In this article we will take you through step by step how to create a form on The Layer. This functionality can be used to obtain specific information from customers or potential customers.

In order for you to be able to create forms on The Layer you will require access to the ‘Settings’ zone, this is a permissioned bases functionality, if you currently don’t have access to this function please contact your Layer administrator.

Firstly, access Settings from the top of your screen as indicated below.

Scroll down until you see the section labelled ‘Forms’ and click Forms.

You will now see a full list of the forms which have already been created in your instance of The Layer. To create a new form please select ‘Create’ on the left of your screen.

Firstly, select the title for your form. In our example we have selected ‘Post meeting review’. I have also added a description for the form 'Review form after 1st meeting’. In the Theme section please select ‘Layer’.

There are two tick box option detailed under the theme section.

The first is public, if you wish your customer or potential customers to be able to access this form please tick the box, if the form is for internal purposes only do not select this box.

The next checkbox is labelled "pre populate" , this will take the responses from the form and update the record.

For example, a sales advisor could send out the form to request information (such as current network provider), the recipient would then complete the form and the information would be pulled through to the customer or lead record in The Layer for the sales advisor to review.

Note: this is for custom fields only and not core fields.

Once you have made your selections please click save at the bottom of the screen.

You will now start to build your form. The screen will be split into two columns. The first details a full list of all the custom fields which were already created within The Layer.

The next section will contain the custom fields within your form, as you will see from our example there is nothing detailed here as yet. You can drag and drop your existing custom fields into the second column to add them to your form.

You may have also noticed on the left of your screen is a section named ‘New Field’.

This section allows you to create a new field for your form which isn’t already detailed within your custom fields. To do this first enter the Field Title, e.g. date of meeting.

Now select the response type. There are 6 options:

In our example as we are looking for customers to select a date range, we have left this as text box.

N.B. Text area will give a larger space for the form answer where as text box is more designed for short answers. Text areas can be useful went designing forms that should contain a lot of detail such as site surveys or even to add a general comments box.

Now you can either create a new Custom field group or attach your new field to an existing group. In this example we have selected a new Custom field group and typed the desired name underneath, 'Meeting Review'. By making this selection all the new fields you create for this form can be saved under the new group.

To make this field mandatory on your new form tick the box 'Required', this will ensure that no one can complete the form before completing this field.

When finished, click Add.

For more information on custom fields please see here.

You will then see that this field has been added to the new form column.

Repeat this process to add additional fields. Once you have captured all required information you will see all of the fields on the right side.

N.B. you can change the order of the fields simply by dragging them up and down.

To complete your form please select save at the very bottom left of the screen as indicated below

Now that you have completed your form you will be able to see a preview of this by selecting ‘preview form’ on the left of your screen

You will now be presented with an example of what the finished form will look like.

When happy with the layout go back to the form editor and click into Settings. In the Pre & Post Processing section you will choose the pre-population settings you would like for your form from the following options:-

You will also have now have 2 options as to how you would like your form to be available which are:-

You will also notice under your options above there is a section labelled ‘Notify’ here you will select who you wish to have notified when a form is completed simply by ticking the box next to the name you wish to receive the notifications.
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At the bottom of the Settings tab you will also have the ability to select where you would like to raise and view this particular form.

This will be particularly useful if you would like to record information on the customers current products and services at the opportunity to help build your quote around their requirements or for gathering details about numbers to port or other details at the ordering stage.

You can even now use a pre-created form to help you troubleshoot with clients if it is saved in cases.

You could also attach the forms that customers have filled out at either the ordering or opportunity stage to cases to give you extra information about any prior concerns or issues that were raised.

N.B. If you do not select any, the form will be available in all locations.

When finished press Save. Your form is now complete.

To raise the form in a sales order, lead or customer record simply go to the Forms button at the top of the page.

You will then be presented with a pop up list of all available forms. You can search for the desired form using the search bar and raise the form by clicking on the clipboard symbol in the Complete column.

Alternatively, clicking on the icon in the URL column will copy the form link to your clipboard, along with a reference to your username. This means that, when a customer completes the form after using your link, you'll be notified by email.

You will also be able to see how many responses the form has received, when the last response was received and whether the form has been configured to update previous information gathered. denoted by either a green tick or red cross (this can be changed in the settings tab described above).

This will help you to avoid sending the customer the same form to fill in multiple times or allow you to identify when the data may be out of date and so the form should be resent.

To view previously completed forms click on the chevron on the left of the desired form and choose which response you would like to download the pdf copy of. This will save you having to go through every form the customer has ever completed and take you straight to the desired form type if used in conjunction with the search bar.

To access forms in cases click on the clip board icon at the top of the case.

The form pop up will look and work exactly as descrided above.

You can view forms from opportunities by clicking the forms button on the bottom right of the window.

Again, when accessed from here the form pop up will look and work exactly as described above.

You can also export a list of of the completed results of certain forms into excel. To do this first go to the settings zone and then press forms.

From there click the view button in the results column against the particular form you would like to see. This will then download an excel file with all the responses to the questions included in the form.