Hello again.
So I am back in “Grey Britain,” and I am not happy about it. In fact, I am downright grumpy. Not that coming home is the only reason for my bad mood. I am working on a particularly frustrating project at the moment.
Well, I say frustrating. In truth, the company is full of intelligent, lovely people, and I enjoy working with them. My frustration comes from the fact that I keep hitting entirely justifiable roadblocks.
My job is to help them improve the conversion rate on the number of people signing up for the free trial of their software.
The rate is low for all kinds of reasons, but a significant factor is a sign-up form, which everybody agrees is painfully complicated.
Barriers to change can be frustrating
However, every time we discuss changing it, there is always an (admittedly good) reason for not changing things. It is just very complicated and will take months to get to a point where any of the issues will be addressed.
Ironically, they see a great conversion rate among those who sign up for a free trial partly because the hard-to-use form weeds out anybody who is not 100% committed.
That made it hard for me to do my job and led me to show my frustration in a recent meeting, which I deeply regret. Fortunately, the client was very gracious and appreciated my passion!
What should we do in the face of resistance?
So what should we do when we face these kinds of obstacles? Do we throw our hands in the air and give up? Do we get angry? Do we push harder?
Pushing harder has its place, but sometimes you need to know when to quit. Sometimes there are good reasons for resistance, which is when we have to get creative.
Get creative
If you cannot overcome an obstacle, it is time to work around it.
Take my example. I cannot change the intimidating form users have to complete to sign up.
So if I cannot change the form, perhaps I can change the user? Perhaps I can get the user to the point where they are committed enough to fill in the form?
Don’t get me wrong, changing user behavior is nearly impossible. But, if I can nurture the relationship with website visitors until they are ready to act, then maybe I can encourage them to tackle the form.
After all, most visitors to this particular site don’t even get as far as the form. They are not interested in a free trial because they are only vaguely interested in what the company offers. They are primarily there for the free resources the company provides.
So if I cannot get them to sign up for a trial, perhaps I could get them to sign up for a newsletter that nurtures them by offering ongoing value until we can pique their interest enough to sign up for the free trial.
Is it the perfect approach? Absolutely not. But it is an achievable one. It doesn’t involve making fundamental changes to the software they sell or reorganizing how the sales team operates.
Something is better than nothing
I guess what I am saying is that if you cannot have perfection, something is better than nothing. Know when to pick your battles. If you meet legitimate obstacles or even resistance that would destroy your working relationship with colleagues, try and find an alternative approach. One that moves you closer to your ultimate goal, even if that means taking a long way around.
Not all obstacles are bad
But there is also one last point that is worth making. Not all obstacles are bad. Just because you don’t immediately understand why somebody is throwing up a roadblock doesn’t mean they are wrong. After all, we have a pretty narrow view of the businesses we work for. There is a lot of complexity behind the scenes that lead to a terrible form or horrible user experience. Don’t presume these things happen because of ignorance or stupidity. People often know the solution is not optimal. After all, that is why they are coming to you in the first place.
Thanks,
