A job intake form that lets customers send photos

A good intake form gets you what you'd have asked on the phone, in writing, before you drive out. Customers pick the service, answer your questions, say how urgent it is and add photos of the problem. It all arrives as one enquiry, so you can price or prepare without a return call.

When to use it

• A photo of a leak would tell you which parts to bring.
• You lose time on calls that turn out to be outside what you do.
• An appliance repairer needs the model number before quoting.
• A contractor wants jobs ranked by urgency when they sit down at night.

What a good one includes

• Your services, ending in 'something else' for what you didn't foresee.
• The specific questions that change your answer, like 'is water leaking right now?'.
• An address, if location affects whether you'll take the job.
• An urgency choice, so a real emergency stands out.
• Photo upload, as one picture can replace ten questions.
• A reply promise, which stops people calling three other businesses straight away.

Make one by saying what you need

Text it, type it or say it, the way you'd tell a colleague:

Intake form for Ironbridge Appliance Repair: washer, dryer, fridge or oven, ask for the model number and if it's still under warranty, with photos.

Questions

How many questions should an intake form have?

Only those that change what you do next. If a question doesn't change your price or your plan, ask it on site.

Where do the photos go?

To the storage you've connected, with links in the enquiry you receive.

What if someone has an emergency?

Put your emergency number and instructions in the intro. A form isn't the right route for gas smells or burst pipes.