---

[ November Full List | Reply ]

---

Re: Are customer order forms important? From Jasonxi Sam at Voice Mail Exchange on 12 July '99 replying to Re: Are customer order forms important? posted by Nicholas >>How much online buying is done via forms versus by phoning in orders >>to the seller? > >Less than 5%, on the Net. But is there something wrong with their >money? Some people absolutely will not phone you; hell, some are >mute! Where there is a choice of call or mail-in, you will always >get a certain percentage of orders in mail-in. And you will always >lose a certain percentage of orders by denying these customers. There is truly a psychological barrier that is overcome (i.e., a benefit to you) with the use of a toll-free number in your sales and ordering process. I have over the past 6 years used toll-free numbers with great success. People volunteer that when they look for services, they automatically make a note of--and call--the businesses with toll-free numbers first, then keep shopping if they dont't find what they want. Sure I get a fair amount of people wanting to pick my brain for free, but that's where the use of "call control" comes in--steering the conversation, controlling the call, keeping it on the business at hand. And now with the use of secure forms on my page(s), the orders pour in nicely. Personally, if I find a site whose form is not secure, I surf elsewhere--it's their loss. Here's a fact: a telephone call is usually not secure, but a secure form IS secure (obviously), yet many people will readily give out their credit card numbers over the phone but still have this mental block against online ordering using forms.

Reply to this message
Required Details
Your name:
Subject:

Optional Details
Home page title:
Home page URL:
Email: (if you'd like to receive automatic replies by email)
Your Message
>>>How much online buying is done via forms versus by phoning in orders >>>to the seller? >> >>Less than 5%, on the Net. But is there something wrong with their >>money? Some people absolutely will not phone you; hell, some are >>mute! Where there is a choice of call or mail-in, you will always >>get a certain percentage of orders in mail-in. And you will always >>lose a certain percentage of orders by denying these customers. > >There is truly a psychological barrier that is overcome (i.e., a benefit to you) with the use of a toll-free number in your sales and ordering process. I have over the past 6 years used toll-free numbers with great success. People volunteer that when they look for services, they automatically make a note of--and call--the businesses with toll-free numbers first, then keep shopping if they dont't find what they want. Sure I get a fair amount of people wanting to pick my brain for free, but that's where the use of "call control" comes in--steering the conversation, controlling the call, keeping it on the business at hand. > >And now with the use of secure forms on my page(s), the orders pour in nicely. Personally, if I find a site whose form is not secure, I surf elsewhere--it's their loss. Here's a fact: a telephone call is usually not secure, but a secure form IS secure (obviously), yet many people will readily give out their credit card numbers over the phone but still have this mental block against online ordering using forms.