The $5,000 Mistake You’re Making Every Week
I want you to imagine something for a second. A potential customer in Indooroopilly needs a plumber. They’ve spent twenty minutes looking at different websites, they’ve seen your photos, they like your reviews, and they finally click the 'Get a Quote' button on your site.
They are standing on your digital doorstep with money in their hand, ready to give it to you.
Then, they see it. A form that asks for their full name, home address, mobile number, email, how they heard about you, a detailed description of the job, and—for some reason—their date of birth.
They look at the 12 boxes they have to fill out on a tiny phone screen while they’re standing in a kitchen with a leaking sink. They sigh, hit the 'back' button, and go to your competitor who only asked for a name and a phone number.
You just lost a $400 job. If that happens three times a day, you’re flushing thousands of dollars down the drain every single month.
At Local Marketing Group, we see this constantly with Brisbane small businesses. You spend good money on ads and social media to get people to your site, but then you make it physically painful for them to actually hire you.
Why Most Online Forms are Business Killers
Most business owners think of their website form as a way to make their own lives easier. They want all the information upfront so they don't have to spend as much time on the phone.
That is a trap.
Your website’s job isn't to do your admin; its job is to get the phone to ring or the enquiry to land in your inbox. Every extra question you ask is a hurdle. If you have ten hurdles, most people will trip on the third one and give up.
I’ve worked with a landscaping crew in Carindale who couldn't figure out why their 'Contact Us' page got plenty of visits but no leads. We looked at the data and found that 80% of people started typing their name but quit when they reached the 'Upload a photo of your yard' section. People were on the bus or at work; they didn't have a photo ready. By forcing that step, the business was literally telling customers to go away.
When you stop guessing why customers leave, you start seeing these roadblocks for what they are: profit killers.
How to Tell if Your Form is Costing You Money
You don't need to be a tech genius to figure this out. You just need to look at the numbers that actually matter: how many people saw the form versus how many people hit 'Submit'.
If 100 people visit your 'Contact' page and only 2 people fill it out, you have a problem. In the marketing world, they call this 'form analytics', but let’s just call it 'finding the leak'.
You need to know: 1. Where do they quit? Do they stop when you ask for their budget? Do they stop when you ask for their address? 2. Does it work on a phone? Open your own website on your iPhone or Samsung right now. Try to fill out your form with one thumb while walking. If it’s frustrating for you, it’s infuriating for your customers. 3. Is it too long? If you ask for information you don't strictly need to start a conversation, delete the field. You can ask for their suburb once you're actually talking to them.
The "Less is More" Rule for Brisbane Businesses
I’m going to be blunt: most of what you’re asking for on your website is rubbish you don't need yet.
If you are a sparky, a lawyer, or a gym owner, you really only need three things to start: Name Phone number or Email
- A short message
We recently helped a professional services firm in Milton simplify their booking process. They went from a two-page 'onboarding' form to a simple 3-field enquiry box. Their enquiries tripled overnight. They didn't spend an extra cent on advertising; they just stopped making it hard for people to say "yes".
By focusing on which clicks turn into cash, they realised that the long form was a barrier, not a filter.
What You Should Do Right Now
If you want to stop losing leads, here is your Saturday morning homework. It will take you 20 minutes and could make you thousands.
1. The "Thumb Test"
Go to your website on your mobile. Try to fill out your form. Are the buttons too small? Does the keyboard cover the box you're trying to type in? If it feels clunky, your customers are already gone.2. Kill the "Required" Fields
Look at your form. Is there a little red asterisk next to 'How did you hear about us?' or 'Company Name'? Remove them. Better yet, remove the questions entirely. If a field isn't 100% necessary to get back to the customer, it shouldn't be there.3. Check Your Speed
Does the form send instantly, or does the page spin for ten seconds? In the time it takes for a slow page to load, a customer has already clicked the next result on Google. People in Brisbane are busy; they won't wait for your site to catch up.Is it Worth the Effort?
You might be thinking, "It’s just a form, surely it’s not that important."
Think about it this way: If you spend $1,000 a month on Google Ads to get 100 people to your site, and your bad form only captures 2 of them, each lead cost you $500.
If you fix that form so 10 people fill it out, each lead now costs you $100. You’ve just made your marketing five times more effective without spending a single extra dollar on ads. This is how you see if your marketing is actually making money.
A Note on Privacy
While we’re talking about forms, remember that people are protective of their details. If you ask for too much personal info, they get suspicious. Keep it professional and keep it simple. Not only does this get you more leads, but it also helps you stay on the right side of the law regarding how you handle people's private details.
The Bottom Line
Your website should be your best salesperson, not a grumpy receptionist who makes people fill out paperwork before they can even say hello.
Simplifying your forms is the fastest, cheapest way to grow your business. It doesn't require a massive redesign or a new "algorithm" strategy. It just requires you to look at your business through your customer's eyes.
Stop making them work to give you money.
Need help figuring out why your website isn't ringing? At Local Marketing Group, we specialise in helping Brisbane businesses turn their websites into lead-generating machines. We don't care about fancy jargon; we care about your bottom line.
Contact us today and let’s get your phone ringing again.