Onboard new customers automatically
A post-purchase onboarding form hands each new customer a booking link for their kickoff call.
New submission on your post-purchase onboarding form
Generate a single-use Calendly scheduling link for an onboarding call
One-directional. A submission triggers the action — nothing is written back into your form.
The gap between paying and starting is where new customers go quiet. An onboarding form collects what the team needs — use case, company size, goals for the first month — and the same submission hands back a link to book the kickoff call.
Customer success teams with a defined 30-day plan get the most out of it. The CSM opens the booking already knowing what the account wants, so the first call starts on the plan instead of on introductions.
Setting it up
- 1
Publish the onboarding form in formformform and link to it from your post-checkout page, so the customer fills it in while the purchase is fresh.
- 2
In Calendly, set up two kickoff event types: a 30-minute standard session and a 60-minute session for larger accounts, each with custom questions for use case and first-30-days goals.
- 3
Create the Zap with the New Submission trigger and select the onboarding form.
- 4
Add a Zapier path on Company Size so accounts above your threshold get the 60-minute event type and everyone else gets the 30-minute one.
- 5
In each path add "Create a Single-Use Scheduling Link" against that kickoff event type and hold the maximum event count at one.
- 6
Prefill the returned URL with name from Your Name, email from Email Address, and the answers to Primary Use Case and the 30-day goals question as the first two custom questions.
- 7
Email the link to Email Address from the assigned CSM's address, and post the same submission to your CRM so the account record and the booking stay in step.
- 8
Submit a test onboarding response for each company size band, confirm the right kickoff length opens, then switch the Zap on.
What maps where
Using the Customer Onboarding Survey as the starting point. These are its real fields — swap in your own and the mapping works the same way.
| Form field | Calendly |
|---|---|
| Your Name | Name prefill on the single-use kickoff link |
| Email Address | Email prefill, and where the kickoff booking link is delivered |
| Company Name | Passed as a UTM value so kickoff bookings can be traced to the account |
| Primary Use Case | First custom question on the kickoff event type, read by the CSM before the call |
| What are your main goals for the first 30 days? | Second custom question on the kickoff event type |
| Company Size | Zapier path that chooses the 30-minute or 60-minute kickoff event type |
Variations worth knowing
Swap the Company Size path for one reading Industry, so regulated accounts reach the CSM who knows that ground. The link is generated against that person's event type, and the customer never has to ask who they will be speaking to.
Read "How would you describe your technical background?" in a filter and issue a link to a joint call with a solutions engineer when the answer is hands-on. Less technical accounts get the standard walkthrough with the CSM alone.
If something isn't arriving
Check the email step is sending to Email Address and not to an internal alias, and that the message names the CSM. Chase from your CRM, not the form — formformform never learns whether the Calendly link was used.
Free-text answers can exceed what a URL will carry cleanly. Truncate the 30-day goals value in a Zapier formatter before it is appended, and send the full answer to the CSM by email or into the CRM record instead.
Frequently asked questions
Should the onboarding form come before or after the kickoff call?
Before. The point of this flow is that the answers travel with the booking, so the CSM reads the use case and the 30-day goals in the calendar invite. Asking the same questions live spends the first ten minutes of the call.
Can I take payment on the onboarding form?
Yes. Add products and priced options to the form, then collect payment through secure hosted checkout with Stripe, PayPal, or Square. Payment status is tracked alongside the response.
What if the customer wants to reschedule the kickoff?
They use the reschedule link in their Calendly confirmation, which is handled entirely inside Calendly. The form plays no part after the submission, and no reschedule is recorded against the original response.
Related automations
- Book demos from your lead form
A prospect submits your demo request form and gets a personal booking link back, so they pick a slot themselves.
- Convert event RSVPs into 1:1 sessions
Registrants who want a follow-up consultation are placed directly on a consultant's calendar when they sign up.
- Put support callbacks straight on a rep's calendar
Each callback request adds the customer as an invitee on a one-off Calendly meeting with the support team.
- Route discovery calls for inbound leads
Contact form enquiries come back with a booking link for a discovery call instead of a holding reply.
- Send candidates to an interview slot
A completed job application returns a one-time booking link for a phone screen with the right interviewer.
- 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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