domain, it is built to be found, reviews are what lift the listing, and ads are not part of the $297. Check with Liam before saying more.
• "Who handles the domain, hosting, security? Can I use my own photos?" "We do all of it. You keep your domain, or we register one for you. Send us the photos you want and we put them up; stock only where we have none, and we label it."
• "Say I quit in four months. What happens to the website?" Not documented beyond "you keep the service through the paid period" and the public promise that we help you take the site and number with you. Say that, and "let me check with Liam" for anything more.
• "I have another call with a competitor at 4." Respect it, give the exact next step, never trash the competitor, stay the frontrunner.
• "I'm 56, the computer train passed me by. Can I run this?" Shrink the ask: "Your only job is to add us as a manager on your Google page, ten minutes, I'll walk you through it on screen. We do literally everything else."

Automatic fails (from our own interview scorecard, and they apply on real calls): offering a discount, promising a booking-app sync, saying "you're booked," talking over the owner.

No-shows, cancels, reschedules

About a third of booked calls do not join. The rule: three minutes, then call the cell, call again, then text "Hi {Name}, it's {you} from Nova Codes. Tried you for our {time} call. Call me back when you're free: {your number}." By the end of the slot text the booking link. One more call the next day. Two tries over two days and no reply: mark "no show, done."

Walkthrough no-show: same steps, but the text carries a screenshot of their finished site: "Your site is ready, here's a peek. Call me and I'll show you the rest." The site stays up a week.

Cancels: Calendly sends a rebook link itself; if they cancel a walkthrough, text them within the hour. Reschedules: nothing to do.

Numbers and reporting

Targets: intro show rate 60%+, intro-to-walkthrough 70%+, walkthrough show rate 75%+, close rate 33%+, MRR added = closes x $297. Tell Liam if show rate drops under 60% for a week.

Reporting: an end-of-day report in Slack before logging off (start and end time, intros scheduled, held, no-shows, walkthroughs booked, scheduled, held, no-shows, closes, MRR added, no-shows chased, top objection, a daily rating, one thing to do better). End of week emailed to Liam by Friday 6 PM. End of month emailed by noon Eastern on the last day with a short video or written review (under 5 minutes or 750 words). The contract adds a short weekly written summary and a weekly review call, and same-day CRM notes.

Rules

• One price. No discounts without Liam.
• Never promise a number of reviews, bookings or calls.
• Never promise a booking-app sync unless Liam confirmed it for that app.
• Never type or store a card.
• If asked, the receptionist is an AI assistant.
• If you record, say so at the start, every call, every state.
• Only call or text the cell they gave, only about their calls and build.
• Client details live in the brief Doc, never pasted into Slack.
• Never say free forever, $0, founding, first 10, or trial.
• You never touch the website builder, the receptionist or the phone numbers.
• Do not repeat unverified marketing claims as fact: "Trusted by Jordin Sparks' team" on nova-codes.com, a client's "Licensed Texas stylist" or "physician-directed therapists" lines. Ask Liam before quoting any of them.
• The landing-page testimonials (Justin Smith, Cody Dawe, Dana Isaiah) are not salon client results.
• If unsure: "let me check with Liam."

Q&A

After the yes: go-live and the first 30 days

The Signed checklist (collect on the call, minutes 27 to 30)

Every answer goes in the brief Doc under a heading "Signed." Then post in Slack: "CLOSED: {Business}, {city}, go-live {day}." Client details stay in the Doc, never pasted into Slack.

• Checkout done: per-client link, agree-to-terms ticked, card in. You never type a card.
• The cell they answer and the email they read.
• Their published business phone and carrier. "We forward it to the receptionist on go-live."
• Street address, city, state, zip. The kit ships here.
• Bouquet pick (one of the eight in the collection).
• Domain: keep theirs (who owns it, where it is registered, do they have the login) or we register a new one (which name).
• Google Business Profile: add liam@nova.codes as Manager. Walk them through it on the call if you can (business.google.com, People and access, Add, Manager).
• Photos and logo source (Instagram, their phone, Vagaro page, Google listing).
• Three to five reviews to quote on the site.
• Legal business name and EIN for texting registration. Takes days to clear, so collect it now. EIN goes in the brief Doc or the secure wizard, by text, never by email, never on the site, never in Slack.
• Two-party consent state (recording notice gets turned on).
• Site change requests (everything they said to "What would you change?").
• Go-live call booked about a week out, on a weekday morning.

