Ask for a lead name, description and lead custom fields
Lead Fields are the questions about the job itself, and the customer answers them. Values you set once for every lead, such as status or salesperson, belong in Lead Default Fields. On the form these fields sit under "Enquiry Details", after the contact and address sections.
Before you start
- The form needs a Simpro company on its Properties page. Until it has one, Lead Fields is missing from the form's menu.
- Lead custom fields need a Lead form subscription. Without one the Custom fields section is greyed out and says "Lead custom fields are only available to Lead form subscribers." Name and Description work on every plan.
- Lead custom fields are read live from the form's Simpro company. Create them in Simpro first.
Step by step
- Open your form from Forms. If it opens in Form UI, switch to Config. Then open Settings, then Lead Fields.
- Switch on Name and Description if the form should ask for them.
- Tick Mandatory field on each one the customer has to fill in. The box only ticks once the field is switched on.
- Under Custom fields, switch on the lead custom fields the customer should answer, and tick Mandatory field where needed.
- Click Save.
Saving publishes the form, so the next enquiry uses the new fields.
On the form, "Name" is a single line and "Description" is a larger text box. Site Fields has a "Name" too, under "Address", so a form using both shows two boxes labelled "Name".
The form shows Text, List, Date, Numeric and Hyperlink custom fields. A Numeric field takes digits only. A custom field of any other type is left off the form.
How it maps to Simpro
| On the form | On the Simpro lead |
|---|---|
| Name | Lead name. Sent empty when the form doesn't ask for it or the customer leaves it blank |
| Description | Description. Left out when blank |
| Custom fields | Lead custom fields, written one at a time after the lead is created |
The customer's custom field answers are written after the values from Lead Default Fields. When the same custom field is on both pages and the customer answers it, their answer is the one the lead keeps. If they leave it untouched, the default stays.
If Simpro refuses a custom field, the lead still exists without that value. The enquiry page only lists errors for enquiries that never became a lead, so this one doesn't show there.
When it goes wrong
The lead name is blank in Simpro
Name is switched off, or it is optional and the customer left it empty. Switch on Name and tick Mandatory field.
A lead default value was replaced
The customer answered the same custom field on the form, and their answer is written after the default. Switch the field off on this page if the default should always apply.
The "Enquiry Details" heading won't change
The form always shows "Enquiry Details" above these fields. Lead Details: Title under Styles, then Headings and labels, doesn't change it.
A list custom field is missing new options
Formpiece copies a list field's options, and the field's name, from Simpro when you switch the field on or change Mandatory field. Options added in Simpro after that don't reach the form. Switch the field off and on again, then click Save.
Lead custom fields are greyed out
They need a Lead form subscription. If the subscription ends, the form keeps showing them until it is next saved, but Formpiece stops writing the answers to Simpro straight away.
