In an age when people’s private information has become a commodity, some companies have decided that it’s reasonable to force their customers to share their data.
I recently called a support phone number for a well known supplier of network hardware. To open a ticket, they needed to know the name and model of the product, where and when I purchased it, the serial number and my contact details. All of which struck me as reasonable. However they also wanted to know the size of our company, the nature of our business, how long we’d been in operation and more.
When I declined to provide this information, on the grounds that it wasn’t relevant to my problem, I was told that I had to supply this information to create my account, that was required to create the ticket, that was required for them to fix my problem.
No information, no fix.
A great way to treat a customer.
Barely a day goes by that I don’t come across websites that try to force me to register. I recently went looking for a CRM system for our company. At least three of the companies whose AdWords ads I clicked on wanted me to register, either in order to see a demo of how the software worked or even to see how much their solution cost. I refused to do so. Those three companies paid Google to display their ads, then threw a prospective customer away by being greedy.
Software companies often offer some form of trial version of their software. The less-enlightened software companies force potential users to register their details with them before they can download a trial. This costs them downloads and sales on a daily basis.
If I am interested in buying what you sell, I am considering establishing a relationship with you. If you force me to hand over private information before I know I can trust you, I’ll almost certainly walk away to your competition.
Our company sells Google AdWords management, SEO and marketing services. We get a reasonable number of enquiries via our website forms every day. How many do you think we’d get if we demanded your credit card details up front, to “facilitate an easy and convenient path to working with our company”?
When someone has decided to use our services, they’re happy to part with their contact information, credit card details and cash. But not until they’ve made the decision to do so for themselves.
If you go speed dating and ask every person you meet for their age, weight, most traumatic experience, sexual history and private pleasures, you’re never going to find a partner. At least I hope not.
Don’t let greed, haste and desire get in the way of building a relationship. Be polite and go slowly. It works for relationships, sales, business and life in general.
Greed, haste and desire can kill sales.
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