Closing line: "Over the next few days we finish your site, register your texting, and get your number ready. On the go-live call we forward your phone and you're live. Your kit ships this week."

Who does what

The AE runs the calls, owns the relationship, and hands every answer to Liam. The AE never touches the website builder, the receptionist, the phone numbers or the billing system. Liam builds, registers, orders and goes live. [MANUAL] Automated onboarding (welcome page, intake form, automatic build, forwarding kit email) is built and proven with a test client but not switched on. [PLANNED] Until it is, onboarding is roughly 15 manual steps Liam runs from the brief Doc and the playbook.

The go-live timeline

• Day 0 (close day). The card is charged (or saved, on the card-on-file plan). Signed notes in the brief. Liam collects or starts the texting registration the same day because carrier approval takes days to weeks and nothing should wait on it. Google listing: add Liam as Manager, or claim or create the listing. Order the kit and the bouquet (ships to the shop; the bouquet is made to order, about two weeks).
• Day 1 to 5. Liam finishes the site from the change list (the polished pre-close site is the draft), buys the client's Nova number, builds the receptionist profile (hours, services, price rule, tone, Spanish, recording notice for two-party states, transfer target), and tests it with real calls.
• Week 1. Booking route decided (Google Calendar overlay, a shared feed for Apple or Outlook, keep Vagaro, Square, Booksy and friends with the book button pointing at it, or phone-only). Past-customer list imported (no texts to them until texting is approved and the owner approves the exact message). Domain kept or registered.
• Go-live call (about a week out, weekday morning so someone is around if a forward misfires). Happiness check. Confirm consent to forward. The owner dials the forwarding code (or sets it in the carrier or VoIP dashboard) to the Nova number, and a test call from an outside phone confirms the AI answers. Site live on the real domain. Google listing correct with the website and phone updated. Review QR flipped to Google once a listing exists. Texting on if approved, otherwise request mode with a person confirming by hand. The owner has alerts working, the day-7 Meet link and Liam's cell.
• Day 7 check-in (15 minutes). Listen to two or three real calls together and fix any wrong answer the same day. Check the requests that came in and how fast they were confirmed. Confirm the kit arrived and is on the counter. Ask what customers said.
• Day 30 review (30 minutes). Numbers: calls answered, requests, bookings, reviews gained, QR scans. Turn on what was waiting: live booking if the calendar is connected, reminders and the review text if texting approval landed, the first win-back text if they approve it. Collect the testimonial video while they are happy. Set the month-3 bouquet reminder.
• Every three months, before the next bill. The AE's check-in call (see the Reviews, kit and account management section).

Who runs day 7 and day 30: the playbook lists them as Nova touches; the AE contract names the quarterly check-in. Confirm with Liam who runs day 7 and 30 for your clients.

Approved public timing: "live in days." Safe spoken version: "about a week to go-live; texting switches on when the carriers approve it."

Phone forwarding

Decided on the walkthrough, done on the go-live call with Liam.

• They advertise a cell: keep it. Conditional forwarding (no answer or busy) sends only missed calls to the Nova line, and the Nova line goes on the site.
• Business landline or VoIP: forward on no answer to the Nova line, or forward everything during closed hours, set in the provider's web dashboard (no star codes for most landlines).
• Brand new, no number: the Nova line becomes the business number on the sign, cards and Google.
• One number for calls and texts: port the number to us later, only after texting is approved. Not day one.

Carrier codes from the forwarding kit (the owner gets a one-page sheet with their Nova number filled in):

• Verizon: 71 + number (no answer or busy, after 3 to 4 rings); off 73.
• AT&T wireless: 61number# (no answer), 67number# (busy); off ##61# and ##67#.
• T-Mobile, Mint, Metro: 61*number# (no answer), 67*number# (busy); off ##004# for all.
• Comcast Business, Spectrum Business, RingCentral: provider portal, together on the call.
• Google Voice: cannot do conditional forwarding; pick another route.
• "Forward everything" codes (Verizon 72, AT&T 21number#, T-Mobile 21number#) exist and are reversible but are not the design for a cell.

