Step 7: Test your inquiry form

Your website has two forms: the one on your Contact page, and the quote form. Both save the inquiry and both send you an email.

Test them yourself now. It takes five minutes, and it is the only way to know a customer can reach you.

Warning

Use your own name and your own email address.

The form sends a real email to whatever address you type in it. Never test with a customer’s address.

The checklist

1. Send yourself a contact inquiry

1. Open your live website and go to the Contact page.
2. Fill in Name, Email and Message. Write something you will recognize, such as “test from me”.
3. Click Send Message.

The page tells you the message was sent.

2. Send yourself a quote request

Do the same on your quote page. That form has more boxes, including Phone and Timeline. Click Request Quote at the end.

3. Find them in the panel

Go to Plugins, then Leads. Both of yours should be at the top of the list, marked New. One says Contact and one says Quote.

Click a row to open it and read what you sent. Leads explains the screen.

4. Check your inbox

You should have two emails about them. If they are not there, look in your junk folder, then mark them as not junk so the next one lands properly.

The address you typed in the form gets a short reply as well, saying the message arrived. That one goes out on its own, and there is nothing to set up.

5. Tidy up

Open each test lead and click Archive. It comes off the main list and waits in Archived, so your real inquiries start with a clean inbox.

Use Archive, not Delete. Delete cannot be undone.

If nothing arrives

The inquiry is safe even when the email is not. Open the lead: a yellow strip across the top means the email did not go out.

Contact support

Contact us if a test inquiry did not reach the list, or if no email came. Tell us:

• the date and time you sent it
• the address the emails should go to

We set that address up, and we can change it for you.

Email support@lookoutridgeit.com. Getting support says what to put in the message.

One habit worth starting

Your website flags inquiries that look like they came from a robot. A flagged one is marked SPAM, and no email goes out for it.

The check is not perfect, so a real customer lands there now and then. Open Leads once a week and look down the flagged ones. A flagged lead is thrown away 30 days after it arrives.

Tip

There is no reply box on this screen, and there never was one. Pick up the phone, or write to the address on the lead.

What done looks like

Two test inquiries sit in Archived. Two emails about them are in your inbox. You know your form works, because you used it.

Next: Step 8: Going live.