Create a site contact form that works

No matter what services you provide, the odds of you needing a contact form on your site are pretty high. I personally use + recommend Gravity Forms as a plugin on WordPress sites, but let’s dive into what makes a good contact form. And more importantly, how to create a site contact form that works for you + your business!

Create a site contact form with the right questions

1. Contact information

Maybe I’m stating the obvious here, but asking leads for their information can save you oodles of back + forth emails if they hire you. Most contact forms do a great job of snagging a name + email address, because you likely couldn’t respond to the inquiry without that information.

But where many forms fall flat is by not requesting the contact information you’ll need to set up an invoice, contract or project with the person reaching out. Items like phone number (mobile, office, etc), mailing address, social media profile of choice + Skype username are great options to grab.

Adding the mailing address to my consult request form meant that when I sat down to create an estimate for the individual, I had everything I needed. Instead of leaving the address blank or emailing them after the call to go “so sorry, can you send me your address?”, I was prepared for the next step.

2. Budget

This isn’t the great debate about if putting prices on your site is a good idea. We can have that chat another time. This is about figuring out what your client is comfortable spending for the project they are hiring for.

My favorite way to ask for a client’s budget in a contact form is with a small handful of ranges. The first range (or lowest price) is often selected by leads who want to spend less than your minimum.

Do yourself a favor + set that first option lower than your base price. Why? Because if you start with your bare minimum + they pick it, you are left wondering if they picked it because it’s the cheapest or because they will fit within your project cost range.

Let’s say your lowest package option is $1,000. Your form options could be…

  • less than $750
  • $750-$1,250
  • $1,250-$2,000
  • more than $2,000

Picking that first option is a cue that the client may not be a good fit for you or that you’ll need to spend a little more time explaining how the price you charge will bring them value.

3. Personality

There may be laws around collecting information on your website (hellllllo GDPR) but there are no laws that say contact forms have to be boring.

As much as you are vetting someone to make sure they will be a good client, they are also figuring out if you’re the right person for the job. Adding some personality to your contact form will give them an idea of who you are before you hop on a Skype call.

How do you inject personality into a form? With the way you word questions or by asking a bonus (not required) question like “what’s your favorite yoga pose?” or “what spotify station can you not live without?” to learn more about your potential client while letting them know what you care about as well. You can also add personality by adding a gif or funny YouTube video to the form thank you page. I know someone really funny that does that….

*cough*it’s me*cough*

Remember that none of these tips matter if you don’t route prospective clients to your contact form before scheduling a call or meeting. Have a few scripts in your pocket for sending social media requests + direct emails to your intake form so your site can do it’s job.

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