Proof: a joint test call. Liam calls, the owner lets it ring; Liam calls again, the owner declines; both should reach Nova. Never dial a client's real business line unless the owner is on the call and expecting it. After go-live, a daily check flags a forwarded line with zero inbound calls in 7 days. Honest status: as of 2026-10-21 no founding client's forwarding had been proven by a joint test, and Dee's was still pending on 2026-10-25.

Google Business Profile

Three cases, handled on the walkthrough by screen share:

• Claimed and theirs: business.google.com, People and access, Add liam@nova.codes as Manager.
• Exists but unclaimed: claim it on the call. Google verifies by video, postcard (about a week) or phone.
• None: create it at business.google.com/create with the exact public name and address, then add Liam.

The listing must match the website and the texting registration exactly: same name, same address, same phone (the Nova receptionist number). The review QR points at the client's Google review page once a listing exists, otherwise at their site; Liam flips it with nothing reprinted. Reply to every review for the first month so the listing looks alive; we draft replies for them. [MANUAL]

Two Google approvals are pending: the Business Profile API access (resubmitted 2026-10-22, quoted 7 to 10 business days) and the OAuth app verification (submitted 2026-10-20, 4 to 6 weeks). Until then, real owners connecting Google Calendar or GBP through Nova may see an "unverified app" screen. Manager access by invite works regardless.

Texting registration (A2P 10DLC)

Carriers must approve each business before it can text under its own name. [MANUAL today; brand review usually a few days, the campaign up to two weeks; about $22 per client one-time plus about $2.50 a month, inside the price]

What Liam needs from the client: legal business name exactly as registered (for example "Cherry's Beauty Salon LLC," not "Cherry's"); EIN (texted to Liam or typed into the secure wizard, never email, never on the site); entity type; business address matching the IRS record; the final website domain (a pages.dev preview does not count); an authorized contact (name, title, cell, email); a working business email; consent to show the legal name in the site footer.

What blocks approval: a legal name or address that does not match the IRS record; a site with placeholders, a dead email domain or no privacy policy; consent boxes pre-checked or required; a "medical" business filed under healthcare (we file beauty businesses as professional, never healthcare).

Until approval: no automated texts go out, the site and receptionist say "we'll call you to confirm," and confirmations are done by a person. After approval, Nova tests before anything reaches customers; customer texts also wait on a company-wide go-live that has not happened. (A one-time "your texting is approved" email to the owner is planned; its copy is not approved yet. [PLANNED]) Customers only get texts if they ticked the box, and STOP always works.

Never text an owner before consent. Every onboarding message to a new owner is email until the owner has opted in on a recorded verbal yes.

What is actually live for current clients (2026-10-25 audit)

As of the last audit: phones answer and sites and chat work for the live clients, but every lead alert still routes to Liam, owner texts and missed-call text-back are off, automated review texts are off, and the printed kit and bouquet shipping were still in progress. Dee (Hair by Dee, Houston) is the one client being driven live end to end; two others are waiting on their data; three are paused. Do not describe a dark feature as something the new client gets this month.

Q&A

Platform, privacy and compliance

What Nova runs on (plain English, never vendor names to a prospect)

• Our own server (one machine, hosted in Virginia, US) handles bookings, messages, lead alerts, texting rules, the ops inbox and the automations. [LIVE]
• Voice runs on a dedicated voice-AI platform (Retell) with a phone number per client. The platform runs the call and sends us the details. [LIVE]
• Websites are static sites on Cloudflare Pages, on the client's own domain. [LIVE]
• Texting runs through Signal House, a carrier-registration provider. Not Twilio. Twilio was built and never used, and its keys were removed on 2026-10-26. [LIVE transport, most customer texts DARK]
• Billing is Whop hosted checkout. [LIVE]
• Sales calls book through Calendly; lead alerts post to Slack; email goes out from Gmail as admin@nova.codes. [LIVE]
• Gone: GoHighLevel (paused 2026-10-09, removed by 2026-10-17), Vapi, Trellus. Any document that mentions them is stale.

