Intake forms vs. update forms

Forms can be used to enter new data into your CRM, or to update existing contact records. Learn more about the difference between intake and update forms here:

Intake forms will always create a new contact record.

• Intake forms are the simplest way to use forms, and will always create a new contact and/or company record. If the record already exists, you can merge them to combine them.
• Intake forms can be used for lead collection, and are good for things like “Contact us”  or “Request a quote” forms where you’re collecting brand new contact data.

Update forms are used to update existing contact and company records.

• Update forms are a more complex version of forms and can overwrite or remove existing data. Make sure you understand exactly how update forms work before using one.
• Update forms will identify existing contact based on email address and/or phone number. The form submission will update that record, but if it can’t find a matching record it will create a new one.
  
  • Please note: contact matches are only identified by email or phone number. Company matches are identified by name, or based on a matching contact. Company matches are not identified using email or phone number.
• If a new email, phone number, address, or website is given, that will be added to the existing record (the original value will appear in addition to the new one). If a new value is given for any other field, that will replace the original entry.
  
  • Please note: if your form includes a checkbox field the new values from the form will replace any existing options. If the new form submission does not have any options selected, the contact’s field will be updated to have no options selected (even if they previously had options selected).
• Update forms can be used to collect additional details from existing clients, and are good for things like client service agreements, feedback surveys, or event registration for client only events.

Additional details to keep in mind

• Form submissions will appear in the history for the contact record. If data was updated, the entry will include “Contact updated” which can be selected to view the updates that were made.
  
  • To revert changes made by an update form, copy/paste data from the “Contact updated” dialog back into the contact details.
• Update form submissions will update contact name or company name if a new name or company name is entered during form submission. It will not create a new company record if the contact is already linked to a company.
• If a pipeline is added as an automation to an update form, it will always create a new pipeline item. It will not update an existing pipeline item.
• Forms can only update contacts that the form’s owner has edit access to. If the user does not have edit access to the existing record, the submission will instead create a new record.