5 Reasons

1. Lead forms add friction to your conversion process

2. Lead forms impact response time

3. Lead forms don’t put the customer experience first

4. Lead forms give prospects the time to check out the competition

5. Lead forms decrease your potential conversion rate

Lead forms have been around for a long time. They have been the primary method for collecting prospective customer info from visitors to a website or from people who clicked on a digital ad.

Lead forms made sense when the way in which we conducted business and communicated was primarily over phone, email, and in person.

Prospects became trained that they would fill out a form and wait patiently for a reply. This worked for a long time, but times have changed!

Our communication styles have evolved and expectations around response time increased due to the advent of the ultra fast product shipping and an evolution in work culture.

Given advances in technology, we are now able to communicate with prospects much faster and with many different tools at our disposal, like messaging apps, video tools, chat, and more.

The thing these all have in common is the ability to get information quickly without having to fill out a form or wait for a response.

Many companies, both B2B and B2C, are leveraging these new technologies to communicate and connect with their customers faster, in real time.

With the shift in communication and the importance of face to face interaction in deal making, the lead form is becoming more of a roadblock to conversion than an asset.

Here are 5 reasons we suggest b2b companies stop using lead forms. 

1. Lead forms add friction to your conversion process

‍You can optimize your contact form but ultimately, submitting information into a form is a barrier for people.

The time it takes to fill out the form, the randomly timed emails or calls that follow, and the fact your landing page might not resonate with them and sell them on your product.

You pay to bring people to your site only for them to leave without capturing their information, or being unable to reach the customer even if they do submit.

2. Lead forms impact response time

If a lead does fill out a form they still are most likely not contacted immediately.

The typical sales process involves a salesperson chasing down leads through calls and emails.

This is not an ideal use of anyone’s time, since you haven’t captured your prospects' availability to discuss your product.

3. Lead forms don’t put the customer experience first

Lead forms are convenient for everyone but prospects.

Instead of getting their questions answered in the moment, they are told to wait until someone is available to reach out to them.

In this day and age, getting answers immediately is not only expected but also makes the difference between a prospect buying from you or your competitor who replied before you.

4. Lead forms give prospects the time to check out the competition

While prospects wait for your response, they have time to research and potentially even talk to your competitors if they respond faster.

In the time it takes for you to get in touch with prospects, your competition could have already closed the deal with them.

5. Lead forms decrease your potential conversion rate

If your lead form converts at 6%, that means you are missing out on other prospects who visit your site.

Now, we aren’t saying that everyone who visits your site is a potential customer, but there are most likely potential customers who don’t fill out your form.

Those are the prospects that you want to reach, but a lead form will never allow you to connect with.

So what’s the alternative to lead forms, which have become obsolete?

We suggest using ServiceBell. Our platform allows you to call prospects the moment they are interested in your product and service, before they even submit their information.

Don’t lose them to the competition or make them wait to get their questions answered.

Get them talking to a sales person right away by adding a live human connection to your website via video chat or phone.