The Spanish Inquisition was a tribunal established by in the 15th century to enforce Catholic orthodoxy. They had a reputation for ruthlessly questioning people. Unfortunately, some companies act more like the Spanish Inquisition than they realize.

I just wanted to check out a gym

I went to check out a gym near my new home a few weeks ago. I figured I’d walk in and check out the facilities. It should have been a slam dunk to get me signed up.

When I told the person at the front desk I wanted to check the place out, she handed me a form requiring my name, address, email, telephone, and a bunch of questions about what I wanted to use the facilities for. That’s a whole lot of questions before I made it 10 steps in the door. Bam. My wall went up. I tried to push it down. Okay. Let’s roll with it.

Then she told me to wait in the cafe, and someone would be with me soon. Ack! She had called in a salesperson!

I felt like a fish in a barrel

Whoah, now! Hold your horses! How did I get roped into this so quickly? I didn’t want to talk to a salesperson. I didn’t even know what the place looked like inside. How could I know it was even worth the time to talk to someone? I wasn’t ready for that sort of time / energy / social commitment.

I was getting annoyed, but trying my best to tamp it down. After all, this is the way it probably works in every gym in North America. If it’s good enough for everyone else, I guess it’s good enough for me.

Then the salesperson walked in. She had a smile that seemed to wrap completely around her face and meet in the back of her head. She directed me to sit down. Not requested. Nothing like, “Would you like to sit down?” No, she pointed at a chair and said, “We can sit here, because it’s more comfortable than my office.” I didn’t really want to sit down. And it didn’t look very comfy (I’m thinking “comfy chair” for fellow Monty Python fans).

It was just one more commitment that I wasn’t ready to make yet. I sat to avoid being rude. But I wasn’t very happy.

Who are you, the Spanish Inquisition?

She launched right in to a bunch of questions about where I had heard about the gym, why I had chosen to come in, what I wanted to use the gym for, where I worked (seriously), and what my debit card pin was (not really). She hadn’t even started with something like, “If it’s okay, I’m going to ask you some questions so I can best inform you about our offering.” My answers were a bit curt.

Finally, she walked me into the facility. But she kept asking me questions. All I really wanted to do was do a little look-see. In between her questions, I checked out the place, and it looked good. Then I turned and asked her two questions. How busy do the machines get in the early morning? And what’s the monthly price and length of commitment required? Finally I had the information I needed. I thanked her, and asked for her card to make sure she would get the commission if I signed up. I try to be a good guy. It wasn’t her fault.

But I was outta there. I still haven’t signed up, and that was almost two weeks ago. The push for too much commitment too early really turned me off.

Companies do the same thing online all the time

I saw a tweet recently that pointed to ThingWorx. It sounded vaguely interesting, so I went to check it out. This is what I saw:

I had a vague sense of what they did from the headline. It would have been nice to have a better idea, but I was relying on the judgment of my social graph, and gave them the benefit of the doubt. I clicked on the big blue “Learn More” button at the bottom right. So far so good.

So, this is what I saw next:

Wham. Wall went up. Why do they need all that info just to tell me what they do? Why should I continue on? What’s in it for me? By that point, the cost of continuing on was greater than my perceived benefit. I was outta there.

Don’t ask too much up-front

Asking for too much information up-front turns customers off. Let them take baby steps, and give them sufficient reason to escalate their commitment. More and more, consumers recognize that their time and information are types of currency. They expect value in return for sharing.

In other words, don’t act like the Spanish Inquisition.

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