This guide walks you through creating an online form in Mailpro, using a quote-request form for a Melbourne landscaping business as the example. The same steps apply to booking, registration and feedback forms.
Step 1: Decide what the form is for
Write down the single outcome you want. For the landscaper: “Collect enough detail to quote on a job and book a site visit.” That tells you which fields you need and which you don’t.
Step 2: Choose a template or start blank
In Mailpro, go to Forms and pick a template close to your purpose, such as a contact and enquiry template, or start with a blank form.
Step 3: Add the fields
For the quote request:
- Name and email (required).
- Mobile number, with a hint that 04 or +61 formats are fine.
- Suburb and postcode (four digits), plus a state or territory dropdown if you serve more than one.
- Type of job, as a dropdown.
- Budget range, as a dropdown.
- Preferred date for a site visit, in day/month/year format.
- Photos of the garden, as a file upload.
Every extra field reduces completions, so cut anything you won’t use. The Australian Privacy Principles also expect you to collect only what you reasonably need.
Step 4: Add consent and a privacy notice
If you want to send the person marketing later, add a separate unticked box: “Yes, send me seasonal garden tips and offers.” Under the Spam Act 2003, a quote request on its own is not consent to a newsletter. Below the submit button, add a one-line collection notice explaining why you’re collecting their details, with a link to your privacy policy. That covers APP 5 for businesses the Privacy Act applies to.
Step 5: Design it
Match your brand colours and logo, keep one column so it works on a phone, and make the submit button clear (“Request my quote” beats “Submit”). You can customise the form design without code.
Step 6: Set up what happens next
- Send the customer a confirmation email with what to expect.
- Send your team an email alert with the details.
- Add the contact to a “quote requests” list, and to your newsletter list only if they ticked the marketing box.
Step 7: Publish and track
Embed the form on your website, or share the link on social media, in email signatures or on a QR code at a trade show. Check form statistics after a week: if many people start but don’t finish, the form is probably too long.
Where the answers are stored
Form responses are personal information. Mailpro stores them in Switzerland on private infrastructure, outside US jurisdiction, and never sells or rents them, which helps you address APP 8 if you’re asked where customer data goes.
To build a newsletter sign-up specifically, see how to create a subscription form, or return to the online forms overview.