What is monitored (so "what if it goes down?" has an honest answer)

• A health check runs every 15 minutes across the databases, disk, scheduler, voice vendor and Google.
• Daily canaries: a real test booking and cancel through the receptionist's tools, a real text round-trip, and a test call that proves voice credit exists (after one day in October when credit hit $0 and calls were refused; auto-recharge is now on).
• Thirteen nightly data checks and about 30 scheduled jobs, all tracked.
• Failures page Liam on Slack, email and his phone.
• An outside uptime monitor probes the server.
• The database streams to an off-site backup every 6 hours with 7 days of history, and a restore is tested every day.
• Every release records the previous version so it can be rolled back in minutes.
• A daily check flags a live client line with zero inbound calls in 7 days.
• A watch pages Liam if an inbound customer text sits unanswered during business hours.

Known limit: one server. Every update or restart pauses the receptionist's booking and message tools, site forms and chat for 1 to 3 minutes. The receptionist still answers calls during that window and the voice platform retries sending us the details; site forms also save a copy and fall back to Slack. There is no formal uptime SLA. The terms say the service is provided "as is."

Say: "Your receptionist runs on a dedicated voice platform on its own number. Our server handles the booking, messages and alerts. It's health-checked every 15 minutes, we run a real test booking and a real test text every day, and anything that fails pages Liam. The database is backed up every 6 hours off-site and we test the restore daily. If our server is ever down for a minute, the receptionist still answers. The honest caveat: when we push an update, booking and the website form pause for one to three minutes, and we do updates in off-hours."

Never say: "99.9% uptime," "redundant servers," "nothing can go down."

Privacy and data

From the live privacy policy (nova-codes.com/privacy, updated 2026-10-19) and the terms (2026-10-26):

• Nova Codes LLC is a Texas LLC at 2803 E 5th St, Austin, TX 78702. Contact liam@nova.codes. Texas law, Travis County.
• Nova is the client's data processor. The client's own customers are covered by the client's privacy policy. Nova never markets to a client's customers on its own.
• What we collect from a client's callers: call audio for the call, the transcript, caller ID, start time, duration, outcome, and an AI summary.
• The client owns their Client Data (contacts, appointments, transcripts). Nova has a limited license to process it to provide the service and does not use it to train AI models without explicit consent.
• Retention: call recordings 30 days, then deleted from the voice runtime. Transcripts and summaries while the client is active plus about a year. Contacts and leads while active. Billing records about seven years.
• Rights: access, correct, delete, opt out, export; email liam@nova.codes; typical response 30 days; CCPA rights for Californians. Nova does not sell personal information.
• On cancel: export within 30 days, then Nova may delete.
• Cards: never touch Nova. Whop takes the card; Nova sees name, email, billing status and the last four.
• Where data lives: Nova's servers in the US (Virginia), sites on Cloudflare. All processing and storage in the US.
• Google access, when connected: only free/busy and events Nova creates on the calendar, and Business Profile management. Nova never reads Gmail, Drive or contacts. The token is encrypted; revoke any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
• Security: TLS in transit, encryption at rest where vendors support it, access controls, MFA on internal systems, signed webhooks, encrypted EINs and tokens. No guarantee of perfect security; breach notice per law.

Say: "Everything a caller says is recorded and transcribed so you get a summary. That data belongs to you. We store it on our own servers in the US, encrypted in transit and at rest, and we never use your customers' calls to train AI. Recordings are kept 30 days; transcripts stay as long as you're a client. If you ever leave, you can ask for an export within 30 days. We never see your card; the secure checkout handles payment."

Call recording and state law

Calls are recorded. In all-party-consent states the receptionist opens with "This call may be recorded for quality." The flag is set from the client's business address. The list used by the system: CA, CT, DE, FL, IL, MD, MA, MI, MT, NV, NH, OR, PA, WA. That is a common legal summary, not legal advice. (The privacy policy's own list for Nova's calls has 11 states; both lists are flagged to Liam for counsel review.) Recordings are kept 30 days per the policy; the voice vendor's own retention setting is unconfirmed.

