Reserve a site visit slot when a quote request comes in
Quote requests reserve time on the right Acuity Scheduling calendar so two site visits never overlap.
New submission on your "Request a quote" form
Block off time on the relevant calendar in Acuity Scheduling for the site visit
One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.
Contractors lose money on double-booked mornings. Two quote requests come in overnight, both get promised Tuesday at nine, and one of them turns out to be a forty-minute drive from the other.
Blocking the time as the request lands fixes the ordering problem before anyone picks up the phone. The slot is held against a named calendar with the property address in the notes, so whoever rings the customer back is confirming a time that already exists rather than inventing one.
Setting it up
- 1
Publish the Renovation Quote Request Form in formformform and set the Project Type options to match the trades or crews that each have their own calendar in Acuity Scheduling.
- 2
Add conditional logic so a kitchen job asks its own follow-up questions — the extra detail is what tells you how long the survey needs.
- 3
Point the Zap at the form with formformform's "New Submission" trigger and push a test request through.
- 4
Add Acuity Scheduling as the action app and choose "Block Off Time" rather than "Add New Appointment", because nothing has been confirmed to the customer yet.
- 5
Use Project Type to select which calendar the block lands on, keeping the roofing crew's diary and the bathroom fitter's separate.
- 6
Turn Desired Start Date into the block's start time with a Formatter step, defaulting to your standard survey window when the customer has left it vague.
- 7
Write Property Address, Phone Number and Project Description into the block's notes, so the person taking the visit has the address, a number and the job in one place.
- 8
Send one request through, confirm the block appears on the right calendar in Acuity Scheduling, then switch the Zap on.
What maps where
Using the Renovation Quote Request Form as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.
| Form field | Acuity Scheduling |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Block-off notes, naming the customer the visit is for |
| Phone Number | Block-off notes, so the crew can call ahead on the day |
| Property Address | Block-off notes, giving the held slot its location |
| Project Type | Chooses which Acuity Scheduling calendar the time is blocked on |
| Desired Start Date | Sets the date of the blocked slot |
| Project Description | Block-off notes, describing the work to be quoted |
Variations worth knowing
Approximate Budget ($) is a fair proxy for how long a survey takes. Use a Zapier paths step to block ninety minutes above your threshold and thirty below it, instead of handing every quote request the same standard hour.
Keep the block for the first pass, then run a short confirmation form that adds the appointment in Acuity Scheduling properly, with the customer's details on it. Delete the original block by hand, or leave it as travel buffer either side.
If something isn't arriving
Project Type is probably resolving to a single default. Check that each option on the form maps to a distinct calendar ID in Acuity Scheduling — names that read alike, such as Bathroom and Bathrooms, fall back to whichever calendar the Zap was built against.
Desired Start Date is optional on the form, and an empty value becomes an epoch timestamp. Add a Formatter step with a fallback — the next working morning is a sensible one — or filter blank dates out of the Zap and handle those by phone.
Frequently asked questions
Why block time rather than create the appointment?
A quote request is not an agreed visit. Blocking holds the slot so nothing else takes it, without sending the customer a confirmation for a time they have never accepted. You convert it into a real booking after the call.
Can the customer see the blocked slot?
No. Blocked time removes that hour from your Acuity Scheduling booking page but shows nothing to the public. Your team sees the block and its notes; anyone browsing the booking page simply finds the slot unavailable.
What happens if the customer reschedules?
You move or delete the block in Acuity Scheduling. Nothing flows the other way — formformform starts the automation and never reads your calendar — so the change lives in Acuity while the original submission stays as the record of what was asked for.
Related automations
- Book a new patient's first visit from their intake form
A finished intake form books the patient's first visit in Acuity Scheduling and carries their contact details into the appointment.
- Book consultation calls from your enquiry form
Every consultation request becomes an appointment in Acuity Scheduling, filed under the service type the prospect asked about.
- Book the kickoff call as soon as onboarding is done
The onboarding form a new client fills in books their kickoff session in Acuity Scheduling, with no scheduling email thread.
- Create a discount code when someone refers a friend
Every referral submission creates a coupon code in Acuity Scheduling so the discount is waiting at the client's next booking.
- Turn class signups into bookings on the right calendar
Each registration is added to the right class or appointment type in Acuity Scheduling, keeping headcounts accurate as signups arrive.
- Add service appointments to the dispatch calendar
A booking arrives and lands on the dispatch calendar with the address as a map pin and the job in the title.
Build the form first
The automation needs somewhere to fire from. Publish a form, connect it once, and every submission from then on runs this flow.
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