No contact, no contract

First name, last name, e-mail, telephone, organization, position, marital status, weight, height, size of underpants? How much really do you need to know about your customers when they contact you? A lot, of course. The more you know the better you can understand and serve them. You need to be in constant contact with your customers to keep checking on their changing situation and collect feedback on your actions. But what will all this information be worth if your customer doesn’t contact you at all in the first place? No contact, no contract.

Oversized-contact-form

Looking at the form above a prospective customer will likely prefer to grab the phone and call in, rather than fill out all the fields correctly. That is unless she’s a bit phone-shy and won’t get in touch at all. Now if the form is smart with some validation on top of it, that requires filling out all fields, that’ll perfectly add to the frustration. There are always many other companies offering similar services, available just a click away.

Simple-contact-form

Now that is something different. Admittedly the guys from Analog don’t take any new work at the moment (I’m sure they’ve more great projects than they can handle), but they did manage to remove all possible barriers for future customers to contact them. Just click the text field and type, what you like, as much as you like. Then hit submit and we’ll get back to you. That’s implicitly telling to the customer: we’re here for you. We care. It pays.

I make software. And other things. Mostly in Warsaw, Poland, from wherever there’s an Internet connection, power outlet and fresh coffee. I love to read and learn how the world works. You should follow me at @mpaluchowski.

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