AI agent
Unfinished form recovery agent
When someone starts your form and leaves, your team hears about it and the person gets one friendly email.
Overview
How it works
Plenty of people start a contact form, type their email, then get pulled away. Without help, that interest is gone. The unfinished form recovery agent saves the contact details as soon as a valid email or phone number is typed, and a visible notice under the form tells the visitor that their details are saved.
If 30 minutes pass without a submission, your team gets an alert with everything the person typed, and the person gets one short, friendly email inviting them to reply or hop on a call. That's it. One email, never a text, and never a sequence of reminders.
If the person comes back and submits the form, the follow-up is cancelled. They're treated as a normal request from that moment on. The same applies when a visitor types an email or phone number into your website chat.
It's a quiet second chance, built around consent. Visitors are told up front, can unsubscribe in one click, and are only ever contacted the way the rules allow.
What it looks like
A typical walkthrough
For example, here's how it works for a landscaping company with a quote request form on its homepage.
A visitor starts the form
At 7:15 in the evening, a homeowner types her name, email and "looking for a fall cleanup and gutter clearing". A small line under the fields says these details are saved so the team can follow up.
Her details are saved
As soon as the email is valid, the agent saves it with her name, her note and the page she was on. Then her phone rings and she closes the tab.
Thirty minutes pass
No submission arrives from that email or that browser session. The agent checks once more that she hasn't become a request another way.
The team gets an alert
An email titled "Follow up: Dana started a request" lands in the shared inbox. It lists her details, what she typed, the page, and a note that she hasn't given text consent, so it's call or email only.
She gets one friendly email
Dana receives a short, warm note from the business: we noticed you started reaching out, we'd be glad to answer questions or hop on a quick call, just reply. It includes an unsubscribe link and the business address.
She replies the next morning
Dana replies to that email, and her message goes straight to the team. The owner picks up the conversation with the full context already in hand.
Someone else finishes on their own
A different visitor starts the form, leaves, and comes back 10 minutes later to submit it. The agent marks the unfinished entry as converted, and no recovery email is sent.
Under the hood
How our system does it
Saves only valid contact details
The form sends what's typed to your server once a valid email or phone number appears. Entries without either are ignored, and nothing is saved from fields that don't belong to the form.
A visible notice, every time
The notice that details are saved sits directly under the fields and appears only when capture is running. Your privacy policy covers it too, so visitors are never surprised.
Merges, never duplicates
Repeat typing in the same browser session, or the same email or phone number, updates one open entry instead of creating new ones. If the person is already a submitted request, nothing new is saved.
A once-a-minute check
A scheduler looks for open entries that have been quiet for the waiting period, 30 minutes by default. Before acting, it checks again that the person hasn't submitted since.
One alert, one email, then done
The team alert and the single email go out together, and the entry is marked as followed up. It's never contacted again by this agent.
Never texted
Texts need the consent checkbox on a submitted form. An unfinished entry never has that consent, so the agent only emails, and the team alert reminds your staff to call or email instead.
Respects opt-outs
Every recovery email carries a one-click unsubscribe link. Anyone who has opted out before gets no email at all, though the team alert still arrives so a person can decide what to do.
A later submission cancels it
When a request is submitted with the same email or phone number, any open entry is marked converted. The normal confirmation and follow-up process takes over from there.
Works with
What it does
What it does
Saves started forms
Captures a valid email or phone number as it's typed, with the name, note and page if they're there.
Shows a clear notice
Tells visitors right under the form that their details are saved for follow-up.
Captures contact details from chat
If a visitor types an email or phone number into your website chat, it's saved the same way.
Alerts your team
After 30 minutes without a submission, sends the team an email with everything typed and a reply-to set to the person.
Sends one friendly email
Writes a short, low-pressure note inviting the person to reply or book a quick call. One email only.
Never sends texts
Unfinished entries get email or a personal call, never an automated text.
Cancels when they submit
A later submission with the same details stops the follow-up before it starts.
