Every minute that you spend on tedious tasks is a minute that you could rather spend on innovating your business and building better customer relationships. But let’s face it, you have to get customers’ information, whether loan or course applications, order forms, or event registration forms, and wading through those mountains of paperwork is nobody’s idea of fun. 

One powerful way to help you smooth out your business processes and, for good measure, save valuable time is to use fillable PDF forms. These dynamic and editable PDF forms can totally change the way your business collects, processes, and manages information, especially when integrated with Salesforce.

Fillable PDF Forms: Everything You Need to Know

Companies that still expect their customers to print forms, fill them in, scan them, and email them back are like businesses making horse whips in the age of electric cars. The world has become too fast-paced to be that inefficient! With editable PDFs, people can just type the information on the form directly on their computer or mobile device.  

Let’s have a quick review of PDFs’ history. Did you know that PDFs (Portable Document Format) came into being when PostScript and Adobe Illustrator merged to create a file format that would keep a document looking the same, no matter the device, software, or printer used?  This meant that the fonts, images, and layout stayed the same at all times. PDFs were initially designed to be read-only, and users could not make any changes to them. 

But as time went on, Adobe and other software developers introduced tools that allowed users to edit PDF files. This became more common in the early 2000s when Adobe Acrobat was introduced, which let people create, edit, and manipulate PDF documents.

Nowadays, there are plenty of software tools, like Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, and online PDF editors, that make it easy to edit PDFs. This has made PDFs a versatile format for a wide range of applications, from business documents to forms and even ebooks.

Salesforce fillable PDFs refer to PDF forms that are integrated with Salesforce. This means that when users fill out the forms electronically, the data is automatically synced with their Salesforce instance. This integration makes data collection processes easier and – importantly! – eliminates manual data entry. You can be sure that the information is accurately captured and stored directly in Salesforce.

How To Create A Fillable PDF for Salesforce? 

You can create fillable PDF forms in a few steps. 

To start, design a form with a tool like Adobe Acrobat or Titan Docs’s Microsoft Word add-on. The latter effortlessly integrates with Salesforce, and data can be pulled and pushed to and from the fillable forms. In this step, you must add fillable fields. These can be static and interactive text fields and/or tables (which can be mapped to Salesforce objects), conditions, or signature fields. With Titan, you can also add images, watermarks, barcodes, and QR codes, as well as interactive elements such as checkboxes and radio buttons.  

Then, you can set the properties for each form field, such as the field name, default value, and validation rules. This is important for mapping the form data to Salesforce fields.

Save the form with a unique identifying name. Before deploying your fillable PDF form, test it thoroughly to ensure all form fields are working correctly and the data is synced to Salesforce as expected.

After this, send the form from Salesforce to the relevant recipients. 

Why Should You Use Fillable PDF Forms in Salesforce?

Oh, there are so many reasons! Let’s look at the top five:

1. Data efficiency and accuracy: With dynamic PDF forms, users can enter data directly into the form electronically. This saves time and reduces the risk of errors that can occur when users type the information manually.

2. Improved customer experience: Interactive PDF forms offer a smoother experience for your customers. They can easily complete forms electronically on various devices, which eliminates the hassle of printing, scanning, and emailing. Fillable PDF forms are also accessible to users with disabilities who may rely on assistive technologies like screen readers. This improves inclusivity and compliance.

3. Integration with Salesforce: Fillable PDF forms can be integrated with Salesforce using tools like Titan Docs, which seamlessly syncs data between the form and Salesforce. This integration eliminates the need for manual data import/export processes.

4. Offline accessibility: Users can download fillable PDF forms and fill them out offline, allowing them to collect data in environments where internet access is limited or unavailable. Once back online, the data can be synced with Salesforce.

5. Data security: Fillable PDF forms can be secured with encryption and digital signatures, ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of the data. This is particularly important when dealing with sensitive information.

The Flexibility And Features You Need for Fillable PDFs

To create effective fillable PDF forms for use with Salesforce or any other context, you must consider the flexibility and features that will enhance their usability and functionality. Here are some key aspects to keep in mind:

• Use a variety of interactive form elements like text fields, checkboxes, and drop-down lists.

• Add dynamic elements such as calculations, conditional logic, and formatting rules to make your PDFs more responsive and tailored to user input.

• Set up validation rules to ensure that data entered into the PDF meets specific criteria (e.g., required fields, data format).

• Turn on auto-fill and auto-complete features to automatically populate form fields with data that the user has entered before.

• Remember to include digital signature fields for secure and legally binding signatures.

• Make sure your PDF forms are accessible to users with disabilities by including features like screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, and text-to-speech capabilities.

Implement Interactive PDF Forms in Salesforce

So, ditch the paper chase and embrace the digital age where data flows seamlessly between your forms and Salesforce! Wave goodbye to manual data entry, say hello to happy customers, and usher in a new era of streamlined workflows with interactive PDF forms in Salesforce.  It’s a win-win for everyone!