Mismatching Questions and Answers in client profiles after updating intake/profile questions
Kailey LaBadie
I ran into this issue recently when I changed the order of certain "Pet Info" questions and added new ones after updating my service agreements and requiring more information for clients regarding behavioral histories. After doing so, when looking at established client profiles, I noticed that the existing answers did not remain with the original question box. I also deleted a few questions that I used to ask, because those are now in separate intake forms that I use for Overnight Sitting.
When I deleted them (used that box for a different question) those changes applied to profiles that had been filled out previously, rather than being applied to new clients filling out My Info and Pet Info for the first time.
For example, one of my new questions was something along the lines of "What kind of altering did your dog undergo, if you answered "Yes" to the above?" and the answers for many clients were things like "No, they've never bitten" because that field used to be a behavioral history question. Essentially, the questions changed locations, but the answers did not match up with previous intake questions.
I think a system that retains old Info questionnaires and their original answers would be best, and when updated on the admin end, it only applies to new client intakes so it doesn't affect established accounts. Alternatively, it could give a message to my existing clients that says something like, "Kailey has added a new field for Pet Info, please review now before requesting services" so they can review their answer to the question and make sure it's still fitting for the new one, or review an entirely new intake question that I've created and answer it, depending on if it's required or optional. This might also be optional, because the question may not be relevant to established clients and only be something I want to ask new ones.
I hope this makes sense!
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Merged in a post:
Client & Pet Field Directions
J
Julie Gonzalez
I seen where this is going to be a new feature. Will there be a video tutorial on how to effectively use this? Also, when I add a new field for clients to complete and then go back and review a clients profile that added field messes up the answers to other fields and now places answers in this new field that should not be there. It would be nice to have some way of preventing this from happening.
Adam Smith
If you're
changing the name of a field
, it will not update any of the existing client data
that was previously saved under that field. So it's important to keep that in mind---the data will remain as-is
, even if the label changes.That said, it is possible to
swap or reorder certain fields
---though this is only available for some fields
, not all. You can do this under:Administrative > Tools > Swap Client Fields
or Swap Pet Fields
.Shannon Centola
I would love if we could alter the custom questions in PPC or add more fields to add new custom questions. Or inactivate old questions and management see them but not clients or sitters if they are no longer relevant. I think a lot has changed in the industry since 2019 when I started with PPC and feel like my questions need to change as well.
Kailey LaBadie
To clarify, I'll give a hypothetical of what I observed:
Old questions and answers:
- Does your dog have any allergies or food sensitivities?
client- Yes, to chicken.
- Has your dog ever growled, snapped at, or bitten another person or animal?
Client- no
- How does your dog do on car rides?
Client - great
How existing client profiles look after updating my Client Info Questions to add new ones/edit:
- (HYPOTHETICAL ALTERED QUESTION) Does your dog like other dogs?
client- Yes, to chicken.
- Does your dog have any allergies or food sensitivities?
client- no
- Has your dog ever growled, snapped at, or bitten another person or animal?
Client- great
- How does your dog do on car rides?
Client -
Nothing
Perhaps some way to make original answers be attached to the original questions? Regardless of whether or not I alter the order of those questions on the admin end? And, when I alter or rephrase a profile question, some way for it to notify clients so they can review their answers and make the necessary changes to avoid confusion when I go back and wonder "wait, what? Your dog is "Yes, to chicken?" when I asked if they like other dogs? Huh? Because that is actually one of the scenarios that I experienced when I discovered this issue. A lot of my client profiles are a huge mess because of the changes I made to the Info questions, but I am a company of one, so I can generally extract the necessary info from the answers, regardless of what the question is. However, I do have some clients who put simple answers like "yes" or "no".... and for those ones, I have no idea if those are answers to the old questions, or the new ones.