Question from Reddit user:
Wanted to share with the GHL community this simple integration workflow (using Make.com) that automatically moves leads through a sales pipeline when they complete a form in Jotform.
Here’s the high-level explanation:
A prospect is sent a trigger link via GHL for a Jotform to fill out and uses URL params to pass along the GHL Contact ID (needed for the integration to identify the contact later on)
A prospect fills out a form on Jotform (the form contains a hidden field for the contact ID, which gets prepopulated via URL parameters)
The workflow detects the form submission and triggers automatically
It captures all the form data and updates the prospects notes in GoHighLevel
Then it updates the prospects contact info if it changed
The workflow uses the GHL API finds the opportunity associated with this contact
It automatically moves the opportunity to the next stage in the pipeline (marked as “Jotform Complete”)
This automation eliminates manual data entry work and ensures contacts move through the pipeline consistently without anyone needing to manually update their status.The clever use of the hidden field with the contact ID ensures the system always updates the correct record, avoiding duplicates or mismatches.
The beauty of this is that once set up, it runs completely in the background, making your sales process more efficient and ensuring no leads fall through the cracks.
And it allows you to quickly create forms in Jotform to ask or screen prospects in anyway without muddying your GHL setup
Answer from Nabil:
The short answer is:
This is an excellent and common workflow design for bridging GoHighLevel’s internal automation with external, best-of-breed tools like Jotform, and the “clever use of the hidden field” passing the GHL Contact ID via URL parameters is the crucial technical key to making it work reliably via Make.com.
While the Make.com low-code automation works well, an even more robust and customizable solution for achieving this same automated pipeline movement and data enrichment involves moving from the low-code intermediary to a dedicated server-side architecture using the HighLevel API and Jotform API in conjunction with Google Tag Manager and a server-side tagging environment like Stape or Google Cloud Platform.
This setup provides faster execution, greater control over data formatting and security, and eliminates dependence on a third-party platform’s internal rate limits and pricing structure for every single submission.
The long answer is:
Your described workflow using Make.com is a fantastic example of achieving marketing process efficiency and demonstrating the power of integrating different platforms via a middle layer.
However, by moving this process to a server-side execution environment using the direct APIs, you gain significant advantages that address scalability, speed, and data fidelity.
When a prospect submits the Jotform, instead of relying on Make.com to poll or receive the submission, you can configure the Jotform to send the data directly to a webhook endpoint hosted on your server-side platform, whether that is Stape or Google Cloud Platform.
This immediate data transfer is faster and more reliable than many polling-based or standard low-code solutions.
Once the server-side container receives the submission, it has the payload which includes the crucial GHL Contact ID from the hidden field.
A custom script in this server environment then orchestrates the entire process by calling the HighLevel API.
First, it uses the GHL Contact ID to call the Update Contact endpoint, pushing the new form data into the contact’s notes and updating any changed fields in one swift action.
Second, it calls the Search Opportunities endpoint using the Contact ID, and then immediately calls the Update Opportunity endpoint to move the pipeline stage to “Jotform Complete.” This approach is superior because it uses direct API calls which are often faster and less error-prone than low-code platform modules.
Additionally, by using Google Tag Manager to manage the initial tracking and potentially the firing of the initial webhook, and the server environment (Stape or Google Cloud Platform) to house the logic and execute the HighLevel API calls, you create a private, secure, and highly efficient data processing layer that can handle thousands of submissions without the complexities of scaling up an external low-code account, ensuring your sales pipeline moves consistently and in real-time.
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