Small Business Owners – Response Forms

As a small business owner, most of us need the ability to allow our customers/clients to respond electronically in a format that is easy to capture data, doesn’t require the customer/client to install anything, has a professional look, and works on just about any device (Apple, Windows, iOS, Android, etc….). Let’s talk about various methods and 2 specific options that are not prohibitively expensive or require significant IT knowledge.

So when we are talking about emails and texts, multiple applications are available to create drip campaigns or single outreach. These tools, while not free, are very effective at managing large volumes. If you are capturing data while the customer/client is at your website, you can create a customized HTML page that allows them to submit content directly to you via your domain. For a more personal touch and something that most small business owners can do themselves, let’s talk about Google and Adobe Forms.

Google Forms is a cloud-based application by Google that allows you to create a custom input form that is completed either by smartphone or computer. This will require a live connection anytime the client has the form open. Google Forms is automatically part of any Google account. You can access it by opening the Google website – make sure you are logged into Google in the top right corner – click the 9 dots at the top right – select Forms from the list. If you can’t see it, you can access it directly via this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/u/0/.

Google Forms is fairly simple and most users can self-teach by just creating some basic test cases. One of the features I like is that responses can be sent individually to a specific email address and/or they can automatically load into a Google Sheet’s file. Respondents do NOT need to have a Google account unless you turn on specific tracking and answer validation features. Forms do allow for some customization and branding….including image files (i.e. logos) but it will be within a specific framework/layout. Google Support also includes various Q & A as well as training material.

The 2nd option which will require only the form creator to have Adobe Standard or Adobe Pro (i.e. not the free versions) is to create a .pdf form. It is highly customizable and can give a very polished look. For those asking customers/clients for data that due to security considerations cannot be processed via a distributed server or needing something that the customer/client can download, complete when offline, and then send results when back online….this is the solution. While you can create an Adobe Form from scratch in Adobe, most of us find it more useful to create the form without the interactive fields (checkboxes, dropdowns, text boxes, etc….) in something like MS-Word. Save that file as a .pdf and then open it in Adobe to add the interactive fields. Just like Google Forms, you can create a “submit” button that will send the completed form to a specific website or email address for data capture. The process has a lot more options and unless you are farmilar with the nuances of the programs involved, you probably would be better served having a “geek” convert your content into a .pdf form format. A very nice feature of Adobe Forms is the ability to have digital signatures as part of the document.

So if you are a small business owner and want a form (potentially tied to a QR code) that a client can fill out directly from their smart phone or computer, give me a call/text/email/use my website’s contact me form and I can set you up!

PDF — What Is It and How or Why I Should Be Using It

The PDF file type stands for portable document format. The most important consideration of .pdf files is the fact that it is the international standard (ISO 32000) for electronic document and archiving file format. This means that years from now as applications change, data saved as a .pdf will still be readable by new applications, among other considerations. The .pdf file format can handle images, links, text features, and is a relatively small file size.

Some usage best practices.

  • If you are saving data from a proprietary application (i.e., tax return program) and done making edits, make sure you store the data as a .pdf. The proprietary program may no longer be available in the future or due to changes be unable to open old files without issues.
  • Email — most people don’t think about email applications as proprietary, but they are, and they are very poor at data management, archive, or searchable results. Programs like Adobe have the ability to archive multiple emails as a batch job into a single .pdf file that keeps the emails as individual items and makes them searchable. Most email programs have a save as .pdf option. Assuming you already have a folder structure for a client/subject, this allows you to save those critical CYA emails as files in an easily findable location.
  • The Adobe Acrobat programs, Microsoft Office, and many others automatically install a virtual .pdf printer. This allows you to convert any data from a program with a print function to .pdf file format, with the layout and physical formatting automatically matching the original program print command.

Programs for creating and editing .pdf files.

  • Microsoft and Apple Office Programs both have the ability to convert files to .pdf file types.
  • Adobe is the gold standard for a PDF program. The Reader version is free and should be installed on all computers, smartphones, tablets, etc…. If you need some of the more advanced or editable features like encryption, install Adobe Standard or Adobe Pro.
    • Adobe .pdf Binder vs. Adobe .pdf Portfolio — both are great options for archival of multiple files into Adobe searchable .pdf structure, but have different features.
    • Video showing/explaining a portfolio/binder differences. Portfolio maintains native file association vs. a binder which converts everything to .pdf. (Link: https://youtu.be/nBsdNd3_uiE)
  • At a cost savings, multiple off brand options are available but make sure you review the features carefully. Typically, they are less costly because they might only work with an internet connection (i.e., cloud based), features are missing, not as easy to use, or owned/operated by a foreign entity, etc…. Depending on your business, these considerations may or may not be acceptable. Here are a few options:

As a best practice, I like to work my emails in subject related folders within the email structure. Upon completion of the project or during an annual archive, I will export the emails from an email folder to a .pdf binder or a portfolio (which allows me to keep all the attachments intact). That file is then saved with all the other non-email files/folder structure of the closed project. This keeps my email clean and manageable in size, retains email data in a file format that supports archive and search features, and allows typical backup file practices to capture former email content without needing any special actions/steps.