We were looking to move a few clients into GHL given the update to the form and survey builder but I'm realizing that it doesn't truly replace an external form builder due to the requirement that (nearly) all information submitted needs to be mapped to a field on another object.

I don't really understand why this was approached this way.

The use case (and I know I'm not alone here) would be a client that offers a variety of services that require often extensive intake. Think: 1:1 coaching that requires a pre-session assessment, yearly client assessments, applications for higher level programs, etc.

Sure, some of that info you might want to save on the contact object but if you even have a modest amount of services that clients repeatedly consume, that puts you in the position of having to create an extremely heavy and unwieldy contact object, and even then, only the last submissions response values are saved to the field.

Forms and surveys already record historical submissions, so they already have their own object. I don't see why the form builder couldn't function more in line with the industry standard in which:

This change would decimate the need for an external builder and would open up a ton of possibilities.

I don't really understand why it's not like this already. I could understand the implemented approach IF the reason was to avoid having to give forms and surveys their own object, but that's already the case.

Collaterally related: The form and survey submitted trigger in workflows - You should be able to access the information from the submission rather than having to rely on custom field mapping. I imagine that you can already do this by combining a webhook step or two, but as I've said.. the object already exists.

Not every field should then have to be connected to a custom field. If I'm taking in a form that just has a message field, there's no reason that a message HAS to be connected to a custom field. This just clutters up the contact area across multiple forms.

Instead, we should have access to form fields that don't have to be connected to a custom field. On form submission these forms should create a note or (ideally) be populated as a form submission in conversations and have a tab on the contact area for 'form submissions' similar to notes.

It would be amazing to have an option to create fields without having to create a new custom field specially for those question that we only use specifically on that form. A drag and drop option for text box, radio button, etc. instead of creating a new custom field for those one off.

wouldnt it be awesome to create a custom form on the notes tab under contacts within the CRM.

So that way any employees you have or clients who have employees can customize what notes they want written down about their leads that are being cold called or texted when prospecting.

This would lead to higher conversions for you and your clients and put more money in all our pockets