Develop online forms in your NetSuite environment

What are online forms in NetSuite?

NetSuite provides a versatile feature that enables users to create and publish online forms accessible via an external URL. This functionality is particularly valuable for marketing and CRM activities, such as customer satisfaction surveys. The data collected from these forms is automatically integrated into your NetSuite account, either creating new records or updating existing ones. This automation streamlines data management, ensuring that your information is always up-to-date and easily accessible.This feature supports standard NetSuite records, such as cases and clients, as well as custom records, allowing for extensive flexibility and customization.

How to create online custom record forms in NetSuite

To support a more specific business need, we developed a custom solution using online custom record forms.

Using NetSuite online forms for customer satisfaction surveys

In this case, we developed a custom solution to track customer satisfaction at the individual order level, rather than just at the overall customer level, as typically facilitated by NetSuite. We accomplished this by creating a custom record specifically designed with survey questions tailored to measure satisfaction per order. This custom record is linked to the sales order (SO) as its parent, establishing a direct relationship between the feedback and the specific transaction.To enhance the usability of this solution, we added a dedicated subtab within the NetSuite interface to display a sublist of these custom records. This setup provides a clear and organized view of all related customer feedback associated with each sales order, making it easier for users to access and analyze this data.

We also added a subtab specifically to display a sublist of the custom records. This subtab provides a clear and organized view, making it easy to access and manage the customer feedback linked to each sales order.

Standard vs HTML online forms in NetSuite: which option to choose?

Next, we developed online forms linked to our custom record. We offered two options: creating a standard online form or an HTML form. The standard form option provides a quick and easy way to generate a form using NetSuite's built-in design templates.Alternatively, the HTML form option allows for greater customization, enabling you to design your own form with specific CSS styling, giving you full control over the look and feel of the form.

How to set up fields, templates and return URLs for NetSuite online forms

Once the template is created and designed, the next step is to set up the online custom form record linked to this template.This involves adding all the fields specified in your template design, ensuring that the form captures the necessary information and aligns with your data requirements.

You can also set a return URL to redirect users after they submit the form.

Once the online form is created, the external section of the record provides valuable information, such as the number of views and submissions.Crucially, it also displays the URL for external publication, which is essential for sharing the form with users.

How to link NetSuite online form submissions to sales orders

Referring back to our initial objective, the solution involves sending the form's URL along with the Sales Order (SO) ID to customers via email during a satisfaction survey campaign.This ensures that when customers submit the form, the information is directly linked to the relevant SO in NetSuite.For example:https://<id_of_NetSuite_account>.extforms.NetSuite.com/app/site/crm/externalcustrecordpage.nl?compid=<id_of_NetSuite_account>&formid=3&h=AAFdikaIeK4ck_TKXYS1Xp4rc-CaoITxrrDs-xVBlyk5MJZBgyg&custrecord_nov_so=<id_of_SO>This setup allows all the information submitted by the customer to be automatically associated with the corresponding SO in NetSuite.

Key takeaways for building custom online forms in NetSuite

NetSuite's standard solution provides a quick way to develop online forms, but the default design can be somewhat basic and lacks customization options. However, the ability to create your own HTML template offers the flexibility to fully customize the form's appearance and align it with your brand's aesthetic. This approach, while requiring some technical expertise, allows for a more polished and user-friendly design.This example illustrates how to utilize NetSuite's online forms feature to meet specific needs. With these tools, you can create custom designs and functionalities that best suit your business requirements.