How to collect customer information

The pain: some jobs can't move forward without information from the customer. A landscaper can't quote without seeing the yard and knowing the address. A caterer needs the headcount, the date, and a callback number. So you end up collecting details over the counter, across phone tags, and in message threads — slow for you, and repetitive for the customer.

The Blinko way: Customer Data Collection automation. You define what you need once, and Blinko collects it for you. Take the landscaper: a "Get Quote" request that asks for the property location, a few photos of the yard, a phone number for scheduling, and a short description of the work. The customer fills it in from their phone in a minute — and everything arrives, structured and complete, without a single back-and-forth.

What you can collect — mix the field types the job actually needs:

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  Text — descriptions, preferences, special instructions
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  Numbers — quantities, headcounts, measurements
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  Phone and email — when the follow-up genuinely needs direct contact
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  Photos — the yard, the vehicle, the damage, the inspiration picture
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  Location — where the job or delivery happens

Where customers meet it — three surfaces, one setup:

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  Your spot in the customer app shows the button — any follower browsing your business can tap it and submit (e.g., "Get Quote")
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  Send it to a specific customer — the request appears in their DM when one person's job needs details
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  Broadcast it to all customers — it appears in their DM or Feed, useful when you're collecting from many at once

A note on trust: following your business never requires personal information. Data collection is different by design — the customer chooses to share, for a purpose they can see, only the fields you asked for. That consent makes the information better: people give accurate details when they know exactly why.