#1 most frequent
United States of America
88.2%60 installations of 68
What is Formstack Documents?
Formstack Documents (formerly WebMerge, acquired by Formstack April 2019) is an online service that automates the document creation process. It allows users to create customized PDF and Word documents for contracts, applications, government forms, and more.
Categories & Use Cases
Videos
Who Buys & Uses Formstack Documents
#2 most frequent
Australia
4.4%3 installations of 68
#3 most frequent
Canada
4.4%3 installations of 68
How Formstack Documents Stacks Up (In the Real World)
Pros
- Excellent integration with other popular platforms
- Clear and usable documentation to walk through setup in a number of scenarios
- Responsive support that provided appropriate answers when we had questions
- Flexibility in use cases that support multiple modes of use
Cons
- Integration with a third-party platform through Zapier tended to be very limited in actual functionality
- The functionality for testing as you roll out a new document, particularly one using a different method than previously used, was cumbersome and errors weren't always clear
- Documentation of field naming conventions sometimes was not clear, leading to some additional troubleshooting to figure out syntax when trying to integrate
Return on Investment
- In generating a sales proposal, the time to generate was reduced from roughly 8 hours to under 1 hour, including time for edits and customization after generation.
- Sales proposals were much more consistent and had less overall errors/omissions/mistakes after switching to this solution. In addition, the number of people involved in sales proposal generation went down from 4 to 2, because we didn't need someone vetting formatting and standard language for every proposal.
- Client-facing documentation went from a trailing time of 4-5 weeks post-project to delivery within 48 hours post-project. This was largely due to busy consultants being able to enter the data in a straight form and just generate documentation, rather than free-form edit documentation.
- Tracking of the generation of both sales proposals and client documentation moved from hunting through shared drive folders to looking at the updated form field after Formstack Documents received the document and updated the source field. It also emailed documents to groups, allowing easy tracking of timing and finding the original document. This cut down on wasted time and pointed fingers.
Alternatives Considered
Zoho CRM, MS SharePoint, DocuSign and Zoho Creator
Other Software Used
Zoho Projects, Microsoft Teams, Zoho Creator, Zoho CRM, OneDrive
Perfect tool for integrating automated Word documents and PDFs into your workflow.
Pros
- PHP made it great for using logic trees to build out forms.
- Built-in calculations and parsing are a great feature.
Cons
- UX is a little bland.
- Better functionality for electronic signature would be nice - like an option to preview/edit before sending.
Return on Investment
- Allowed adoption of a different business model that relied on streamlined workflow.
- Reduced the need for proofreading and low-skill word processing.
Alternatives Considered
Zapier, Trello, Typeform, Zoho Workplace, JotForm, Adobe Sign (formerly EchoSign) and Google Drive
Other Software Used
Trello, Zapier, Zoho Workplace
Merge Data onto a PDF with Ease
Pros
- It consumes PDF applications and prefills them from a database or form. If your file is not in PDF form it can work from applications such as Microsoft Word.
- It has logic that enables you to bundle applications based on criteria. For example you could bundle state specific applications with a new business applications if a state criteria is met.
- It has several integrations partners in the fields of E Signature and Forms.
Cons
- I wish you could update field tags in WebMerge instead of having to download the PDF and then correct them in a PDF editor. The download/upload feature works well but the updating of field tags isn't nearly easy to work with as some E Signature companies such as DocuSign and Echosign.
Return on Investment
- The return on investment has been very good. It's very cost effective product. Our service team is on the phone and it takes away from the customer service if they are having to input the same information on applications. Web Merge eliminates additional key strokes while giving customers more time to run their business.
Other Software Used
DocuSign, GoToWebinar, Citrix ShareFile, MS SharePoint
WebMerge Saved Us Two Full-Time Employees
Pros
- Customization. It gives you the chance to design the document and take the worry out about having to search constantly. If you design it the way your eyes want to read it, then you never have to do it again.
- Reliability. It has a great routing feature for emails. If you don't get the email, you can go in to the builder section and either resend or download the whole packet individually. There's always a backup.
- Integrations. We use Formstack consistently with WebMerge. The integration process is extremely easy.
Cons
- If you don't know anything about these types of programs, it can be hard to learn it at first. There is a bit of a learning curve, especially when you get into the designer. It looks like MS Word, but not as expansive.
- Lingo. There have been times I've delved into the more complicated pieces and the lingo used wasn't easy to understand. This hasn't occurred much.
- I would like it to keep up with current upgrades for MS Office, but I also realize they can't be trying to match other companies while trying to maintain the innovation of their own.
Return on Investment
- I used to spend roughly half my day with this kind of paperwork. Now, maybe 10 minutes a week. It has reduced the need for at least two full time employees.
- It made things easier for our customers. They can fill out paperwork from their phone, tablet, or laptop without having to go through the same process as before.
- One negative would be accountability. It's easy to automate, but you still need human involvement. Small errors can invalidate forms. So, if someone fills something out wrong on the form side, that still transfers over to the paper document and if you don't catch it...
- We have saved so much money in wasted paper! Everything that comes out - save for the negative mentioned above - is actually needed.
Alternatives Considered
Formstack, DocuSign, M-Files and Zoho Forms
Other Software Used
Google Forms, Integrify, Formstack
WebMerge is the king of creating documents for clients using CRMs!
Pros
- Create automatically quotations in Pipedrive based on deals created.
- Be able to add different products in the quotation based on the deal in the CRM.
- Be able to send the quotation in the right way how we need.
Cons
- The tool requires some knowledge of programming and it is not easy for everybody.
- The service needs quite a few interactions with the customer service in order to fully work.
- There are not enough videos that show how to do everything, you need to keep going to the customer service (although it is very efficient).
Return on Investment
- Definitely, WebMerge has improved our time on creating a great number of documents for our clients.
- It has managed to cut the times of preparation of documents in more than 50% of the time.
- Our clients can now deliver, in a faster way, quotes and can improve the time to validate prospects.
Other Software Used
Salestools.io, Pipedrive, Trello