Most online advice will tell you to keep your contact form as short as possible. Just name and email. Maybe a phone number if you're feeling brave.
For a service business in NZ, that's the wrong advice.
A longer, qualifying contact form gets you better leads, saves you hours on the phone, and lets you turn up to every quote conversation already knowing what the job is. Below is how to set up a contact page that actually works.
Where your contact button should sit
Top right corner of your navigation, sticky so it stays there as people scroll. That's the standard, and it's standard for a reason - it's where people look for it.
You also want contact buttons throughout your other pages. Service page describing what you do? Contact button at the bottom. Project page showing a recent job? Contact button at the bottom. Make it easy for someone to act the moment they decide they want to.
Keep the contact page itself simple
If someone's clicked through to your contact page, they're already interested. Don't make them work hard.
Show them the ways to get in touch. Tell them what to do. Idiot proof.
For Propak Removal, the contact page leads with:
Start your move - get in touch and begin your house moving process with the best in the business.
Then three options: email, phone, and a form. That's it.
Why a qualifying form is your secret weapon
Here's where most service businesses miss the trick.
A short form ("just send us your name and email") is great for collecting low-effort enquiries. But low-effort enquiries are also low-quality. You'll waste hours on the phone trying to figure out what people actually need.
A qualifying form does the work upfront.
The Propak Removal form asks for:
First name, email, phone number
Pickup address
Drop-off address
Moving dates (and whether they're flexible)
More detail about the job
Photos of access points so they can plan whether their truck will fit
That's a lot to fill in. And that's the point.
Anyone who takes the time to fill all that out is genuinely looking for a moving company. They're invested. By the time the enquiry hits Propak's inbox, the team already knows the basics of the job and can call back with a real answer.
Real example - demolition provider
For one of our demolition clients, we don't even show a phone number on the contact page. The page tells people directly:
Filling in the contact form is the quickest way to get a quote.
The form asks for:
Name, email, phone, region (drop-down)
Job address
Job details
File uploads for asbestos surveys, site plans, and other relevant documents
When an enquiry comes in with all that information attached, the team knows the person is ready to go. They can call them back with concrete answers, not generic chat.
Real example -
Marquee Hire City
Same approach. Sticky contact button top right, simple page with a qualifying form. They prefer form submissions because they can read the request, work out a cost estimate, and ring the client with real numbers ready to go.
That saves them time. It also makes them look way sharper to the customer because they're not asking 15 basic questions on the first call.
Phone first vs form first -
how to choose
If your business runs on quick callouts and emergency work (think plumbers, locksmiths, urgent repairs), put the phone number front and centre. People in a panic don't fill in forms.
If your business runs on quotes, planned jobs, or larger projects (builders, movers, demolition, hire), lead with the form. People doing research are happy to fill in the details, and you get better leads.
You can have both - just decide which one you want to push first based on how your business actually works.
One small extra
A short testimonial near the bottom of the contact page is a nice nudge. Someone right on the edge of contacting you reads "great service, did exactly what they said they would," and it gets them over the line.
The bottom line
Don't fall for the "keep your contact form short" advice. For a service business, a longer qualifying form means better leads, faster quote turnaround, and less time wasted on the phone. Make it easy for people to find the contact page. Make it easy for them to know what to do. Then let the form do the qualifying for you.
If you want a check on how your overall website is set up for lead generation, the audit link below will give you a 90-second snapshot with personalised feedback.
