The other day I’m browsing Monster.com, looking for a job, and I come across one that I find interesting. I visit the company’s website and start gathering information about their product line; I read the basic copy written about the product line and then I see a bunch of links to case studies, additional information, and use-specific metrics.
But when I click on one of the links I see this:
Thanks for your interest in X; if you’d like more information about X or any of Company Z’s product, please call Y at (000) 000-0000 or email him at…
The Case for Creating Exclusion Barriers
I understand why companies create exclusion barriers for access to detailed information about their products; they create artificial extra steps simply to collect contact information for sales leads down the road. If I leave my phone number, name, and email address, the company will have everything it needs to contact me and subsequently market to me.
Essentially, by forcing me to contact the company in order to get more information about the product, the company is creating a new touchpoint in their marketing process. Great; so now the company can contact all of their leads, people who figure that the additional information regarding the product line is worth the time taken to contact the firm.
The Overwhelming Evidence Against It
The costs of artificial exclusion barriers outweigh the benefits. What does the company have to lose by making more information available publicly and hassle-free? Competition? Oh, please; like a single phone call is going to stop a determined, semi-competent competitor from getting access to that information.
Off the top of my head, here are a few costs of using artificial exclusion barriers:
- Deters Casual Browsers - The biggest cost is that exclusion barriers keep out potential customers who are interested in your product but don’t want the hassle of contacting your company. These browsers might be interested in your product, but as soon as they see that “call Susan at blah blab blah” message it’s game over. Why not let them get additional information on your product with no hassle instead of letting them walk away?
- Deters Potential Job Applicants - I couldn’t get any more information on the company’s product. When I apply for jobs, the first thing I look at, before salary, benefits, location, or anything else is the product. If the product is something I can get excited about, then I can look at other information regarding a position. If I can’t get the information I need about your company’s product, then I can’t get excited about the product and I’m probably not going to bother applying for a position.
- Makes Your Firm Look Like Control Freaks - By forcing the customer to step into your walled garden in order to see the fruit you immediately portray your firm as one that’s not interested in letting the customers arrive at a decision at their own pace; by making them go through gateways you make it clear that your firm must be in control of the marketing flow in order for any sort of transaction to go through.
- Hassles the Customer without much Benefit to the Customer - Simply stated, people don’t like having to jump through hoops to make your job easier.
If you’re making a website about your product, for the love of God just put everything out in the open and let customers browse through it at your own leisure; it’s easier, and puts the customers in control over the marketing process, and that’s honestly a better approach given the general “informing” trend that consumers across the board are experiencing.
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