In this video
The tech is up on the roof, and the form asks about the meter box. Then it asks for the customer's signature, and then it goes back to the roof. The tech scrolls up and down, and somewhere in the middle, one question gets missed.
This video covers two rules and one tip:
- Rule 3: ask in the order the work happens.
- Rule 4: give choices, not blank boxes, where you can.
- Tip: one question asks for one fact.
Every job has an order
The tech arrives, checks what is wrong, and fixes it. Then they clean up, and get a signature. Your form should go in the same order.
Put the questions for each step together, under a heading. The tech finishes one group before moving on to the next. No scrolling back.
Not sure what the order is? Go out on a job with a tech, and write down what they do, step by step. That list is the order of your form.
Before you send out your next form, fill it in yourself, from top to bottom. If you have to scroll back, change the order.
Give choices, not blank boxes
A text box takes a minute to fill in, and five techs give you five different answers to the same question. Ask "Site left clean?" and you get "yes", "Yep", "all good", "ok" and "done". Yes, No or N/A takes one tap, and every tech gives you the same answer.
When you know the answers, give a pick list. Gas, electric, solar or heat pump: those are the four kinds of water heater. Four choices, one tap, no spelling mistakes.
Keep text boxes for the things that need words: what did you find, and what did you do? That is where a tech's own words matter.
One question, one fact
"Pressure and temperature OK?" asks two things. When the tech ticks No, which one is the problem? Split it into two questions: "Water pressure OK?" and "Water temperature OK?".
When the answer is a number, put the unit in the question: "Water pressure (kPa)". Then nobody types "good".
Before and after
In the video, the same form goes from a random order with mostly text boxes to five groups in the order of the work, where most answers are one tap. Same questions, same job. And the question that got missed is now right where the tech needs it.
The checklist lines
A tech can fill in this form from top to bottom, with no scrolling back.
I give choices, not blank boxes, where I can.
The full checklist, with all 15 rules, is at the end of Every form has three users.