Do Your Online Forms Hurt Your Prospecting Efforts?

We have all been there; you’re on a website that seems to have the service or product that you’re looking for. You’re ready to fill out their contact form to get more information when they start requiring nothing short of your blood type to hit submit. If you’re like me, you are not ready to send more than your basic information to a company that you know little about. So you leave the site and opt for another company that doesn’t require as much.

Those lost forms equal missed opportunities and can undermine your marketing efforts.

Walk In Your Customer’s Online Shoes

When creating your online contact forms it is important to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. For many people, they have a set amount of ‘exploratory’ time scheduled in their day before moving on to their other priorities. Or they might not feel comfortable providing budget, company size, or project requirements without knowing that they will get the information they want in return.

The goal of online forms is to reduce the amount of hurdles your prospective customer has to jump to start a dialogue. Imagine a sales person walks into an initial meeting asking about annual revenue and budgets for upcoming projects as they’re shaking your hands. This would probably come off as too aggressive and kill the momentum. Your online contact form can act the same way. Use it as the start of the conversation instead of trying to skip to the end. 

Ask The Questions They Want To Answer

It’s not always about how many questions you ask, but finding the right questions. In each industry there is a common ground between the information a company needs to qualify a lead and the information a customer is willing to provide. Take industrial equipment for example. Asking about the product the customer is interested in helps the company qualify the lead and ensures that the customer doesn’t waste time on information they’re not interested in. However, asking about previous equipment purchase history or leasing preferences might be more than the customer is willing or able to answer. 

There Are No Concrete Rules For Every Industry

While in most cases, longer forms tend to have lower completion rates. In certain industries, additional well positioned questions can help you qualify the prospect while giving them a better understanding of what you offer. Ultimately, it comes down to knowing your customer and what they are comfortable with. Don’t be afraid to run A/B testing on forms to find out what works best. Testing can help you determine the right questions to ask and the best way to ask them. A well thought out form can be a real asset to your sales team and help bring you qualified prospects.