How to Create a Customer Onboarding Form with Automated Personalized Follow-Ups

Personalize onboarding with prefilled customer data

In this guide, you’ll create a customer onboarding form that pulls existing client info from your CRM (like name, company, and account manager) and updates records automatically.
It’s perfect for teams that want to reduce manual entry, personalize the client experience, and keep CRM data in sync.

📘 Learn more: Create your first form, app, or portal in a flash

Step 1: Create your onboarding form

From your workspace, click + New → Form, or choose a ready-made template like Client onboarding form from the Template gallery.
You can also use Magic Create, try this prompt:

“Customer onboarding form with company info, assigned account manager, and project kickoff details.”

Add key sections such as:

• Client name and company
  
  
• Contact email and phone number
  
  
• Account manager (prefilled)
  
  
• Service type or project type
  
  
• Onboarding questionnaire (timeline, goals, special notes)
  
  

💡 Tip: Keep the first section simple, prefilled data looks more impressive when clients see it already completed.

📘 Learn more: How to create a form

Step 2: Connect your CRM data source

If you store customer data in Google Sheets or another CRM synced via Zapier, Make, or API, start by connecting it to your onboarding form.
Open Settings → Integrations → Connect app, then choose Google Sheets or another supported tool.

Your sheet should include fields like Client ID, Name, Email, Account Manager, and Project Type.

📘 Learn more: How to connect Google Sheets to your forms

Step 3: Prefill data using URL parameters or lookups

There are two easy ways to display CRM data inside the onboarding form:

Option A — URL prefill

When sending form links, include prefilled values in the URL:

?client_name=John+Doe&company=Bright+Solutions&account_manager=Jane+Smith

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Each field’s Field ID should match the parameter name.

📘 Learn more: How to use URL parameters to pre-fill form fields

Option B — Lookup from CRM form or table

If your CRM is already a Formaloo database, use Lookup fields to pull data directly.
Example:

• Create a Clients database form that stores client info.
  
  
• In your onboarding form, add a Lookup field for Client name → this auto-fills linked fields (email, manager, project type).
  
  

📘 Learn more: How to lookup the submitted data of another form

Step 4: Auto-update CRM records when onboarding is completed

When a client submits the onboarding form, you can push updates back to your CRM automatically, ORconnect to Google Sheets or your CRM tool via automation platforms.

Examples:

• Update client status to “Onboarded.”
  
  
• Add onboarding notes or kickoff date.
  
  

📘 Learn more: How to connect forms with automatic data transfer

Step 5: Personalize the experience with dynamic text

Use answer piping to show prefilled data dynamically inside text fields or messages.

Example:

“Hi @client_name, welcome! Your account manager, @account_manager, will guide you through onboarding.”

📘 Learn more: How to create and use answer piping

Step 6: Add conditional logic for tailored onboarding

Make your form adapt based on the customer’s service type.

Examples:

• If @service_type = “Enterprise” → show “Team onboarding schedule” page
  
  
• If @service_type = “Starter” → skip to payment setup section
  
  

📘 Learn more: How to add advanced logic to your form

Step 7: Automate confirmation and internal notifications

Send an email to the client confirming their onboarding submission and another to the assigned account manager.

Example rules:

• If @account_manager = “Jane Smith” → send to jane@company.com
  
  
• If @service_type = “Enterprise” → attach onboarding checklist PDF
  
  

📘 Learn more: How to send and receive conditional email notifications

Step 8: Build an onboarding dashboard

Open Results to visualize active onboardings, client statuses, and progress tracking.
Add:

• Table view: Filter by account manager
  
  
• Bar chart: Clients by service tier
  
  
• Kanban board: Stages like “Submitted,” “In progress,” “Completed”
  
  

📘 Learn more: How to create a Kanban board

Step 9: Share your onboarding workspace

Turn your setup into a Client Onboarding Portal with pages for:

• Onboarding form
  
  
• Client dashboard
  
  
• Status tracking table
  
  

Control access so clients see only their data and account managers see assigned clients.

📘 Learn more: How to let users view and edit their own data in your portal

Pro tips

• Save time for repeat clients: Enable Memory Forms so returning clients see their previous data auto-filled.
  📘 Learn more: How to create a memory form that auto fills user details
  
  
• Automate CRM sync: Use Zapier or Make to add new onboarded clients directly into your CRM pipeline.
  📘 Learn more: How to add integrations on Formaloo
  
  
• Generate onboarding PDFs: Summarize submissions and send them to your team automatically.
  📘 Learn more: How to create PDF templates to turn responses into documents
  
  

Example scenario

A returning client clicks a personalized link like:

https://yourcompany.formaloo.me/onboarding?client_name=Acme+Corp&account_manager=Sarah+Lee

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The form opens with their company name and manager already filled.
After submission, the CRM record updates to “Active onboarding,” and Sarah receives an automatic notification with all details.

📘 Learn more: Build personalized and time-saving flows with logic, automations, and AI

FAQ

1. Can I prefill fields from a CRM other than Sheets?
Yes, connect your CRM through Zapier, Make, or Formaloo’s API.
📘 Learn more: How to add integrations on Formaloo

2. Can multiple team members manage the same onboarding?
Yes, invite them to your workspace with custom roles.
📘 Learn more: How to add team members to the workspace

3. Can I track onboarding progress in the portal?
Absolutely, display filtered dashboards by account manager or client.
📘 Learn more: How to customize forms and organize data inside your portal

Your personalized onboarding system is live

You’ve built an onboarding form that pre-fills data from your CRM, adapts to each client, and syncs automatically — no manual input needed.
Next, expand it into a full Client Success Portal with dashboards, invoices, and checklists.

📘 Learn more: How to customize your portal with your brand identity

Last updated November 2025

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