The Interview Is the First Diagnostic Step
A good customer interview keeps you from starting in the wrong place. A customer who says "the pool is losing an inch a day" and a customer who says "it only loses water when the waterfall runs" are describing completely different problems. Without the interview, those two jobs might look the same on the calendar.
The interview also builds trust. A technician who takes time to understand the history before touching anything signals to the customer that this is a process - not guesswork.
Thread 1 - The water loss pattern
- "How much water is the pool losing, and over what time period?"
- "Does the pool lose more with the pump on or off?"
- "Does it stop dropping at a certain level - at a fitting, the light, the skimmer mouth, or the tile line?"
- "Does the spa drain down overnight when the pump is off?"
- "How long has this been happening?"
Thread 2 - What changed before the leak started
- "Was anything done to the pool recently - repair, resurfacing, light replacement, plumbing work, pressure cleaning?"
- "Was there a storm, freeze, or period of heavy use around when you first noticed the loss?"
- "Has any equipment been replaced or worked on - pump, heater, valves, fittings?"
- "Did anyone recently work on the deck or landscaping near the pool?"
Thread 3 - What has already been tried
- "Has anyone patched anything on the pool?"
- "Did the pool service company adjust valves or check equipment?"
- "Have you done a bucket test? What was the result?"
- "Has the autofill been shut off to confirm how much water is actually being lost?"
- "Has any other company evaluated the pool for leaks?"
H.U.N.T.E.R. - Hear First
- H - Hear: The interview is the H in the H.U.N.T.E.R. Method. Gather the customer's full history before touching anything. Their observations are data - even when they cannot identify which observation matters.
- What the technician does with the interview: Translates the customer's story into a working theory - which area to check first, which tests are most relevant, and which conditions may be affecting the reading.
The customer does not always know what matters. A customer who says "it only loses water on hot days" may not realize that thermal expansion at a specific crack is the reason. A customer who says "we just had the pool resurfaced" may not connect that to the plumbing work that happened at the same time. The technician asks, listens, and translates - the customer provides the raw material.
How the Interview Shapes the Test Plan
By the end of a good interview, the technician should have a starting theory. Not a conclusion - a starting point for the evaluation. That theory shapes which areas get tested first, which equipment gets isolated, and which test methods are most likely to produce useful information on this specific pool in this specific situation.
The interview is the difference between arriving with a plan and arriving and hoping something shows up.
Learn to Turn Customer Stories Into Test Plans
LBA teaches the customer interview as the first step in every systematic field evaluation - because the right questions change where you start.
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