Find where your web form loses leads with one test lead

"The form's broken" is like telling your mechanic, "The car did a thing." It covers two different problems: something stopping the visitor before they hit send, and something losing the lead after the thank-you screen. Same complaint, different fix. The customer saw "thank you." Your rep saw nothing.

1. Make a test lead nobody could mistake for real. TEST in the name, a fake 555 number, an email at example.com. Tell the team it's coming so it doesn't turn into a real sales task.
2. Stop 1: typing it in, on your phone. Does every box load and work? Use a weird address on purpose, one the address lookup might not recognize: an apartment number, a brand-new street, a rural route.
3. Stop 2: the "please fix this" warnings. Leave a box empty. Mistype the phone number. Do the warnings show up, make sense and let you fix it? Then hit send.
4. Stop 3: the saved record. Find the lead where it's supposed to be stored. Is every answer there, including the address?
5. Stop 4: the team getting it. Check that the rep who should call it actually got the alert, not just that the record exists.
6. Fix the first stop that failed, then run all four again. Then close out the test record so it doesn't get counted.

My instinct? Rebuild the whole form. Tempting. Useless until I know where it broke. A completion rate can tell you something deserves attention. Seeing where the record stops tells you what to fix.

Use this test lead and checklist, word for word:

TEST LEAD (label it so nobody calls it)
Name:    TEST Form Check [today's date]
Phone:   555-0123
Email:   test@example.com
Address: an awkward one on purpose (apartment, new street, rural route)

ON YOUR PHONE, FOUR STOPS
[ ] 1. Typing it in: every box loads and works
[ ] 2. "Please fix this" warnings: they show, make sense, let you fix it
[ ] 3. Saved record: the lead is stored with every answer
[ ] 4. Team got it: the right rep was alerted

First stop that failed: ______________
Fix: ______________
Re-ran all four stops:  [ ]
Test record closed out: [ ]

Granite Roofing's office manager says the form's broken. Web leads dried up last week. The owner, Sam, sends "TEST Form Check" from his phone with an apartment address.

Stop 1: the address box suggests a match and fills it in. Fine. Stop 2: he leaves the phone blank and the warning shows. Fine. Stop 3: the record is saved with every answer. Fine. Stop 4: the rep who handles web leads got nothing. The alert was still going to a rep who'd moved to a different role.

It broke after "send." The fix is one setting, not a new form. He changes it, runs all four stops again, and this time the alert lands.

• Rebuilding the form before you know where it broke. You might rebuild the part that worked.
• Testing only on a desktop. Address lookups and warnings can act differently on a phone.
• Using a real-looking test lead. It can get called, booked or counted. Label it.
• Stopping at the thank-you screen. "Thank you" means the visitor finished. It doesn't mean your rep got anything.

The headline's probably fine. The lead's just stuck behind "thank you," wondering why nobody called.