[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":153},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide-\u002Fguides\u002Fclients-and-communication\u002Fwhat-to-ask-a-client-before-booking-a-party":3,"guide-siblings-\u002Fguides\u002Fclients-and-communication\u002Fwhat-to-ask-a-client-before-booking-a-party":143},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"description":118,"disclaimer":119,"draft":120,"extension":121,"faq":122,"lastReviewed":135,"meta":136,"navigation":137,"path":138,"publishedAt":135,"seo":139,"sitemap":140,"stem":141,"__hash__":142},"guides\u002Fguides\u002Fclients-and-communication\u002Fwhat-to-ask-a-client-before-booking-a-party.md","What to ask a client before booking a party","Rally",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":111},"minimark",[10,14,19,26,32,38,44,50,56,62,68,74,80,86,90,93,96,104,108],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Eleven questions, asked at booking, prevent nearly every day-of surprise: surface, slope, water source, power, gate access, pets, guest count and ages, HOA or venue rules, parking, the on-site contact, and the neighbor situation. None of them are awkward to ask, all of them are awkward to discover at 1:15 on Saturday with a loaded truck at the curb.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"the-eleven-questions","The eleven questions",[11,20,21,25],{},[22,23,24],"strong",{},"1. What's the surface?"," Grass, turf, concrete, or gravel changes footing, cleanup, and sometimes whether the package works at all. Artificial turf and foam get along; a gravel driveway and forty barefoot kids don't.",[11,27,28,31],{},[22,29,30],{},"2. Is the area level?"," A slope sends foam and water downhill, sometimes toward a door, a garden, or the neighbor's yard. \"Mostly flat\" from a client means \"walk it on arrival\" for your crew.",[11,33,34,37],{},[22,35,36],{},"3. Where's the water spigot, and does it work?"," Distance to the spigot decides hose length, and \"does the spigot actually turn on\" is a real question, especially at rentals, venues, and houses where nobody has used the outside faucet since fall.",[11,39,40,43],{},[22,41,42],{},"4. Is there an outdoor outlet within reach?"," Within 75 to 100 feet, on a circuit that works. The answer decides whether the generator rides along, which you'd rather know at booking than at load-out.",[11,45,46,49],{},[22,47,48],{},"5. How wide is the gate, and is there another way to the backyard?"," The rig, the cannon, and the hoses have to get from the truck to the yard. A 32-inch gate has ended more setups than rain has.",[11,51,52,55],{},[22,53,54],{},"6. Any dogs or pets?"," For the crew's sake during setup and the pet's sake during the chaos. \"Can the dog be inside during setup and the party?\" is a normal, welcome question.",[11,57,58,61],{},[22,59,60],{},"7. How many kids, and what ages?"," Guest count and age range shape supervision expectations, the rules briefing, and whether the littles need a low-foam corner. It also catches the \"backyard birthday\" that's quietly become a 60-kid neighborhood event.",[11,63,64,67],{},[22,65,66],{},"8. Any HOA, venue, or park rules we should know about?"," Noise limits, vendor insurance requirements, permit needs, water use rules. Parks and HOAs both love paperwork, and both prefer it before the event.",[11,69,70,73],{},[22,71,72],{},"9. Where can we park the truck and trailer?"," Close enough to run hoses and haul gear, legal enough to stay there. Street parking on a busy road with a trailer is its own adventure.",[11,75,76,79],{},[22,77,78],{},"10. Who's the on-site contact, and what's their cell?"," Sometimes the booker is not the host: the aunt books, the grandmother hosts. Day-of, your crew needs the phone that will actually answer at that address.",[11,81,82,85],{},[22,83,84],{},"11. How close are the neighbors, and do they know?"," Foam, music, and shrieking joy carry. A client who gives the neighbors a heads-up, or invites their kids, converts the noise complaint into the next booking. Suggesting it is a service.",[15,87,89],{"id":88},"ask-once-at-booking-in-the-flow","Ask once, at booking, in the flow",[11,91,92],{},"These questions belong in the booking form, not in a phone call you have to remember to make. Asked in the flow, they take the client two minutes while their motivation is peak, the answers attach to the booking, and the crew reads them on their phone Saturday morning. Asked by phone across three voicemails, half get answered and none get written down.",[11,94,95],{},"The answers should trigger action, not just sit there: no outlet flags the generator, a far spigot flags extra hose, a 60-kid count flags a package conversation. A question whose answer changes nothing was small talk.",[97,98,101],"rally-aside",{"label":99,"to":100},"See the booking form in Rally","\u002Ffeatures",[11,102,103],{},"The booking wizard on your website asks your site questions during booking, and Rally flags what the answers mean the job needs: water access unconfirmed, power missing, generator required. The crew sees the site notes on their day view, so the gate code and the dog both make it to Saturday.",[15,105,107],{"id":106},"the-line-to-remember","The line to remember",[11,109,110],{},"Every question on this list is one your crew will otherwise ask at the curb, with the meter running and the kids arriving. Move the questions to Tuesday.",{"title":112,"searchDepth":113,"depth":113,"links":114},"",2,[115,116,117],{"id":17,"depth":113,"text":18},{"id":88,"depth":113,"text":89},{"id":106,"depth":113,"text":107},"Eleven questions that prevent most day-of surprises: surface, slope, water, power, gate width, pets, guest count and ages, HOA rules, parking, on-site contact, and neighbors.","none",false,"md",[123,126,129,132],{"q":124,"a":125},"Isn't eleven questions a lot to ask a client?","As a form, it's two minutes, and clients read it as professionalism: this company has done this before. As a phone interrogation it would be a lot, which is the argument for the form.",{"q":127,"a":128},"What's the single most important question?","Water and power, as a pair. They're the two answers that change what goes on the truck, and the two that a client is most likely to be wrong about, which is why the confirmation asks them to verify both before the day.",{"q":130,"a":131},"Should I ask about the occasion and the birthday kid's name?","Yes, as the friendly twelfth question. The crew lead who says \"happy birthday, Maya\" at the door didn't get lucky, they read the booking. It costs nothing and it's the detail parents mention in reviews.",{"q":133,"a":134},"What if the answers reveal the site won't work?","Then the questions just did their best work: you found out on Tuesday, with time to move the party to a park, adjust the package, or part as friends. The version where you find out Saturday costs the same discovery plus the whole day.","2026-07-13",{},true,"\u002Fguides\u002Fclients-and-communication\u002Fwhat-to-ask-a-client-before-booking-a-party",{"title":5,"description":118},{"loc":138},"guides\u002Fclients-and-communication\u002Fwhat-to-ask-a-client-before-booking-a-party","D7jSK0zP3lei8pvPdbeseUeUM-Z71VUSKW98xJJJ_dw",[144,147,150],{"path":145,"title":146},"\u002Fguides\u002Fclients-and-communication\u002Fhow-to-confirm-a-booking-so-nothing-gets-missed","How to confirm a booking so nothing gets missed",{"path":148,"title":149},"\u002Fguides\u002Fclients-and-communication\u002Fhow-to-get-more-reviews-from-party-clients","How to get more reviews from party clients",{"path":151,"title":152},"\u002Fguides\u002Fclients-and-communication\u002Fhow-to-handle-a-bad-review","How to handle a bad review",1783921368381]