Form fields, mapping and required rules

A form is a trade: every field collects more information and costs you some submissions. Getting that balance right matters more than any styling decision.

The second half is mapping — making sure an answer lands on the right field of the lead rather than in a note nobody reads.

Who this is for

Anyone building lead capture forms.

Before you start

• Permission to create and publish forms.
• A clear idea of what happens to a submission next — that is what decides which fields you actually need.

Map fields, do not just collect them
A question whose answer is not mapped to a lead field arrives as text nobody filters or reports on. Mapping is what turns 'company size' from a sentence in a submission into a field you can score, route and segment by. An unmapped question is barely better than not asking.

Build the form

1. Start from what happens next
   If a submission goes straight to a rep for a call, you need very little. If it feeds routing and scoring, you need the specific fields those rules read.
2. Ask for name and one contact route
   A lead needs a name and at least one of email or phone. That is the genuine minimum — everything beyond it is a choice.
3. Pick the right field type
   There is a wide range of field types. A dropdown for known options beats a text box that collects six spellings of the same answer.
4. Map each field to a lead field
   Point the question at the lead field its answer belongs in, so routing, scoring and filtering can read it.
5. Require only what you cannot proceed without
   Every required field costs submissions. Requiring something a genuine prospect cannot answer means you lose them entirely.
6. Submit it yourself
   Fill in your own form and look at the lead it produced. Anything unmapped or mis-typed is obvious immediately.

What you get

• Submissions arriving as structured leads, not free text.
• Fields that routing and scoring can actually read.
• A form short enough that people finish it.
• A tested path from submission to lead record.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum a form must collect?

A name and at least one of email or phone — that is what a lead requires. Everything else is a trade between information and completion rate.

What happens to a field I do not map?

The answer arrives as unstructured text rather than on a lead field, so nothing can filter, score or route by it. Map anything you intend to use.

How many fields is too many?

When completion drops. Test with the minimum and add a field only when you can say what decision it changes.

Should I make fields required?

Sparingly. A required field a real prospect cannot answer does not improve your data, it removes the lead.