Creating a form, getting it distributed, and then collecting the data is one of those important jobs that can seem like a daunting task for the first time, but a tool like Google Forms can make this task easy. Whether you are doing something as simple as creating an RSVP or collecting contact info, or something more complicated like conducting a quiz or survey, Google Forms must make the procedure fast and painless for you and your respondents. This guide will take you through the basics of google docs forms and a few reasons to use Google for business.
What are Google Forms?
Google Forms is a tool that helps you to build customized forms. These forms are then hosted on a Google URL page. This is a simple yet effective way to collect info of any type without putting the form itself on your site.
Business owners often use google forms to collect statistical data about clients and customers. It is also one of the popular tools used in colleges and universities. Teachers use these forms in classroom projects and while doing experiments. One can even use google docs forms to gather information from friends or family members while planning a trip.
Google forms consists of two different components: the main survey form and synced google sheets to automatically list and format the data you gather. By auto-shifting the data out of the form and into a spreadsheet, the probability of clerical errors is lessened. Earlier, the only way to transfer answers from survey forms to your ultimate reporting platform was through data export, generally involving human staff at a certain point.
Google Forms is practically fully automated. It is one of the popular Google products in which answers can be automatically transferred to spreadsheets after submitting them. You can even take this step further by setting up email notifications, so you receive a new email every time a new response comes in. It is simple, intuitive, and fast!
Reasons to Use Google Forms for Business
Gathering data from your audiences is an absolute must. Without it, you are significantly flying blind when you try to restructure your SEO and marketing efforts. This data can be used for your internal practices also. With the correct statistical knowledge, it becomes much simpler to streamline the workflows of the company and find out where bottlenecks survive.
Here are some of the important reasons to use Google Forms for business:
Customer feedback- Whether your customers’ shop online or in person, their feedback can offer you important information on how to make improvements. Send a link to the google survey form to anyone who is interested in giving their email address. Use this data you collect to enhance your customer service and sales processes.
Create Unlimited free forms with Google Templates- Most of the survey tools will provide you a specific amount of free polling before they even start to charge you for the service. Utilizing a subscription-based service is fine if you are a large company. However, if you are a single person who runs a small business, or if you are a part of any non-profit organization, a monthly price tag can create a problem. Fortunately, one of the biggest advantages of using a google survey form is that Google allows you to run as many free polls as you would like. Technically, you could keep on developing new surveys until your Google Drive is filled. To save your time, Google Forms also offer varieties of templates among which you can choose to create a poll specific to your requirements.
Customer surveys- Don’t know whether your customer personas are working or not? Or if your demographics are moving? Use google surveys to go deep and find out important data points including how, where, and when your target audience shops or what they think about your products and services.
Results can be shared- One of the important reasons to use Google forms for business is the benefit of sharing the results. If you love collaborating on spreadsheets and documents, then one of the major benefits of Google Forms is that the collaborative capabilities of Google are available throughout the app. You can share a form along with the results of that form in a google spreadsheet- with as many people as you want. When you click on “Add collaborators” for your form, all collaborators that you add can view it. Give other team members the permission to edit and see the edits that other people have made.
Receive email notifications for Google Forms Results- Some of the survey creating tools that you find online will only allow you to see the results of that survey by visiting the app’s website. This situation can be less than perfect based on which device you are viewing the website. Luckily, one of the biggest advantages of Google Forms is the ability to attain notifications and responses to your form directly through email.
To get responses in your email inbox:
Click on the “Responses tab” at the top of the Google Form
Tap on the three dots present on the right-hand side of the toolbar, next to a symbol of Google spreadsheet
Choose the option, “Get email notification” for new responses from the drop down menu
Creating Google surveys with Google Forms is easy- Ultimately, one of the biggest benefits of Google Forms is that it permits you to create polls, surveys, and forms quickly. There are no complex whistles or bells that you must know to learn how to utilize the app; no price point or insider understanding that makes the tool unavailable for an average user. If you want to create a survey in ten minutes or less than that, then there is no easier way to do it than using Google Forms. Just open your app, choose your template, type the questions, and go. This makes it suitable for casual users when they develop online documents.
Sales forms- Want to give customers an easy option for setting up sales carts? Maybe you have a wholesale business and using a cart interface will be a waste. Google forms are perfect for businesses that create customizable packages as well as lengthy orders with plenty of items. Make an intake document or checklist with Forms and customize it to collect just the data you need the most.
Time-off requests- Do you need an easy and fast way to collect time-off requests without losing them in between other emails? Do your employees use an internal form to put their requests for vacation time. Include as many or as few fields as you like to find the right info, like employee number, dates, and seniority ranking.
Work requests- Require someone from the finance department to prepare a monthly report? Use Google Forms to send a work order to the specific department. Or, streamline workflows by issuing assistance and support tickets for your IT department in a similar way.
How to make Google Form
There is nothing to install with Google Forms. Just sign in to your Google account and visit docs.google.com/forms, and you are all set to get started.
You will see the “Start a new form” section at the top of the page having several templates in it. Once you click on the “Template Gallery” present on the upper right side, it will expand to reveal lots of templates across three different categories ( Personal, Education, and Work). While they do not cover everything, there is a great chance that one of these templates will be a safer jumping-off point for you than a blank form.
The next step is to customize the form. Start by clicking the palette icon present at the top. This permits you to choose a simple color for your image or theme for the header. A complimentary color will automatically get selected for the sides. If you want to see how your google form will appear to a respondent, then hit the eye icon present at the top of the screen for getting a quick preview.
Adjacent to the preview, you will find a gear icon with settings. These contain a few important features. The first option in general settings is whether you collect email addresses. If this checkbox is changed, respondents will be asked about their email addresses before the submission. Extra general options can restrict users to a single response per each Google account.