Shows it all in your dashboard
Open, followed-up and converted entries are listed with what each person typed.
What it can do for you
Why it helps
A second chance at real interest
People who meant to reach out but got interrupted get a gentle reminder that you're there.
Context for your callback
Your team sees what the person typed and which page they were on before picking up the phone.
A light touch customers appreciate
One friendly email, an unsubscribe link and no texts keeps the follow-up polite and within the rules.
A clearer view of form drop-off
Seeing how often people start and stop can point to a form that's too long or confusing.
What you control
Your rules, your approvals
- The waiting period before follow-up, 30 minutes by default
- Whether the person gets the friendly email
- Whether the team gets an alert, and who receives it
- The wording and tone of the recovery email
- The notice text shown under your forms
- Turning capture on or off at any time
Who it's for
Is this a good fit?
- Businesses whose website form is a main source of new enquiries
- Owners who suspect people start the form and give up partway
- Teams who'd rather call a warm lead than wait for one to come back
- Probably not the right fit if your forms collect sensitive information, such as health or financial details, that shouldn't be saved before submission.
How we work
From first conversation to live
Discovery
We look at your forms, where enquiries come from, and who on your team should get alerts. Scope and price are confirmed in writing after that short conversation.
Setup on your business profile
We add the capture and notice to your forms and chat, set the waiting period and alert recipients on your business profile, and write the recovery email in your voice.
Test in safe mode
In safe mode, test entries trigger real alerts and emails that are written to a review log instead of sent, so you can read every word first.
Go live
We switch sending on, run a live test from start to recovery email, and confirm that a later submission cancels the follow-up.
Ongoing review
We review captured and converted entries with you, adjust the wording or timing, and suggest form changes if drop-off points to one.
Scope
What's included, and what isn't
Exactly what's included is confirmed in writing for each project.
Included
- Capture on your contact and quote forms
- Contact capture from your website chat
- Visible notice under every captured form
- Team alert with all typed details
- One AI-written recovery email per unfinished entry
- Unsubscribe link and opt-out handling
- Automatic cancellation when the person submits
- Dashboard list of open, followed-up and converted entries
Not included
- Text messages to unfinished entries, by design
- Repeat reminder sequences for unfinished entries
- Capturing payment, health or other sensitive fields
- Forms hosted on third-party tools we can't add a notice to
What you'll provide
- Access to your website, or a site we build for you
- Who on your team should get the follow-up alerts
- Your postal address for the email footer
- A privacy policy we can update to cover saved entries
- Your preferred tone for the recovery email
Safeguards
Controls built in
- A visible notice under the form whenever capture is on
- Only valid emails and phone numbers are saved
- Exactly one email per unfinished entry, never a text
- One-click unsubscribe on every recovery email
- Opted-out addresses never receive the email
- A later submission cancels the follow-up
- Your privacy policy describes saved entries
FAQ
Questions owners ask
Is it OK to save details before someone submits?
We make it visible. A notice right under the fields says the details are saved, and your privacy policy explains why. The person gets one email with an unsubscribe link, which keeps the follow-up light and transparent.
Why doesn't it send a text?
Texts require prior consent, which people give with a checkbox on a submitted form. An unfinished form has no such consent, so the agent only emails. Your team alert notes this, so a person can call instead.
How many emails does the person get?
One. After that, the entry is marked as followed up and this agent never contacts them again. If they reply or submit later, your normal process takes over.
What if they come back and finish the form?
The follow-up is cancelled. A submission with the same email or phone number marks the unfinished entry as converted, and they get your usual confirmation instead.
What if they only typed a phone number?
Your team still gets the alert with the number and anything else they typed. No automatic message goes out, so the alert suggests a personal call.
Can I change the 30-minute wait?
Yes. The waiting period is a setting on your business profile. We'll help you choose one that fits how quickly your customers usually finish forms.
Put Unfinished form recovery agent to work
Tell us what you need. We reply with a few questions, and scope and price are confirmed in writing before any work starts.