What to put on your contact form to generate dream client inquiries

If you’re reading this, I’m going to take a wild guess… you’re a service based business owner who wants more dream client inquiries.

Idk maybe I’m wrong (but probably not). Either way, we need to talk about the most underrated part of your website: your contact form.

Think of your contact form as the middle ground between “I’m kinda interested in working with you” and “Let’s hop on a call and see if this is a fit.” Whether you’re an online business owner, running a local storefront, or managing a full team, your contact form is the very first real step toward booking a new client.

Keep in mind, it comes before the “inquiry” part of the inquiry to booking process. Your contact form is basically the closer of your website & is crucial for increasing your website conversion rate. It’s the final moment that says:
“Okay, you liked what you saw… now let’s get you talking to a real human.”

Now before we get to the good stuff, I wanted to let you know that I also made a YouTube video on this same exact topic. Just in case you prefer learning from video content instead of reading, I will link that for you to watch here: What to put on your contact from to get dream client inquiries

Think of it like going to a restaurant:

• Your website = the menu. You browse it and decide, “Yep, this looks delicious. Let’s eat here!”
• Your contact form = the hostess. They greet you, ask how many people are in your party, and guide you to the table where the rest of your experience begins.

In business terms, your marketing worked, people found your website, they liked what they saw (yay, gold star for you!), and now they’re ready to reach out. The last step in your lead generation process is the contact form… and how you set it up determines if you get randos or dream clients who are ready to book.

Now, maybe you’re thinking one of three things right now:

1. What does a contact form even do?
2. I only want serious inquiries (no time wasters, please)
3. I want ONLY my dream clients filling this out..

If your question is #1, you’re a silly goose because we literally just covered that (go back and read, my impatient friend). But if you’re more concerned about #2 or #3, keep reading because I’m going to show you exactly how to set up your contact form so it attracts only the right kind of people and gets you closer to your next dream client booking.

1. Ask questions to pre-qualify your leads

Pre-qualifying your leads is one of the coolest (and most beneficial) things you can do with your contact form. Remember, its whole purpose is to connect a potential client with you, the service provider and business owner.

By asking strategic questions, you’ll know right away (when that lead comes through) whether they’re likely a great fit or not.

The best pre-qualifying questions hit two main areas: price and personality.

Personality question contact form examples:

Instead of “Tell me about your project” try:

• “What made you reach out to me specifically?”
  
• “What are you hoping to walk away with from our time together?”

These not only weed out unaligned inquiries, but also give you valuable context up front. Plus, the more people share, the easier it is to see how serious they are. Because intentional, thoughtful answers usually mean they’re invested (to some extent) in working with you.

2. Ask the pricing question

Most business owners stay shaking in their boots when it comes to talking about their pricing. But I am here to show you that (1) it’s not that deep, and (2) how to change the way you feel about bringing up the cost of your services with potential clients.

Asking the pricing question right on your contact form helps you quickly filter out anyone whose budget doesn’t align with your rates (saving both you and them time).

Personally, I’m a big fan of being transparent about pricing. On both of my companies’ websites, I list a range on my services page. You don’t have to give away every detail of your packages (you still want a reason for people to inquire), but you should give a range, estimate, or starting rate so people know what to expect.

Just like you don’t want your time wasted, your dream clients don’t want theirs wasted either. And if they can’t find even a ballpark price of what would come out of their wallet, they’re likely to bounce off your site and head somewhere else.

Pricing questions contact form sample:

One of my favorite ways to handle this is to ask on my contact form:

→ “My services start at $X. Is that within your current budget?”

If you prefer asking “What is your budget?” then add a note beside it like:

→ “Note: My prices start at $3,000” or “My prices range from $3K to $6K”

This sets expectations, avoids awkward money convos, and stops you from spending time on leads who were never going to be a fit. You’re busy. You have a lot to do. And the last thing you need is to waste time going back and forth with someone who was never in your budget range to begin with.

3. Determine a start time if needed

This one feels obvious… but you’d be surprised how often it’s skipped. Asking about timing not only shows you how serious someone is, but also tells you right away whether their schedule lines up with your availability.

A few simple examples:

• “When are you hoping to get started?”
  
• “When are you looking to have your project completed?”
  

If you’re a social media manager, a business might reach out three months before they actually need someone to start. Which is good to know so you can plan ahead (or decide if you even have space for them).

If you’re a wedding or portrait photographer, this question is crucial. You’ll know instantly if you’re already booked for their date, saving you both time and disappointment.

Pretty straightforward, but seriously… don’t skip it, okay?

4. Let them share what excites them

This one’s my personal favorite, because my number one priority when booking new clients is making sure we share the same vision and values.

Asking about expected outcomes and the positive feelings they’re hoping for gives you a clear picture of whether you’re aligned. It’s basically an instant vibe check! (& we love an instant vibe check)

Yes, you want to book more clients, but booking clients who aren’t a good fit is almost guaranteed to cause problems later. (Ew, no thank you)

This question helps you avoid that and sets the tone for a more intentional, productive discovery call.

5. Ask how they found you

As a business owner, collecting real world data is the most important asset you can have!! Like, for real, for real.

You could ask Chat GPT all day long what the best marketing platforms are, but you will never know where your target audience actually hangs out unless you ask them.

Knowing how your leads actually found you is crucial!! It tells you which platforms are growing, converting, and worth focusing on. This is literal data shouting at you: “Keep investing here!”

I like using a dropdown menu so they can select an option, then diving deeper into the answer during the discovery call. Below is a screenshot of what mine looks like on my contact form:

Now remember, what happens after you get a lead is going to make or break how you close (aka, turn your inquiry into a paying client)

If you want to learn more about how you can go beyond your contact form to set yourself up for the highest chance of booking the inquiries you get, I have a few different things that will help you:

1. If you want to learn how to respond to your inquiries, get them on a discovery call & actually handle that discovery call to convert your leads to paying clients, check out Natural Sales!
2. If you’re more of a one-on-one kind of person and want personalized help boosting your conversions, my 1:1 coaching calls are perfect for you.
3. If you want support with a little bit of everything (and hey, there’s zero shame in that!) or aren’t ready to drop a big investment right now, my low cost monthly business coaching memberships that are just $7 or $12 a month.