For your own calls: if you record, say so at the start, every call, every state.

Say: "Calls are recorded. If your business is in a state that requires everyone on the call to know, like California, Florida or Pennsylvania, the receptionist opens with 'This call may be recorded for quality.' We turn that on based on your business address."

AI disclosure

Every receptionist says, when asked whether it is a person, a bot or a recording: "You got me, I'm an AI receptionist. Still happy to help; what's going on with your appointment?" It never claims to be human. The terms forbid the client from configuring it to mislead callers. It does not announce it is an AI up front; it confirms when asked. The website chat says it is an AI assistant when asked, and the chat widget shows "AI assistant" under the message box at all times.

Say: "The receptionist sounds human, but if anyone asks whether she's a person, a bot or a recording, she says plainly: 'You got me, I'm an AI receptionist,' and keeps helping. That's in every agent and in our terms. We don't let a client turn that off."

Texting rules (TCPA and carrier rules)

• Each client business needs its own carrier registration (brand and campaign) before it can text under its own name. One shared campaign "on behalf of clients" is a known carrier rejection, so every client is registered separately. Brand review usually a few days, the campaign up to two weeks; about $22 per client one-time plus about $2.50 a month, inside the price. [MANUAL today]
• Consent is captured as two unchecked, optional boxes on the site form (appointment texts; offers up to 4 a month), a disclosure line in the chat, or a spoken yes on the phone. A consent box can never be pre-checked or required; carriers reject that.
• Every text has STOP and HELP. STOP is honored automatically. Quiet hours 8am to 8pm recipient-local (owner alerts 8am to 9pm). Marketing texts need the second box and are capped.
• Nova's own number for texting owners and prospects is (737) 257-3405. Customer texts, when live, come from the client's own number in their area code under their business name.
• Honest state as of 2026-10-27: only Nova's own number and Hair by Dee's are carrier-approved, and even those only reach a short allowlist. Appointment reminders, review asks, win-back texts and missed-call text-back are built but switched off company-wide. [DARK] Do not promise any customer text today or a date for it.
• Never text an owner before consent. Onboarding messages to a new owner are email until the owner has opted in.

Say: "Texting from your business name needs a carrier registration. We register your business with its own brand and campaign; it usually takes a few days, sometimes up to two weeks, and it's included. Until that approval is back, nothing gets texted to your customers, and we don't promise texts on your site or in the receptionist. Every text your customers get has a 'Reply STOP' line, and consent is a box they tick, never required."

HIPAA, verticals, geography

• Nova does not serve HIPAA-covered entities, its systems are not configured for protected health information, and it signs no BAAs. The client is responsible for keeping PHI out of the receptionist. Beauty businesses are registered with carriers as professional, never healthcare.
• For a med spa: booking a consult, yes. Medical intake, medications, diagnoses or insurance details over the phone, no. The receptionist is told never to give medical advice.
• US only. Data is processed and stored in the US. Nova does not market outside the US.

Say: "We don't take protected health information. The receptionist books appointments, takes messages and answers hours and pricing. It should not take medical history, medications or insurance details over the phone, and we don't sign HIPAA agreements. For a med spa that means booking a consult, yes; a medical intake by phone, no."

Guarantees and liability

• No guarantee of a number of bookings, Google reviews or revenue. Google decides who leaves a review.
• The AI may misunderstand callers; the client is responsible for monitoring its outputs.
• Nova's total liability is capped at the fees paid in the prior three months. No consequential damages either way.
• No fake reviews, no invented proof, no statistics (Nova has published none), no vendor names in client-facing material.

Say: "We don't guarantee a number of bookings, reviews or dollars. What we guarantee is that the system answers every call, logs every lead and asks for the review the right way."

Q&A

What is live today: the status board

A single table of every feature an owner might ask about, as of 2026-10-27. Sell only the LIVE column. Everything else is "coming, no date" or "ask Liam."

