Create and use forms
Hectic's versatile forms feature helps you connect with your clients from capturing a lead to setting up meetings.
Michelle Lee avatar
Written by Michelle Lee
Updated over a week ago

This tutorial will show you how to create and use forms. A Hectic form can be used for multiple purposes, like a discovery form, or a lead gen form (for maximum benefit, you can integrate your forms with the scheduler tool). You can also create a follow-up form to gather customer feedback to ensure customer satisfaction and to hone your business acumen.

Any form you create can be saved as a template for later use.

This guide will help you get the information you need from a potential client to submit a proposal that will impress. Use Hectic’s form feature to learn more about the client’s needs and determine if there’s a good fit.

Why forms?

Forms can be used throughout your client lifecycle.


1) Lead capture - Use a form embedded in your Web site to capture a lead that can be easily converted to a client in Hectic with just one click.

2) Discovery forms - Find out what a client needs and use it to create the perfect proposal and contract.
3) Information - Capture information needed from current clients before a meeting or anytime you're collecting standardized information.

Adding a form

Navigate to "Form builder" from the workspace settings in the lower left corner and select the "Forms" tab. All of your created forms will be saved here for future use. Create a new form or choose one of your previously created forms.

Content blocks

There are three main categories of content blocks.

  • Form inputs - allow you to gather information. This includes text inputs, drop down, radio buttons, check boxes, file uploads, and dates.

  • Content blocks - allow you to add rich text and media, images, and logo placement.

  • Layout elements - allow you to specify page breaks, horizontal dividers, spacing as well as a container which allows creating multi-column forms / sections.

To add content to your form, simply click and drag an element from the left bar into your page. Once it's on your page, you can move elements up and down by simply dragging and dropping them.

When you are ready to customize your form elements, simply click on any of the elements on your form and the element edit window will become available to modify the settings.

The active element will be highlighted with a drop shadow so you can see exactly what you are modifying. When you are done modifying the settings of the form input, simply click done to return to the main element screen.

Pages allow you to break down your form into smaller chunks to make it easier for the individuals filling the form. (Note: pages will be silently ignored when the form is utilized in a meeting scheduler or in the Request/Ticketing module)

To break your form down into multiple pages, simply drag page separators into the areas where you want page breaks.

The outcome for the end user will be a multi page form experience with customizable forward and backward buttons.

Field Mapping

One of the most valuable features of using integrated forms is the ability to map data captured in the form into structured data in the CRM that can be associated with new Opportunities, contact records, etc.

Any of the form input fields can be mapped to any element in the client CRM dataset.


Form Settings

The settings tab in the form configuration allow you to configure what happens after a form is submitted.

  • Confirmation email template - will be the automated email template that is sent out upon submission of the form. Please note that you must include an "Email" mapping in the form answers for the template to be sent successfully.

  • Add submission to pipeline - if a stage is selected here, a new opportunity will automatically be added to the pipeline with all of the information captured in the form associated. This can be used with workflow automations to automatically trigger events as soon as someone submits a form on your website.

  • Redirect URL - Must be a fully qualified URL in https://www.website.com format. Note: if your form is embedded in an iFrame, this feature is not supported as the content within an iframe does not have permission to redirect a parent form. You can follow this help article for a workaround when using iframes and redirects.

  • The text block on the settings screen is used to show a confirmation / thank you message after the form as been submitted. If you are using a redirect, this is not required and will not be visible by the end user.

Form Styles

Almost everything in the form is customizable including font, font size, icons, colors, etc.

How to think about using forms

Forms can be used to get some basic information from a prospect, scope of a project, or really anything you need to know. Some questions you could ask include:

  • What is your budget for this project?

  • How long will this project last? (e.g. 1 week, 3 months)

  • Briefly describe the project.

  • Which of my services are you interested in? (accompanied by a multiple-option list of services you offer)

The options are limitless here! Ask for any information you’ll need to develop a proposal and write up a contract for the client.

Using your form

Depending on your type of form, you can choose to embed it directly on your website or get a direct link. Click "Share" in the upper right corner and choose the option that makes the most sense for this form.

Hectic allows you to create as many forms as you'd like. Each form can be used as a template for future use.

You can add your form to a meeting scheduler or client ticketing.

Lead capture

Anytime someone completes a form (from a link or embedded in your website), you will get a Hectic notification and they will be added to the inquiry column in your pipeline. View answers by clicking the notification or in the column in pipeline.

Add your new lead as a client by opening their submission and selecting "+ new client."

So, what’s next?

If you captured a lead with forms, confirm you are the right fit with your client via email or by creating a meeting to get any questions you still have answered. If you feel you’d be a good fit for the client, go ahead and create an agreement.

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