Intake forms are the longest forms a small business runs, because they take a new client's whole situation in one go, and they are the forms most often abandoned for the same reason. The fix is not fewer questions but the right order and the right number per screen: contact details first, the matter second, the documents last, with each step fitting a phone. This page gives intake form examples for three businesses, a consultancy, a trade and a studio, shows how conditional logic keeps each client's form to the questions that apply to them, and sizes the steps on the free request a quote form sheet, which prints the fields a client sees and the fields per step.
The three steps every intake form shares
Step one is who: name, email, phone, and how they found you, none of which depends on the matter. Step two is what: the service or matter type, and the questions that type needs, shown by conditional logic. Step three is the rest: documents to upload, dates, and a notes box. On the request a quote form sheet five base fields and three questions for one service is 8 fields seen and about 3 a step, 72 seconds at nine seconds a field, and that is the shape an intake form should keep however many services it holds.
Intake form examples: consultancy, trade, studio
The consultancy's intake asks the business size and the goal on step two and the current numbers on step three, as an upload. The trade's asks the property type and the job on step two and the access and the preferred dates on step three, with photos. The studio's asks the event and the date on step two and the venue and the guest count on step three. In each the first step is identical, which is why one intake form template with three branches beats three forms.
Routing the entry and keeping it
The matter type on step two decides who reads the entry, and the confirmation says who that is and when they will be in touch. In Shortcodo Pro each intake is an entry with its sender, the branch taken, the uploads and a status from new to onboarded, and the intake form's design is kept beside its entries so a question that is never answered can be seen and removed. The sheet the form was sized on is kept with it, so the next change to the form is measured against the last.
Questions people ask about intake forms
How long can an intake form be?
As long as the matter needs, in steps of a phone screen each. The sheet prints the fields per step; the finish rate on the contact form design sheet says whether the steps are working.
Should the intake form take a deposit?
If the engagement needs one, on the last step as a payment line, priced first on the payment form calculator so the client sees the charge and you know what lands.
Are medical intake forms covered here?
No. A clinical intake system is a different product with its own rules; this site covers the small business's own client intake.