Home / AOS / Glossary
AOS Glossary

The AOS glossary

Plain-English definitions of every term in the Align Operating System (AOS), from Core and the five levels to the nine pillars, GET, Mastery Circle and Liz Trotter’s own frameworks.

About this AOS glossary

How to use the AOS glossary

This AOS glossary is the shared vocabulary of the Align Operating System. Owners, managers and coaches use the same words, so a weekly meeting in Olympia sounds like a weekly meeting in Atlanta.

Use the AOS glossary when a term comes up in a Mastery Circle check-in, in GET, in your AOS Diagnostic results or in one of our articles. Each entry links to the page that explains it in depth. New to AOS? Start with Core, the five levels and the nine pillars, then come back to the AOS glossary as you implement. For broader small-business terms, the U.S. Small Business Administration business guide is a helpful companion, and ISSA covers cleaning‑industry standards.

The AOS Wheel referenced throughout the AOS glossary
The AOS Wheel

The system

AOS (Align Operating System)
The operating system Core Profit Builders created for residential cleaning companies. It organizes the business around Core at the center, five levels, three phases and nine pillars, with Leadership running through every pillar. Learn more
AOS Wheel
The visual map of AOS: Core at the center, the five-level ladder, the nine pillars grouped into Align, Act and Accelerate, and Leadership dividers between the phases. Learn more
Professional, Profitable, Proud
The outcome AOS is built to deliver: a cleaning business that is Professional, Profitable, and one you’re Proud to own. Learn more

The five levels

Core
The center of the AOS Wheel and the first of the five AOS levels. Learn more
Five Levels
Core, Build, Growth, Scale and Leverage. AOS develops through five levels, and each level builds on the last, with increasing capability across the same operating system. Learn more
Build
Level 2 of the five AOS levels. Learn more
Growth
Level 3 of the five AOS levels. Learn more
Scale
Level 4 of the five AOS levels. Learn more
Leverage
Level 5 of the five AOS levels. Learn more

The three phases

Align
The first AOS phase: deciding where the business is going and what matters most right now. Pillars: Vision, Goal Clarity and Planning. Learn more
Act
The second AOS phase: building the team, standards and weekly rhythm that get the work done. Pillars: People, Operations and Execution. Learn more
Accelerate
The third AOS phase: using the numbers and the growth engine to compound results. Pillars: Data & Finance, Sales and Marketing. Learn more

The nine pillars and Leadership

Vision
An AOS pillar. Where the company is going and why: the picture your team can repeat. Learn more
Goal Clarity
An AOS pillar. A few measurable goals everyone knows, owns and tracks. Learn more
Planning
An AOS pillar. Annual and quarterly plans that turn vision into priorities. Learn more
People
An AOS pillar. Hiring, onboarding, roles and leadership development. Learn more
Operations
An AOS pillar. Standards, SOPs, scheduling and quality control that run without you. Learn more
Execution
An AOS pillar. A weekly rhythm of priorities, accountability and follow-through. Learn more
Data & Finance
An AOS pillar. Know your numbers: KPIs, margin, budget and cash. Learn more
Sales
An AOS pillar. A repeatable way to convert inquiries into recurring clients. Learn more
Marketing
An AOS pillar. Predictable lead flow and a brand clients choose. Learn more
Leadership
The thread that runs through every AOS pillar and level. In AOS, leadership development happens inside the work, not as a separate track. Learn more
Nine Pillars
The nine areas every cleaning company works on at every level: Vision, Goal Clarity, Planning, People, Operations, Execution, Data & Finance, Sales and Marketing. Learn more

Tools and measures

AOS Diagnostic
A free 18-question assessment, about ten minutes long, that scores a cleaning business across the nine pillars and shows its AOS Score, current level and pillar scores. Learn more
AOS Score
A score from 0 to 100 produced by the AOS Diagnostic, based on answers across all nine pillars. Learn more
GET (Growth Execution Tool)
The software Mastery Circle members use for KPI tracking, commitments and accountability. Learn more
Quarterly Drivers
The few measurable priorities a company commits to for the quarter, each with one owner. Learn more
Weekly Actions
The weekly steps that move each Quarterly Driver forward, reviewed every week. Learn more
Scorecard
A short list of the numbers that tell an owner what to do next, reviewed in a weekly meeting. Learn more

Support and events

Circles vs. levels
Circles and levels are different things in AOS. Circles are the accountability and implementation groups. CPB runs six: Mastery Circle and AOS Express for owners, Sales Circle for owners and salespeople, and three manager Circles, Learn, Build and Leadership. Levels, Core, Build, Growth, Scale and Leverage, describe how much of the implementation you have already done in your business. Build Circle is a manager offering and is not the same as the Build level. See the Circles or the five levels.
Mastery Circle
Weekly AOS implementation support: one-hour Monday goal check-ins facilitated by Liz Trotter, GET access, group feedback and hot seats, in groups of up to 15 owners across all five AOS levels. Learn more
Sales Circle
Weekly live group sales coaching for cleaning business owners and salespeople, available with or without Mastery Circle. Learn more
AOS Express
A CPB Circle for owners: Self-Directed AOS: a structured sequence of recorded lessons and practical implementation workshops for owners who want to learn and implement independently. Four lesson-and-workshop packages become available during each monthly access cycle. Learn more
Manager Development
The CPB Circles that develop managers and leaders in a residential cleaning company: Learn Circle, Build Circle and Leadership Circle. Choose based on the responsibilities the person holds or is preparing to take on. Learn more
Learn Circle
A manager Circle for supervisors and managers handling people and daily operations, focused on people management and operational management, typically without responsibility for a defined set of KPIs. Learn more
Build Circle
A manager Circle for managers responsible for people, operations and measurable results: the Learn program with KPI management added. Build Circle is separate from the Build level. Learn more
Leadership Circle
A manager Circle for senior managers and leaders developing the capability to run the company: leading the people below them, developing other managers and taking responsibility for how the company runs. It is distinct from the Leadership Thread. Learn more
Private coaching
One-on-one coaching with Liz Trotter on business priorities, decisions and next steps, purchased by the hour and separate from circle membership. Learn more
Monday goal check-in
The weekly, one-hour Mastery Circle meeting where owners review goals, make commitments and get feedback. Learn more
Hot seat
A focused turn in a circle meeting where one owner brings a challenge and the group and Liz help work through it. Learn more
Accelerator Experience
A live event in St. Louis where owners go inside Better Life Home Cleaning, the residential cleaning business Matt Ricketts built to $5 million, and learn from Matt and his team. First-time packages include four months of Accelerator Circle support. Learn more

Liz Trotter’s frameworks

GOOYOW
Get Out Of Your Own Way: Liz Trotter’s mindset work that turns knowing what to do into doing it. Learn more
TIDY
Thank you, I’m sorry, Don’t worry, You’re right: Liz Trotter’s framework for handling an upset client. Learn more
FTD (Feel, Think, Do)
A coaching-conversation framework Liz Trotter teaches: how you want someone to feel, think and do after the conversation. Learn more

Where the AOS glossary terms come from

Every term in this AOS glossary comes from real work inside cleaning businesses. Liz Trotter, founder of Core Profit Builders, has been a part owner in six cleaning companies, and the Align Operating System reflects what owners and their teams need to build next.

Owners learning the AOS glossary terms at a Core Profit Builders event
Cleaning business owners using AOS glossary language in a workshop
A Core Profit Builders session on Align Operating System terms

Put the terms to work

Get support for your own implementation, your managers’ development, or your sales process.