Selling Software: How Short Can My Sales Form Be? People Are Lazy!

Ok, I want to sell software online. To boost conversion rates I want a really short and sweet sales form, because people hate long forms.

So, what are the minimum things I should ask for. I guess at the minimum I should ask for

• Name
• Address
• Company Name
• VAT
• Email
• Password

Thank you for your help

Edited: FAQ says no more than 1 question

I don't know details of your situation but it seams to me we have a cart before horses case here. To use an example, you might be also asking:

What should be the minimum force to open a car door (because people are lazy) so they would buy the car

I perfectly agree with you that forms longer than absolute minimum can have a negative impact on conversion rate but perfect forms will not 'BOOST' your sales. It will not happen because as in the 'car example' it is not what really makes people buy things.

People will do a lot to buy a product if they want this product. So to boost your sale you should concentrate on making people want to buy it. It is similar to making them want to sign up to a service. So let them try it and like it and if the price is OK they will buy it (and an imperfect form will not stop them). See diagram below.

Source: TellMeYouDidnt.com

That's a lot! I ask only for an e-mail address, that's it - and my guess is I should probably even do away with that.

When you ask a lot of data, either people will just drop it and move on, or enter fake company data etc. so you're really getting nothing useful.

I agree with Michael's post - you want to get as many people in as possible. If they like it, they'll buy it, and the shopping cart can ask for a bit more.