Companies and marketers in general, love customer data, the more the better is the rule, not the exception. As an internet marketer I also love customer data, BUT and this is a very BIG BUT, I also understand the importance of only requiring enough customer data to keep the conversation going.

Let me explain, web users DO NOT LIKE to give away their personal data, they aren’t salivating at the lips to give you their title, name, address, city, state, phone number, cell number, fax number, email, and name of their first born. Yet you will routinely find all of these form fields and more, on web site after web site. You wouldn’t want give out all this information to just anybody, so why would your potential customers want to?

(First reality check; Yes, I know you don’t think your company is nobody, and yes I am sure you  believe your services are so fantastic, that people would be crazy not to recognize you as the industry leader, and are dying to spoon-feed you their personal data. Reality is; Unless your company is a national name and brand like Nike, Coca Cola, or IBM, you’re just another company they have never heard of, competing against other companies they have never heard of, and all of you will be trying to get their valuable customer data . If you can’t accept that, and work this simple truth into your marketing strategy, then this is not the right blog for you.)

My rule of thumb is simple, collect only the data needed to continue the conversation. If your company only follows up via email, then would only requiring a first name and email suffice? If your company follows up with email and a sales call, do you really need the customers address? *Do you ever really need a title field for Mr., Ms., or Mrs.?  You can always ask for more customer data once the conversation has expanded and they are ready to trust you with more of their precious information. The point is, consider the basic information you need to keep your visitor engaged and save asking for all that extra customer data you want, once you have their trust and full interest.

This seems like such basic common sense, but you would be amazed at how many companies make this mistake because they let managers and sales people have a say in what the process should be. I will be writing more about forms, form fields, and customer data so please check back for more insight on how I approach using these tools for maximum benefit.

Fun fact, if your primary customer base is in the USA, we hate title fields, if your primary customer base is in Europe, they prefer them and can be offended if you do not have them. Be aware of your customer bases preferences, and act accordingly.

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