Intake Forms: Build, Publish, and QA Intake Submissions

Intake Forms: Build, Publish & QA

Intake forms allow you to collect structured data from clients and prospects through a public-facing form that automatically creates or updates CRM records on submission. A well-designed intake form reduces the back-and-forth of manual data gathering and ensures every new lead or client record starts with the right information. This guide covers building the form, publishing and sharing it, and running quality assurance on incoming submissions.

1. Building an Intake Form

Intake form design directly affects submission quality. Forms that are too long get abandoned; forms missing key fields create incomplete records that require manual follow-up to fill in. Strike a balance between completeness and usability.

1. Navigate to Form Builder: Go to Form Builder (or Intake Info > Create Intake Form depending on your configuration). Click New Form.
2. Set the form title and description: Use a clear, client-facing title (e.g. "New Client Intake Form", "Appointment Request", "Service Enquiry"). Add a brief description explaining what the form is for and how long it takes to complete.
3. Add required contact fields: As a minimum, include: Full Name, Email Address, Phone Number. These three fields are needed to create a meaningful CRM lead or client record.
4. Add qualification and service fields: Include fields that help your team qualify and route the submission — e.g. Service Interested In (dropdown), Preferred Contact Method, Budget Range, Availability for Appointment.
5. Add file upload fields if needed: For service types requiring documents (e.g. ID verification, supporting documents), add an upload field. Set the accepted file types (PDF, JPG, PNG) and maximum file size to avoid failed uploads.
6. Add a consent checkbox: Include a mandatory GDPR/privacy consent checkbox with a link to your privacy policy. This is a legal requirement for collecting personal data in most jurisdictions.
7. Apply validation rules: Mark required fields with the required flag. Add format validation for email (must contain @) and phone (minimum digit count). Required fields with validation dramatically reduce incomplete submissions that need manual follow-up.
8. Click Save Form — but do not publish yet.

2. Publishing and Sharing the Intake Form

Once the form is built and validated internally, it is ready to be published and shared. The public URL is how clients access the form; the embed code can be placed on your website or booking page.

1. Configure destination mapping: Before publishing, open the form's Settings or Mapping tab. Set the action on submission: Create New Lead, Update Existing Lead by Email, or Create New Client. Map each form field to the corresponding CRM record field — e.g. the "Full Name" form field maps to the Lead Name field, "Email" maps to Lead Email, and so on.
2. Set post-submission behaviour: Configure what the submitter sees after completing the form — a thank-you message, a redirect to a specific URL (e.g. your booking page or a confirmation page), or a display of the submitted data for review.
3. Publish the form: Click Publish. The form is now live and accessible. A public URL and embed code are generated.
4. Copy and share the URL: Share the public URL via email, WhatsApp, or SMS to clients who need to complete it. For website embedding, copy the provided embed code and paste it into the relevant page on your website.
5. Run an internal test submission: Before sharing the link with any client, complete the form yourself using realistic test data. Verify: the submission appears in the form responses list, a lead or client record is created in the CRM with all fields correctly populated, and the post-submission page or redirect works correctly.
6. Correct any mapping errors: If the test submission did not create the expected CRM record or fields are missing, return to the mapping configuration, correct the issue, and retest before going live.

3. Intake QA and Handover

Once the form is live, intake submissions must be reviewed daily. Incomplete or incorrectly mapped submissions need immediate attention to prevent leads from being lost or going unassigned.

1. Review the daily submissions list: Navigate to Form Builder > Responses (or the intake submissions view). Review all new submissions from the past 24 hours. Sort by submission date and look for any flagged or incomplete entries.
2. Check for missing critical fields: For each submission, verify that the required fields — particularly email, phone, and name — are populated. A submission missing contact details cannot be actioned until the data is retrieved manually.
3. Confirm CRM record creation: For each submission, verify that the expected lead or client record was created in the CRM and that the data is accurately populated. If a submission did not trigger record creation, investigate the mapping configuration.
4. Assign owner and first follow-up task: For every new lead created from a form submission, immediately assign an owner and create a follow-up task with a due date no more than 24 hours out. Unassigned leads from intake forms are a common source of lost business.
5. Log failed submissions in a QA register: Keep a note of any submission that failed to create a CRM record, had a field mapping error, or had missing data. Review these weekly and address the root cause — usually a form field validation gap or a mapping configuration issue.

Common Issues

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