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What We're Building
By the end of this tutorial, you'll have a working lead capture system that:
- Collects leads through a professional intake form
- Automatically routes submissions to Google Sheets for record-keeping
- Posts a Slack notification to your team channel
- Sends a confirmation email to the lead
- Adds the lead to your CRM (HubSpot Free or any CRM with an API)
No coding required. Both Jotform (free tier) and Make.com (free tier) can handle this entire workflow.
Why This Stack
Most ops teams use one of three approaches to lead capture, and none of them are great:
- Manual entry: Someone checks the form submissions, copies data into a spreadsheet, forwards it to the right person. Error-prone and slow.
- All-in-one CRM forms: HubSpot forms are fine, but limited if you need complex logic, file uploads, or payment collection.
- Zapier + Typeform: Works, but Typeform's free tier is restrictive (10 forms max) and Zapier's is even worse (100 tasks/month).
Jotform + Make.com solves all three problems. Jotform gives you professional forms with conditional logic, file uploads, and templates — all on the free tier. Make.com gives you 1,000 operations/month free to route, transform, and deliver that data anywhere.
Step 1: Build Your Intake Form in Jotform
Sign up for Jotform
Create a free account at Jotform. The free tier gives you unlimited forms with 100 submissions per month — plenty for testing and small ops teams.
Choose a template (or start from scratch)
Jotform has over 10,000 templates. For lead capture, search for "lead intake" or "contact form." Pick one that matches the information you need. The AI form builder is also worth trying — just describe what you need and it builds the form for you in seconds.
If you're building from scratch, include these fields:
- Name (full name field)
- Email (email field with validation)
- Company (text field)
- Interest / Service Needed (dropdown or checkbox)
- Budget Range (dropdown)
- How They Found You (dropdown — track marketing sources)
- Message (textarea)
Set up conditional logic
This is where Jotform beats Google Forms. Add conditions to show or hide fields based on previous answers. For example:
- If they select "Partnership inquiry," show fields for company size and partnership type
- If they select "I need support," show a priority dropdown and existing ticket number
- If budget is "Under $1,000," skip the enterprise feature questions
This keeps your form short for most people but detailed when it needs to be.
Enable the Make.com integration
In the Jotform form builder, go to Settings → Integrations. Search for Make.com and click Connect. Follow the OAuth flow to link your accounts. This creates a webhook that Make.com can listen to.
Step 2: Build the Automation Scenario in Make.com
Create a new scenario
Sign up for Make.com (free tier: 1,000 operations/month). Click Create a new scenario and add the Jotform module as your first module. Select Watch Responses as the trigger — this will fire every time someone submits your form.
Route to Google Sheets
Add a Google Sheets module. Select Add a Row and map the form fields to your spreadsheet columns. This creates your lead database — every submission gets logged automatically. (You can skip this if you're using a CRM, but a spreadsheet is useful for backups and quick reviews.)
Post to Slack
Add a Slack module. Select Create a Message and choose the channel where your team wants to see new leads. Build a message that includes the lead's name, company, interest, and a link back to the Jotform submission for the full details.
Send confirmation email
Add an Email module (Make.com has a built-in email sender, or you can use Gmail/SMTP). Configure a confirmation email to go to the lead's address. Keep it simple:
"Thanks for reaching out, {{name}}. We've received your inquiry and will get back to you within 1 business day."
Add CRM integration (optional)
If you use HubSpot Free CRM, add a HubSpot module to create or update a contact record. Map the form fields to HubSpot properties. This keeps your CRM in sync without manual data entry.
Cost Breakdown
| Tool | Free Tier | What You Get | When to Upgrade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jotform | 100 submissions/mo | Custom forms, templates, conditional logic, file uploads | When you exceed 100 leads/month ($34/mo Bronze) |
| Make.com | 1,000 ops/mo | Multi-step automation, multiple apps, conditional routing | When running more than 1,000 automations/month ($9/mo Core) |
| Google Sheets | Free | Unlimited lead storage, collaboration | Never — it's built into Google Workspace |
| Slack | Free | Notifications to your team | Only if your team is already paying for Slack |
Total cost to run this system: $0/month for small ops teams.
Testing Your Pipeline
Before going live, submit a test entry through your Jotform form. Check that:
- The data appears in Google Sheets within 30 seconds
- Your Slack channel gets a notification with the right details
- The confirmation email arrives in your test inbox (check spam)
- CRM entry is created (if you set up that step)
Make.com's scenario history panel shows you exactly what happened at each step, including any errors. If something breaks, you'll see exactly which module failed and why.
Going Further
Once the basic pipeline works, you can extend it:
- Score leads automatically: Use Make.com's router module to check the budget field — high-value leads get a faster response SLA, different Slack channel, or a direct phone call task.
- Attach files: Jotform supports file uploads. Make.com can save them to Google Drive or Dropbox automatically.
- Send to multiple destinations: Route different form submission types (support vs. sales vs. partnership) to different Slack channels and email templates.
- Add a calendar booking step: Integrate Calendly to send leads a link to book a discovery call automatically on submission.