Asking too many questions may make your users suspicious
I don’t know about you, but I hate filling out forms. I’m ok with filling out my email address and name to subscibe to a newsletter or a sign-up form to join your site, but if I’m just trying to ask a question or find out your opening hours, I don’t want to use a form. I’m guessing that most people are like me and are suspicious of companies who ask for too much information.
A client of mine is in the franchise business. They’ve put systems in place and have a great business model. Interested parties can buy-in to their program and become a franchisee. When setting up their website they wanted a contact form and a franchisee application form as well as a newsletter sign-up. These were the required fields for their newsletter sign-up:
- name
- company
- address
- city
- province
- telephone
- fax
- level of income
- when they anticipated becoming a franchisee
All that just to get a newsletter? Will they not send me their newsletter if my income is too low? What the…?
When setting up your forms on your site, it’s important to keep in mind that most people don’t like filling in forms. I haven’t checked with this client, but I’m guessing that very few people have signed up for their newsletter.