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Hi,

Ever wonder if potential customers are filling out your online forms but may then suddenly vanish right before clicking submit?

You're watching valuable leads disappear at the finish line because of one trust-breaking field.

💡 This week's 80/20 rule - Remove the phone number field from your forms (or make it optional) to improve your completion rates.

🧠 The phone number field is like asking for someone's house keys on a first date - it triggers immediate privacy alarms and breaks the natural progression of trust-building in your customer relationship.

Research reveals that phone number fields consistently show significant abandonment rates. This happens because phone numbers trigger multiple psychological barriers simultaneously: privacy concerns rank as the top reason for form abandonment, and phone numbers feel particularly invasive.

When visitors encounter a phone field, their brain performs an instant risk-benefit calculation - and without having received any value yet, the risk of spam calls and privacy invasion outweighs any unclear future benefit.

It's like demanding payment before showing the product - it triggers resistance rather than cooperation.

☕ Basecamp famously removed their phone number field from their signup form and saw improvements in their completion rates. They realized asking for phone numbers before users experienced the product created unnecessary friction at the worst possible moment.

💰 Expedia discovered their optional "Company" field was causing confusion and abandonment. Removing this single field helped reduce lost bookings because customers kept entering their bank names instead of company names, causing payment failures.

🏢 HubSpot tested making phone numbers optional on their demo request forms and experienced an increase in qualified leads. Even though they needed phone numbers for sales calls, they found it better to collect them after initial contact when trust was established.

Make phone fields optional by simply adding "(optional)" next to the field and including helper text like "Only used for urgent updates." For mobile visitors, always default to optional since mobile users abandon forms more often when encountering mandatory phone fields. Collect phone numbers later through email follow-ups after delivering value.

Cut intake forms to just name, email, and one qualifying question. Move "nice-to-have" questions like company size or timeline to thank-you pages or follow-up emails. Research shows that every field removed can improve completion rates.

Break lengthy consultation forms into 2-3 short steps with progress indicators. Start with just name and email in step one, add your main qualifier in step two, then scheduling in step three. Each completed step creates momentum through psychological commitment, reducing abandonment.

Follow up after purchase. Wait until after the first successful transaction to request phone numbers. Send a follow-up email saying "Help us serve you better" with options for SMS updates or shipping notifications. This works because of the reciprocity principle - after you've delivered value, customers are more willing to share additional information. Frame it as improving their experience.

Eliminate optional company fields that confuses consumers during checkout. If you need company data for B2B orders, show it only when customers check "This is a business purchase." This single change can improve checkout completion rates.

Replace separate city, state, and ZIP fields with a single autocomplete address field using Google Places API or similar services. Auto-populate full addresses after customers type just a few characters. You can also consider setting up a checkbox for "billing same as shipping” to eliminate redundant address entry entirely.

Display security badges and payment logos directly on your payment form, especially for first-time customers. Include microcopy like "256-bit secure checkout" near the payment button and show recognizable logos (Visa, Mastercard, PayPal) to reduce abandonment at this critical step.

1️⃣ The rule change: Go to your main contact or lead-gen form and delete one non-essential field (e.g., "Phone Number," "Last Name," or "How did you hear about us?").

2️⃣ Why it works: Every additional field you ask for is a "friction point" that causes a percentage of people to abandon the form. Asking for a phone number, in particular, can kill conversion rates.

3️⃣ The result: Deleting a single field that can instantly increase your form's conversion rate by 10-30% by making it faster and "safer" to fill out.

🔎 For this week's website review, let's look at Studio Clvr. Studio Clvr is a creative design agency based in Australia that specializes in branding, website design, and digital marketing services. Their website demonstrates how service-based businesses can effectively showcase expertise while making it easy for potential clients to understand their value and take the next step.

💡 The Good:

Immediate Clarity on Specialization: Within seconds of landing on their homepage, visitors understand exactly who Studio Clvr serves and what transformation they provide. Their positioning as specialists in creating brands that "connect, inspire and convert" speaks directly to business owners seeking more than just aesthetic design.

Portfolio as Trust-Building Machine: Rather than hiding their work behind generic service descriptions, Studio Clvr prominently features detailed case studies that demonstrate their strategic thinking process. Each portfolio piece shows the journey from business challenge to creative solution.

Smart Information Architecture: The site's navigation reflects deep understanding of how prospects evaluate creative agencies. Services are clearly categorized by business need rather than technical deliverables, making it easy for non-designers to find relevant solutions.

Clear Contact Options: Studio Clvr provides multiple contact methods throughout the site, from traditional forms to direct email links and phone numbers.

🔧 Suggestions:

Implement Consultation Booking: For a creative agency, adding a consultation booking system could help visitors who want to schedule a discussion about their project.

Create Industry-Specific Landing Pages: Given their diverse portfolio spanning different sectors, developing landing pages tailored to specific industries would allow for more targeted messaging and case study selection.

See you next time for another simple, high-impact strategy!

The LOGO.com Editorial Team