The Interview Is Diagnostic, Not Administrative
Most new technicians treat the client interview as a scheduling formality. Professional leak detectors treat it as the first phase of the diagnostic process. What you learn before you ever see the pool shapes everything that happens on site -- what to test first, where to look, and what the customer's experience of water loss actually tells you about the likely source.
The interview also carries a risk that most training programs do not address: pre-assumption bias. The answers you collect during the interview can be enormously useful -- or they can plant a conclusion in your mind before you have any field evidence. A professional interview collects context without generating premature theories.
When a technician hears "it leaks more when the pump is on" and immediately decides it must be a return line, they have shifted from evidence collection to theory confirmation. Pre-screening provides information, not conclusions. The method -- not the intake answer -- must stay in control.
The interview narrows. It does not diagnose. That distinction is the difference between a professional and a guesser.
Phase 1 -- The Intake Call
The intake call happens before the visit is scheduled. It is the first time the technician or office staff speaks with the customer. This call collects the foundational information that shapes every other decision.
What the Call Must Establish
- Why does the customer believe the pool is leaking?
- How long has the water loss been occurring?
- How often do they fill the pool, and how much water do they add?
- What is the lowest level they have observed?
- Does the water level stabilize at that low point, or does it keep dropping?
- How long does it take the water to drop from the top of the tiles to the bottom?
- Does the pool seem to lose more water with the pump running or with the pump off?
- If there is a raised spa -- is it always low in the morning?
- Is there any visible water near the equipment pad?
What May Have Changed
- Has any work been done to the pool -- lights, skimmer, plumbing, resurfacing, tile?
- Has any work been done around the pool -- landscaping, fencing, irrigation, construction?
- Has any new equipment been installed -- pump, filter, heater, automation, water features?
- Has there been a previous leak detection? What was found, when, and by which company?
- Does the customer have any prior documentation to share?
Operational Information
- Is it a pool only, pool and spa, or vanishing edge?
- Are there water features, waterfalls, or fountains?
- Can they send a photo of the pool and the equipment pad?
- How did they hear about the company?
- Will they be home during the visit?
- Do they prefer mornings or afternoons?
Phase 2 -- The On-Site Arrival Interview
When the technician arrives, the interview continues -- this time at the pool. The arrival conversation repeats and deepens the key questions from the intake call, and adds the physical environment as a context layer.
What the On-Site Interview Covers
- Introduce yourself clearly. Walk to the pool with the homeowner -- not ahead of them.
- Repeat the most important water loss questions at the poolside where the customer can point to the water level, the tile line, and any areas of concern.
- Confirm pool configuration -- ask to see the equipment pad, identify all valves and lines, confirm features.
- Ask about any water near the equipment that is visible now or has been observed previously.
- Note anything the customer points out that did not come up on the intake call.
- Explain the process duration and what you will and will not be able to determine from the visit.
- Promise diligence -- not a guaranteed finding.
The Interview Is the H in H.U.N.T.E.R.
Hear is not passive. It is a structured, active collection of the customer's direct experience with the pool's water loss -- before a single tool is deployed.
The client interview IS the Hear phase. Everything the customer tells you -- water loss rate, pump-on vs pump-off behavior, recent work, prior leaks found -- is the evidentiary input that starts H.U.N.T.E.R.
At the arrival interview, the technician maps the system -- confirming pool type, features, equipment layout, and plumbing configuration before any testing begins.
The interview narrows the likely area of investigation -- pump-on loss vs pump-off loss, spa behavior, work history -- without locking the technician into a conclusion before evidence is collected.
Testing begins only after Hear, Understand, and Narrow. The interview is preparation for testing -- not a substitute for it.
Customer observations from the interview can be referenced in the report as contextual history -- but only field-observed evidence appears as a documented finding.
A customer who was well-interviewed understands the process and is prepared to receive a clear, honest recommendation -- including a no-leak-found result if that is what the evidence shows.
The biggest mistake I see new technicians make during the client interview is rushing it. They want to get to the pool. They want to start testing. The interview feels like a delay. What they don't realize is that everything I learn in that first conversation with the homeowner shapes the entire job. It tells me where to look first, what may have changed recently, and -- sometimes -- where a previous technician may have stopped before they should have.
I also teach technicians to be careful about what the interview plants in their mind. If a homeowner tells me the pool leaks more when the pump is on, that's useful -- it shifts my attention toward the pressure side of the plumbing. But I don't walk to the equipment pad already certain it's a return line. I walk to the equipment pad with a hypothesis, not a conclusion. The method keeps that distinction honest.
At the poolside, I repeat the key questions. Not because I forgot the intake answers -- because the customer often adds detail they didn't think to mention on the phone when they're standing at the pool and can actually point to the water level, the tile line, or the fitting they've been watching. That added detail is sometimes exactly what I needed.
What Separates a Professional Interview From a Rushed One
Rushed Interview
- Technician treats the call as scheduling only
- No pump-on vs pump-off question asked
- No work history collected
- No prior leak detection noted
- Arrives with no context
- Customer's observations ignored on site
- Pre-assumption bias forms unchecked
- Testing starts before system is understood
Professional Interview
- Call treated as diagnostic phase 1
- Water loss behavior fully documented
- Work and equipment history collected
- Prior leak detection and findings noted
- Arrives with context -- not conclusions
- On-site interview deepens the picture
- Pre-assumption bias actively managed
- Testing follows hearing and understanding
Frequently Asked Questions
Should the technician share their theory with the customer during the interview?
Not before field evidence supports it. The interview is an information collection phase. Sharing a theory before testing begins creates customer expectations that may be difficult to walk back if the field evidence points elsewhere. A professional technician listens, collects, and reserves judgment until the method has been followed.
What if the customer's description of the water loss seems contradictory?
Note the contradiction and move on. The interview collects what the customer reports -- the field test confirms what is actually happening. It is not unusual for a customer to say the pool loses more when the pump is on, but then field testing shows otherwise. Their observation was genuine -- their interpretation of cause and effect may not be accurate. That is why the method does not end with the interview.
How detailed should the on-site arrival interview be?
It should be thorough enough to confirm what the intake call established and add detail that only becomes visible at the pool. Walk the property with the customer. Let them point out what they have noticed. Ask follow-up questions about anything that was unclear on the call. The arrival interview typically takes 5 to 10 minutes and should not be skipped even when the technician already has a good intake summary.
What does it mean if a customer says they "already know" where the leak is?
Take the information seriously -- they may have observed something genuinely useful. Do not take the conclusion at face value. A homeowner who believes the leak is in the skimmer because "water is always low after rain" may be describing something completely unrelated to the skimmer. Hear the observation. Test the evidence. The method stays in control regardless of what the customer believes.
Learn the Full H.U.N.T.E.R. Client Interview and Field System
The client interview is where the H.U.N.T.E.R. Method begins. The Residential Pool Leak Manual and LBA workshops teach the complete workflow from first call to final report -- with the diagnostic discipline to keep evidence in front of assumption.
View All LBA Courses Free Report App