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Still Using Manual Web Forums

You visit a website, want to request more information, but all they have is a simple fax back form. Before you dismiss what you see some business-to-business firms doing on-line, you will want to read this article completely.

There are several reasons you may NOT want to have a web form for your on-line landing pages:

Increasing barrier of entry to better qualify. Web forms in some cases are too easy to fill out, leading to brochure collector requests rather than qualified buyers. A non-buyer won't waste their time downloading a PDF or faxing in a response.
Technology not available to prepare and manage complex forms. Let's face it, large business-to-business firms with multiple offices may face unreasonable service costs to create a form that handles everything. A fax back, providing multiple fax numbers depending on the request lets the prospect sort for them.
Manual forms don't break and are easy for sales people to pass along. Some marketing departments help sales people by putting all their necessary forms on-line. Now a sales person can click and print, the format is designed to be more universal.
Because their customers are NOT on the Internet that way. Just because you use the Internet doesn't mean their customers are using the Internet to request information. IN some markets, professionals don't have time to go on-line for business purchases.
The form was converted from what they use off-line. The web is an ever changing tool, some businesses will simply convert what they use off-line and make a form of it later. Due to limited staff, resources, or even time, this makes the form available now (rather than later.)
Improperly implemented forms can ruin email marketing. It only takes one bad form to get your website and email services blacklisted. Forms that work today can be exploited by spammers tomorrow. Manual forms don't have this exploit.

Don't assume a business is still in the proverbial stone ages because they have forms that require a little effort to reply. Unless you are willing to work with a qualified webmaster company or Internet lead generation firm, then futzing around with your website may not be the best use of your time.

Of course, don't let these reasons be an excuse for not taking advantage of B2B lead generation tools on-line. A properly designed web form that gets prospects to raise their hand, if done correctly can even further qualify them with systems before the leads are distributed to a sales team.

Either way, instead of worrying about what other people are doing on their website, get focused on your own b2b lead generation efforts. There is so much more to gain from what YOU are doing, than mistakes others may (or may not) be making. Of course, none of our GOLD members are wasting time with this kind of gawking.

Justin Hitt helps selling professionals blow past wasteful and unproductive activities right into profits. Want to get back on the sales track, for a consultation visit https://www.justinhitt.com/
/ b2b-websites | lead-generation /

By Justin Hitt at April 12, 2009 9:48 AM Subscribe in a reader

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