Feature status

Current clients (internal)

Six current clients plus Nova's own line (five came in through the closed Founding-10 program; Dee booked through Calendly on 2026-10-14). As of 2026-10-25: Hair by Dee (Houston, TX) is the one live client being driven end to end and the only site on a real domain (hairbydee.org); she has no Google listing yet, so her review QR goes to her site, and her forwarding joint test was still pending. Blowout Bar by Nafia (Minneapolis) and A Center for Alternative Medicine and Spa (Deerfield Beach, FL) are going forward but waiting on client data. Cherry's Beauty Salon (West Covina, CA), Salon De' Salamone (Bridgeport, PA) and SkinMed (Bridgeport, CT) are paused. Marigold Hair Studio is fictional and exists for practice calls only.

Never link out to or name a client site in marketing without consent. Dee's testimonial clips are cleared for marketing use.

Where the documents disagree (and what wins)

• The terms themselves. The terms of service (2026-10-26) describe the receptionist as one that "books appointments" and "transfers to a human," and describe "review requests by SMS and email after completed appointments." Those are the built features, not what runs today. If an owner reads the terms and asks, give the honest status and say the terms describe the full product.
• Two copies of the AE guide. The repo copy (touched 2026-10-25) is current on the checkout flow (per-client link, monthly or quarterly); the living Claude Doc copy (rev 16) is slightly older. Follow the repo copy and this guide.
• Booking. The AE guide and landing pages say the receptionist "books the appointment." Every client runs request mode. Say "takes the request and sends it to you to confirm."
• Texts. The AE guide says it "texts back missed calls" and the landing page says "Leads to Your Phone." Texting to customers is dark and owner texts are simulated. Do not promise texts.
• Hand-off. The AE guide says it "hands off to the owner when a human is needed." Salon and spa lines never transfer; four lines keep an emergency-only transfer. Say "it takes a message."
• Trial. Old docs say 14-day or 30-day trial. There is no trial. Card on file ($0 then $297 on day 14) is Liam's call per client.
• Who we sell to. Old docs say contractors only. Beauty and wellness plus groomers since 2026-10-24; handymen and contractors still accepted.
• Quarterly price. An old pricing page says $697. It is $695.
• Calendar and hours. The AE guide says liam@nova.codes and 12 to 5 PM ET; the calendar moved to nova@nova.codes with 7am to 7pm ET on 2026-10-26. Confirm with Liam.
• Forwarding. An old runbook gives "forward everything" codes; the design is conditional (no answer or busy) for cells. The forwarding kit has the conditional codes.
• Two-party states. The AE guide lists 14 (includes DE); the playbook lists 13; the privacy policy lists 11. Use the 14-state list for the receptionist flag.
• Bouquet. Older emails and the playbook show an old store link and a six-color map. Use the Nova Codes collection (eight picks, $160 to $195).
• Kit timing. "Ships this week" vs a two-week bouquet. "We order it this week."
• Pay. The job posting and interviewer guide say $100 per close plus $100 per quarter. The contract wins: $100 or $200 per close, then $33 per monthly payment or $100 per quarterly payment.
• Vendors. Terms and the privacy policy still name Twilio; texting is Signal House. The privacy policy still names Joel and old verticals. Cosmetic; being fixed.
• Site ownership. The public site says "your website, your number and your reviews are yours" and we help them take the site and number with them; the terms are silent on site files and a Nova-registered domain. Say the promise; do not add detail.

Stale documents (never quote to an owner)

CLAUDE.md tech tables (Vapi, Trellus, GoHighLevel, contractors only); .planning/PROJECT.md; docs/SERVICES-EXPLAINER.md on trial and ICP; docs/sales/closing-script.md ("free for good," 14-day trial, Joel); close-call-onboarding.md, onboarding-intake.md, csm-go-live.md, founding-yes-checklist.md (retired); docs/e2e_mock_close.md; docs/Nova-VSL-Script.txt (July, trades); docs/landing/pricing.html ($697, "Accelerator"); the July sales-training transcripts (other companies' calls; mechanics only); docs/legal/privacy.md (the live policy is the html version); docs/legal/customer-contract.md (deprecated).

Open questions for Liam

Nothing authoritative exists for these. Say "let me check with Liam."

