Capturing Partial Form Submissions
Surface captures lead data even when visitors abandon forms mid-way. Every field they complete gets saved, giving you 50%+ more leads than traditional forms that only capture complete submissions.
How partial capture works
Surface saves data as visitors type:
Visitor starts your form and completes the first question (e.g., company name)
They move to question 2 and enter their email
Before clicking Submit, they leave the page
Surface captures both the company name and email automatically
No additional configuration needed—partial capture is enabled by default on all Surface forms.
What gets captured
Surface tracks:
Completed fields — Any question the visitor filled out
Partially typed text — If enabled, even incomplete answers in text fields
Step reached — Which question they abandoned on
Time on form — How long they spent before leaving
Session data — UTM parameters, referrer, pages viewed before form
All partial leads sync to your CRM with a "Partial Submission" flag so you can identify and follow up differently.
Enable "capture on blur" in form settings to save answers the moment a visitor moves to the next field, not just on step completion.
Set minimum capture thresholds
Control which partial submissions get saved:
Go to your form settings
Open the Partial Capture section
Set minimum requirements (e.g., "must include email" or "at least 2 fields completed")
Optionally exclude specific fields from triggering a save
This prevents capturing low-quality partials like just a first name with no contact info.
Enrich partial leads
Surface automatically enriches partial submissions:
Email-based enrichment. If you capture an email, Surface looks up company details, job title, social profiles, and fills in missing form fields.
Reverse IP lookup. Even without email, Surface can identify the visitor's company from their IP address and append firmographic data.
Behavioral data. Surface adds pages viewed, session duration, and UTM attribution to help score and qualify partials.
This turns incomplete form data into actionable leads you can route and nurture.
Follow up on partial leads
Create targeted workflows for partials:
Immediate email. Send a quick follow-up asking if they need help or have questions. Mention the specific question they abandoned on to show personalization.
Retargeting ads. Add partial leads to retargeting audiences to bring them back to complete the form or book a demo directly.
SDR outreach. For high-score partials (e.g., enterprise company, senior title), have SDRs reach out proactively via LinkedIn or phone.
Partial submission capture increases total lead volume by 50%+ and recovers 20-30% of would-be lost conversions through follow-up.
Track partial vs. complete
Monitor partial submission rates in your Forms Dashboard:
Total submissions vs. complete vs. partial breakdown
Which form steps have the highest abandonment
Conversion rate of partials to opportunities
If partial rates exceed 40-50%, review your form length and question difficulty—visitors may be hitting friction points.
High partial rates can indicate form issues. Test removing optional questions or simplifying field labels if abandonment spikes at specific steps.