Initially familiar with older Mac based inspection software used by the firm he began with, John Koch knew exactly what he wanted when he started his own business- fast report creation was vital, but in a customizable "narrative" style. After investigating report writing options, 3D Inspection System proved to be his perfect solution, allowing him to create a full narrative report with photos in less than an hour for most homes. He also describes how his call center logs in and sets up his new jobs for him in 3D Office Management remotely.

"The [3D Inspection System] program is an integral part of my business and I’m sure I don’t really use all of its capabilities.

When I started in the Home Inspection business I worked for a company that had an out-dated software program that produced a narrative report. That program only ran on MAC and only on the older operating system. Neither the hardware nor the software could be updated, and it generally took more than two hours to generate a report. I wrote reports well into the night for several years.

When I formed my own company I investigated my report writing options. I really wanted to get away from the amount of time spent on report writing, but I also did not like a “checklist” type of report, which is a real time saver. I still wanted a narrative report that used my text, and was customizable.

I believe I bought my first version of 3D in or about 2002 and have continuously updated with the subscription plan. Updating my standard text has been an ongoing process and has been made easier in the newest versions of the program. I input most of my inspection data directly at every inspection. The remaining inspection data is usually less than one page of notes. These notes are the details that customize the report for the specific home I inspect. The important result of this has been that on most homes, I spend less than an hour on a full narrative report with photos. This is not just a generic Home Inspection report, it is text that I wrote and I customized, in a format that I chose, using the options in the program.

I’m really not certain of the impact that my report has had on my over-all position in the market compared to my competitors, but I have been told many times how detailed my report is, how it’s easy to follow, and how happy people were to get the report emailed to them on the evening of the inspection. On the other hand, I’ve also heard about other inspectors in the area that don’t deliver their reports for several days or a week! That’s hard to document but it helps keep me confident in my choice.

The office management portion of the program stores all of the real estate agents and clients names. Repeat agents and clients can be entered into a job with just a few clicks, which is a big time saver. The statistics in the reports help measure the performance of my business. From a customer service point of view, when a past client calls with questions it’s simple to find an inspection from the past for review.

I believe I use the office management in a unique way. Kristen from my call center, using Logmein, logs onto my office computer from her out of state office. She can start a new job, and enter all of the job information from a remote location. This saved me a lot of time once we finally figured out how to do it!

I use a combination of my iPAQ, my laptop, and my office computer to complete reports in my truck or wherever I am. When I get to my office I print them and email them. On a day with two inspections, I am usually at dinner with my family by 6pm. My reports are completed, the emailed copies have been sent to my client and the realtor; the printed copy is in the envelope ready to go to the client; I have printed a customized thank you letter to the client, I’ll mail that in about a week. A thank you letter to the realtor is in its envelope, and an introduction letter to the listing agent is in its envelope ready for the mail. To me, having burned the midnight oil just typing reports for so many years, this is the big advantage of the 3D system in my company; it has allowed me to automate the things I do!

Since using the 3D system I have become an advocate of the program and have even helped a few of my friendly competitors to use features of the program that they didn’t understand.

I can’t wait to figure out how to use some of the features of this program that I still don’t know!”

John Koch
Home Quest, LLC.
Shelton, CT
Website: http://www.homequestinspection.com