Which day to send
Send on Monday morning. Many professionals send on Friday, and the argument for Friday is reasonable: the questionnaire works as a reminder before the weekend, which is exactly when routines fall apart. The problem is that it stops measuring. A questionnaire sent on Friday covers Monday through Friday and ignores Saturday and Sunday, which in nutrition and training tend to hold most of the variation. You end up with a historical series that systematically excludes the most informative period of the follow-up.
Time of day: outside business hours or early in the morning, when the person has their phone in hand and isn’t in a rush. Never right before your own reading time, because you don’t want to feel obliged to reply on the spot.
Response deadline
LiveClin sets the deadline in hours and sends a reminder as it runs out.- Default: 48 hours.
- Irregular routines (on-call shifts, frequent travelers): 72 hours.
- Never under 24, because you lose data from people who simply had a full day.
- Never over 96, because memory degrades and the patient ends up reporting on a different window than the one you asked about.
Recommended setup on the platform
On weights: for a body-composition goal, plan adherence and training frequency count for more than hydration. In a case of insomnia, sleep counts for more than anything else.
The first week
This step accounts for much of the difference between a questionnaire with an 80% response rate and one with 30%.1
Test it on yourself first
Register yourself as a patient, get the link, answer it, see how the data comes through. It’s the fastest way to find a badly written question.
2
Fill it in together, at the appointment
Open the questionnaire with the patient the first time. You’ll find out on the spot which wording is ambiguous, and they’ll understand what each scale means.
3
Explain the why, specifically
“It’s important to fill this in” convinces nobody. “When you rate your sleep a 3 three weeks in a row, sleep gets on your radar, and you’ll probably do something about it before our next appointment” convinces people.
4
Settle the usage agreement
Use the script below and repeat the agreement whenever you need to.
Usage agreement script
To say at the appointment:“Every week you’ll get a short questionnaire, about two minutes. It’s not a test and there are no right answers. It does two things. First, it lets you see your own week, because a lot of things only become visible once you put a number on them. Second, it means I show up to our appointment already knowing what happened during the month, instead of us spending half the time trying to remember. One important thing: I won’t reply to every questionnaire. That’s not me ignoring you. It’s because the point of it is to keep a record, and the conversation happens at the appointment. I read it, I keep track, and if at any point I see something that needs attention sooner, I’ll reach out. If you have a question, need an adjustment, or want to tell me something, that goes to [support channel], not the questionnaire. I answer there within [deadline].”For the weekly message that comes with the link:
“Hi, [name]! Here’s your record for the week. It takes about two minutes. Once you’ve answered, if you want to tell me anything or ask a question, just message me here.”
Next steps
Read responses
A reading routine and the four triggers that justify contact.
Schedule sends
Step by step for automatic scheduling on the platform.