Intake forms
An intake form is a form you can share with anyone. Every submission creates a contact and opens a conversation in Messages that you can reply to.
It collects leads from anywhere. It's the form you put in your Instagram bio, on your own website, or in an email signature.
Find them at Contacts → Intake forms.
How it's different from a questionnaire
These get confused, and they work in opposite directions.
| Intake form | Questionnaire | |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts it | Anyone, uninvited | You |
| Who it goes to | Whoever has the link | A specific contact |
| What it creates | A new contact and a conversation | A response on an existing contact |
| Used for | Catching inquiries | Gathering details from someone you're already working with |
Intake forms face outward. You don't know who's filling it in.
Questionnaires face inward. You know exactly who you sent it to and you're waiting on their answer.
If you're asking a booked couple about their timeline, that's a questionnaire. If you're asking strangers to get in touch, that's an intake form.
How it's different from a booking page
Your booking page is tied to your services. Someone picks what they want and inquires about that specific thing.
An intake form isn't tied to anything. It's a general "get in touch". It suits people who don't yet know what they want, and it's easier to drop somewhere that isn't your booking page.
Plenty of photographers use both.
What happens when someone submits
- A contact is created, as a lead or a client depending on how you set the form up, with Intake form as its source.
- Answers that belong on contact details, their phone number or company for example, land on that contact.
- A conversation opens in Messages carrying every answer they gave. It takes the form's name as its subject.
- You get a notification.
- They see a page reading "Your form has been submitted!" followed by your confirmation message.
From there you reply as you would to any message, and the thread stays attached to the contact.
No email goes to the person who submitted. If you want them to have something in writing, that's your reply.
Getting started
Create a form, add your questions, publish it, and share the link. See Building a form and Sharing and submissions.