Custom data in web to lead forms

[dpuryear]

We are a SugarCRM 5.2 user.

We already have some web2lead forms. They work great.

However, what we are lacking, and need to add, is some data in the forms/leads that gives us more background on that lead. For example, for a particular type of lead, we may want to know questions like:

* how many users do you have?
* do you wear black or brown shoes?
* are you taller than 7'2"?

So how do YOU handle this? There are a few options I can see:

1. The form could compile all this extra data into the Description field for the lead.

2. You could create a custom field for each question to store with the lead. So you would have a lead field like how_many_users_c, etc.

3. You could create a set of several free-form fields for a lead, and fill your responses into those. So you would have a lead field like question1_c, question2_c, etc.

4. ???

Am I missing another option?

[Angel]

I would tend to lean towards option #2 as it makes it easier to segment the data later. Were you to store the attributes in a free form text field, it wouldn't be easy to search.

Another idea would be to leverage the SOAP API to write the data (in combination with the concept outlined by option #2).

[dpuryear]

Okay, I like the idea, but how best do I handle the fact that I have different lead questions depending on the lead form?

[Angel]

Two approaches come to mind...either create a field for the various attributes, or generalize the fields a bit, such as "attribute_1_c," etc.

The problem with the latter approach is that you have know what "attribute 1" represents for each type of lead that is coming in. If the variances are rather big, it could become a bit difficult to read the data afterwards.