Questionnaires and intake forms

An agreement is something the client signs. A questionnaire is something they tell you — temperament, handling, vet details, how the dog is with clippers.

Only owners and managers can build questionnaires.

Building a questionnaire

1. Go to Sidebar → Business Settings → Questionnaires.
2. Press New Questionnaire.
3. On the Settings tab, fill in:

• Questionnaire Name and an optional Description.
• Required For Services — tick Boarding, Daycare and/or Grooming. Clients booking those services online must fill it in first. Leave them all unticked to make it optional.
• Require Per Pet — each pet needs its own answers.
• Validity Period (days) — how long answers last before the client must fill it in again. Leave it empty for no expiry.
• Active — inactive questionnaires are not shown to clients.

1. Save, then open the Questions tab and add your questions.

Question types

• Short Text and Long Text
• Dropdown, Single Choice and Multiple Choice — pick from options you write
• Yes/No
• Date
• Number

Each question can be marked Required, and can have Help Text and Placeholder text.

You can also make a question show only when an earlier question was answered a certain way. For example, show "What happened?" only when "Has your dog ever bitten anyone?" was answered Yes.

Use fixed choices instead of free text when you can. Four options give you answers you can act on. A paragraph gives you text nobody re-reads.

Turning answers into tags

A question can have Auto-Tag Rules: "When answer is" a certain value, "Apply tag" to the pet. For example, a Yes to "Has your dog ever bitten anyone?" can add a caution flag to the pet.

1. Open the question on the Questions tab.
2. Under Auto-Tag Rules, pick the answer and the tag.
3. Press Add Auto-Tag Rule. The rule saves right away.

Tags are applied when the client submits answers for a specific pet, so use this on per-pet questionnaires. A tag is on the pet every time anyone opens it, while an answer is read once. Map the safety questions.

How clients fill them in

Clients fill in questionnaires in the customer portal:

• On the portal's forms page, any time.
• When they book online. If a required questionnaire is missing, the booking page asks them to Complete Forms first.

Seeing the answers

Go to Sidebar → Business Settings → Questionnaires and open the Responses tab. You can search by client, pet or questionnaire, and filter by status:

• Valid — current answers.
• Expired — past the validity period. The client will be asked again next time.
• Superseded — replaced by newer answers.

Practical advice

• Keep the new-client form short. Every question is a chance for them to give up. Ask what you need before the first visit and get the rest in person.
• One questionnaire per purpose. A short intake form and a separate grooming form beat one long form.
• Only ask what you will act on. If an answer would not change what you do, do not ask it.
• Read the answers before the appointment, not while the owner is at the counter.