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The obligitory "sign-up form" is probably one of the most overlooked opportunities in the entire customer experience lifecycle, the red-headed stepchild of touchpoints, if you will....
Why? Because it's probably one of the first points at which the customer is going to "experience" your company, and the experience is generally (at best) blah and (at worst) hostile.
Take, for instance, what you need to fill in if you want to comment, that's right -- comment -- on Bob Garfield's new "open source" Listenomics (which is of course open source because you can comment on it, right?)
Now a sign up form is not only a chance to make a first impression, it's a negotiation, you have something I might want, and I have some information you might want. As it is a negotiation, the value of what your offering has to be weighed against the value of my information and the effort that I'm going to put into filling in this form. The problem here, is AdAge uses the same sign up form for everything, and filling in that form might be a valid proposition in some cases. Unfortunately for Bob, the ability to comment on his blog is not enough enticement for me to fill in that form.
Now, the reason I was even inspired to write this post was because I was filling in the cork'd sign up form and it had me laughing out loud. Yes it was funny, not only that it set the whole tone for me with regard to the cork'd brand. The experience was such that I "loved" the brand even before I'd finished filling in the sign-up form. Yes, loved. If a company has a good enough sense of humor to make me laugh during the sign-up process, then it sure has made a connection with me.
More to the point, why don't more companies and brands demonstrate a sense of humor?
Anyway, I think that the problems with many sign up forms are exactly the reason that wufoo.com was created.
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Comments
I agree Karl. Somthing as simple and yet so commonly used these days as a sign up form is a first opportunity to engage or send them running. I went for path of least resistance to mine and take the opportunity to engage once they have got some value. Again the thank you page is another great place to start that conversation with current or prospective clients.
Posted by: Beverley Hamilton | 07.11.06
"More to the point, why don't more companies and brands demonstrate a sense of humor?"
I totally agree, brother. Not sure whether it's fear or whether because humor really *is* hard to do well...but I always feel more warm and fuzzy toward a brand that makes me laugh. Two examples:
1. WOOT.com. The whole site is a riot, actually...but its FAQ page really cracks me up with its fresh content:
http://www.woot.com/WhatIsWoot.aspx
Here an question from that page:
"I want to talk to a live person there, can I call you?"
"No. We are busy sourcing new products and shipping orders. You can post a comment to our community board, but we don't guarantee we'll respond. You should Google for the manufacturer contact to get product answers – we suggest a dating service, magic 8 ball, or ouija board for general life solutions."
2. My colleague Shelley Ryan writes the absolute funniest copy I've ever read from a B2B entity. Of course, you have to be a MarketingProfs subscriber to get Shelley's missives...but she's worth it. http://www.marketingprofs.com
Posted by: Ann Handley | 07.12.06
"Take, for instance, what you need to fill in if you want to comment, that's right -- comment -- on Bob Garfield's new "open source" Listenomics (which is of course open source because you can comment on it, right?)"
This is something that has always ticked me off, how difficult some blogs make it to leave a comment. Doc Searls mentioned me as being 'MaRk Collier' the other day on his blog, so I decided to leave him a quick comment to correct him. 10 mins later of searching to see if comments were even available there, and then finally figuring out that they were, but that you apparently had to be an accepted member of the 'Doc Searls Fan Club' to comment, I said to hell with it and left. If you're going to make it that difficult for your community to interaction with you, why not save everyone's time and just turn comments off?
Posted by: Mack Collier | 07.12.06
Mack -- I hear you on that one...
I had that experience on Doc's blog, too. I'm still making copies of the documents and materials I had to pull together to apply for permission to comment.
: )
Posted by: Ann Handley | 07.12.06