1. What a client keeps after cancelling: the site files, a Nova-registered domain, hosting after the paid period.
2. Whether the receptionist's number can be ported to a departing client.
3. Whether Whop adds sales tax at checkout.
4. Whether the $297 price is locked for existing clients if the price changes.
5. Whether a subscription can be paused (seasonal businesses).
6. Multi-location pricing.
7. Whether AEs may offer the card-on-file link on their own, or only when Liam posts it.
8. Whether AEs may mention the review giveback before it goes live.
9. Which Calendly booking hours to honor (7am to 7pm ET vs 12 to 5 ET).
10. Who runs the day-7 and day-30 calls, the AE or Liam.
11. A written edit-turnaround promise for site changes.
12. Whether owners can hear call recordings without asking Liam.
13. Conditional forwarding codes for carriers not in the kit, and the exact ring count before forwarding.
14. The current per-minute voice cost and the real per-client margin.
15. Whether any physical kit or bouquet has shipped yet, and which bouquet each client picked.
16. The transcript of the current salon video, so the exact claims a prospect heard are known.
17. Whether a business in a niche with no landing page (massage, tattoo, IV, spa) gets the same build and price.
18. Who covers a walkthrough day if Liam is unavailable (only Liam builds, mints links and assigns demo numbers today).
19. Whether the owner needs a Whop login to self-cancel there, or whether email and text are the only practical routes.
20. Whether the recording-disclosure line is actually on for the four two-party founding clients, and whether the voice vendor is set to delete recordings at 30 days.

Q&A

Practice, numbers and reference

Practice: Marigold Hair Studio

Marigold Hair Studio is a fictional South Austin salon built on 2026-10-25 so practice calls never touch a live client.

• Site: https://nova-marigold-hair.pages.dev (private, not indexed)
• Receptionist: (512) 598-5711 (request mode, warm female voice, no recording notice; transfers and messages go to Liam's cell, and its Slack posts are ignored)
• Kit PDFs: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gqPOd5k6rqW6rm-M5ngzSrPRrJzlOJSa
• Review redirect: r.nova.codes/marigold-hair

The persona: Tasha Bell, solo licensed Texas stylist, private studio off South Lamar in South Austin. Sew-ins, quick weaves, wig installs, knotless and boho braids, ponytails and updos, silk press, color, kids' styles. By appointment Tuesday to Saturday 9 to 7, closed Sunday and Monday.

Tasha's brief: she answers her own phone; installs run 3 to 4 hours so calls go to voicemail; about 6 calls a week slip; a new client is worth about $150; estimate about $1,950 a month; no website before; clients from word of mouth and Instagram DMs; no Google reviews. Build notes: warm and down to earth, never quote prices on the phone, bookings come as requests she confirms. Likely objection: "Will it sound like a robot? My clients are particular."

The receptionist moment: a caller asks "Do y'all do knotless braids?", "How much is that?", "Can I come Saturday at 2?" The agent will not quote a price and says it sent the request to the team to confirm. Then "Wait, did it just book me?" Good answer: "It took the request and sent it to you to confirm. Live booking into your calendar gets connected at go-live." "Can I talk to Tasha?" triggers a transfer attempt to Liam's cell (Marigold was built on the older path that still carries a transfer tool); decline it, and the agent takes a message. A real salon client's line would not attempt the transfer at all.

Objections thrown in order on a practice call: "Will my clients know it's a robot? They're particular." / "Most of my people DM me on Instagram. Do I even need this?" / "$297 is a lot for one person doing hair." / a curveball: "My cousin set me up on Booksy last year, will this go into that?" or "Can you do $200 for the first few months?" Tasha's one change request: "Can you make the Book button bigger on my phone?" (write it down, say it happens before go-live).

The scorecard (8 items, 1 to 3 each, 24 max; 19+ is an offer): opens warm; walks the site, asks "what would you change?" and writes it down; runs the receptionist moment without overselling; uses Tasha's numbers; short objection answers plus a question back; asks for the yes plainly with the price and no apology; stays inside the rules; books a next step. Automatic fail: offers a discount, promises a booking-app sync, says "you're booked," or talks over Tasha.

