Lead management and CRM

Lead forms: Turning website visitors into customers

Man looking at information on a computer

Once prospective customers find your website, the goal becomes converting them into sales. How does this happen? By getting their contact information so you can follow up, of course. How might you do this? By using a simple online form that prospective customers can fill out on your website. Now, your next question might be, “how do I get them to fill out the form?” Well, try following these tips:

Start by offering something in exchange for their personal information.
Most internet users are constantly thinking as they surf different websites. They’re especially wondering if the benefit they’ll receive from giving you their personal information will outweigh the pain of potentially having different forms of mail sent their way. More often than not, the answer is no so there is no doubt that they will press the back button. But maybe, just maybe, if you offer useful information or some type of service in exchange for their contact information, they might just consider giving it to you.
– offer free blueprints or something for FREE so it shows you are doing them a real favor in return for their information
– offer an opportunity to schedule an estimate appointment right there in the form
– offer a booklet that gives you tips regarding the construction industry
– offer an email newsletter

Ask one or two non-personal questions before jumping into the personal information.
Each piece of personal information that you ask for in the form creates more and more annoyance and friction … and those are the last things you want in this particular situation. You have to warm these people up before really asking for their personal information, so start with something easy and friendly, even if you don’t really need their answers. For example, “When do you plan to start your project?” From there, hopefully they’ve let their guard down a bit and you can move into the real information that you’re after.

Specifically state your privacy policy right from the start.
Besides an offer for something in exchange for their personal information, people are also going to be checking for a message somewhere that says you won’t sell their personal information to any third party. So, start by telling your prospective customers exactly what you’re going to do with their personal information. If you plan to call or email them right away to get a consultation set up, lay that out there right away and it’s going to immediately put them at ease. Or maybe if you plan on sending them an email newsletter, after they’ve consented to that, let them know that too. And don’t forget to remind them that they’ll always have the option to unsubscribe from any emails your company sends at any point!

Ask for a minimal amount of information.
The less personal information you ask for on your website form, the more people you’ll get to fill it out. It’s as simple as that. Sure, there are some disadvantages to a shorter form, like less qualified leads but for the companies that care more about having a great number of leads, this strategy is perfect. And if you’ve got a sales team that can make it happen with just a name and an email address, that’s all you’ll need to ask for anyway!

Make sure the form is noticeable.
So you’ve put the lead form on your website but how do you make sure people actually notice it? By making it the most noticeable thing on your website, of course. Now, this doesn’t mean it has to be at the top of the page or anything like that … it just needs to be noticeable. You can do this by making it look a little different than the rest of your website or by mentioning it in other homepage text on your website. Also, don’t forget to include your phone number and email address in all of the necessary and noticeable spots on your website as well. That way, if they don’t see the lead form, they have the option and information to contact you if they want.

Besides just focusing on getting customers to fill out your website lead form, it’s necessary to make sure the rest of your website is up-to-date and will make a good impression on these prospective customers. It’s important to reduce friction for any prospective customers when they’re on your website, not just when they’re filling out the lead form. You can reduce friction by making sure navigation is direct, having attractive and easy-to-use landing pages, along with having relevant, important information on those landing pages.

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Buildertrend Staff

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