A contact form asks for a name, an email and a message. A quote form asks what the job is, where it is, how urgent it is, and whether they have a photo. The first gives you an inbox full of admin. The second gives you something you can act on before you have even rung back.
Why the questions filter
Every question is a small gate. Somebody thirty miles outside your patch usually stops when they see the postcode field, which saves you an evening ringing them back. Somebody with a real job to price answers happily, because each question feels like progress towards a price.
You also arrive at the call already knowing what you are looking at, so the conversation starts at the useful part instead of ten questions in.
A worked example
A paving firm was getting around fifteen messages a month through a plain contact form. Most said something like can you give me a price for a driveway, with no size, no location and no photo. Each one needed a call back and about half were nowhere near.
A short form asking the job type, the rough size, the postcode, the timescale and an optional photo turned those into enquiries that could be sorted in a minute over a cup of tea. Fewer of them, and each one worth ringing.
Keeping it short
Five or six questions is our own ceiling. Every extra field is one more chance for somebody to give up. Ask what you truly need to decide, put the photo upload in because a picture answers three questions at once, and make sure the whole thing works with one thumb on a phone.
Why it matters for your site
Check these on your own site
- Ask for the postcode. It is the single most useful filter you have.
- Allow a photo. One picture replaces three questions and half a phone call.
- Keep it to five or six questions. Every extra one loses people.
- Test it yourself from a phone and check the enquiry actually lands in your inbox.
- Tell them what happens next and how quickly you reply. Silence loses jobs.
Common questions
What should a trade quote form ask?
The job type, the postcode, rough size or scale, how urgent it is, and an optional photo. That is usually enough to decide whether to drive out and what to charge.
Do longer forms get fewer enquiries?
Yes, but the ones you get are better qualified. The aim is not the most enquiries, it is the most enquiries worth ringing back.