Phone numbers to know

• Marigold practice line: (512) 598-5711
• Nova's own receptionist (answers as Nova Codes): +1 737-418-1679
• Nova's texting and cancel line: (737) 257-3405
• Hair by Dee's live line (never for demos): (346) 676-1667
• Other client lines, never dial for demos: Cherry's Beauty Salon (626) 415-3053, A Center for Alternative Medicine and Spa (954) 951-5123, Salon De' Salamone (484) 806-9034, Blowout Bar by Nafia (612) 230-7199, SkinMed (475) 377-5194
• Old trades demo from the July video, not for AE use: (737) 250-0974
• Demo numbers for real prospects: assigned by Liam per walkthrough and texted to you before the call

Links to know

• Walkthrough booking link (secret): https://calendly.com/nova-codes/walkthrough
• Bouquet collection: https://www.dianejameshome.com/collections/nova-codes-petite-bouquet
• Terms: nova-codes.com/terms (dated 2026-10-26)
• Privacy: nova-codes.com/privacy (dated 2026-10-19)
• Public site: nova-codes.com
• Briefs: Drive folder "AI Receptionist Closer Prep"
• Kits: Drive folder "Nova Closing Kits" (with a "Shared with clients" subfolder)
• Leads: Google Sheet "Nova Founding 10 Leads"

The AE contract, in short

• Independent contractor, remote, US. 14 days' notice either way. 12-month non-solicit. Texas law.
• Duties: run the booked calls and close, the sign-up checklist, follow-ups and no-shows, a quarterly check-in call before each client's next bill, coordinate gifts and thank-yous (Nova pays), feedback to Liam, same-day CRM notes, compliance (approved claims only, recording disclosure where required, honor do-not-contact, no discounts or custom terms without written approval).
• Availability: enough bookable calendar hours during ad hours to take the calls; 7 days' notice of time off; never cancel a booked call except for a real emergency. All work in Company tools.
• Reporting: a short written weekly summary (calls, closes, check-ins, notable feedback) and a weekly review call.
• Pay: Closing Fee $100 (monthly plan) or $200 (quarterly plan), earned when the client's first payment processes. Retention Fee $33 for every monthly payment after the first, or $100 for every quarterly payment after the first. The first payment earns only the Closing Fee. No check-in gate on pay. The close fee reverses on refund, chargeback or cancel within 30 days of the first payment; a retention fee reverses only if its payment is refunded.
• After termination: closes count for first payments on or before the termination date (plus 45 days for calls run before it); retention fees for payments on or before the termination date (plus 90 days if Nova ends it without cause).
• Payment: a monthly statement within 5 business days after month end, you invoice within 5 business days, paid Net 15 by ACH. W-9 before the first payment; 1099.
• The job posting's "$100 per close plus $100 every 3 months" is superseded by the contract.

Never discussed with prospects.

Glossary

• Nova Complete: the one product, $297 a month.
• Request mode: the receptionist, form and chat take an appointment request and the owner confirms; no slot is held. Every client today.
• Instant booking / live booking: the receptionist books straight into a connected calendar. Per client, not yet on for anyone.
• Operator mode / owner mode: who gets lead alerts. Operator mode (today) sends them to Liam; owner mode sends them to the owner.
• Conditional forwarding: the owner's phone rings first; on no answer or busy the call goes to the Nova number.
• A2P / 10DLC: the carrier registration a business needs before it can text under its own name. A few days to two weeks, about $22 one-time plus about $2.50 a month, per client.
• Two-party consent state: a state where everyone on a recorded call must be told. The receptionist's greeting discloses it there.
• The kit: 100 review cards, a 5x7 desk sign in a stand, and the bouquet.
• r.nova.codes: the review redirect behind every QR code.
• The brief: the Google Doc per booked call with the quiz answers, estimate, opener and likely objection.
• The Signed checklist: everything to collect on the call after a yes.
• Per-client link: the Whop checkout link Liam mints for one client, monthly or quarterly.
• Card on file: the $0-today plan that charges $297 on day 14. Liam's call per client. Not a trial.
• Founding-10: the closed "free forever" program; five clients. Never mentioned to prospects.
• LIVE / DARK / MANUAL / PLANNED: the feature tags used in this guide.

Q&A