Rethinking Your Web Forms for {Phone}

I just filled in a form that asked me for a home phone and mobile phone. I gave up my home phone years ago, since 99% of the calls I made were through my cell. However, this form-- an online petition for a large environmental group--made the home phone field a default field, so I had to enter my mobile phone there and then leave the "optional" mobile phone field blank. This was also the fourth form within a week where I encountered the "home phone" as a default field. Ugh!

It's time to make the home phone field optional, folks. According to data from the CDC NCHS, more than half the country has mobile only and that this "mobile-only" audience passed landlines last year. I would expect this to jump significantly by 2020 as people in the US are bailing on their 3-1 cable/phone/internet packages to go with digital packages for the television and ditching their landlines.

If I were heading up an organization's digital shop or membership center, I'd list mobile first, then home and work phones. I'd also email my constituent list and ask them to update their phone contact information (especially donors). Gathering mobile phone data should be central priority your information gathering for your membership or donors. Members may be reticent to give out there mobile number at first, but more often than not will get filled in, especially if it's the only option.

And yes, we should all be careful about when and to whom we give our mobile numbers and be careful to avoid spam calls. Organizations need to make every assurance for how the data will be used and stored (and never sold to others). And, make sure your customers and audiences opt-in into any text programs themselves, don't do it for them. You can usually add an opt-in to any order form or questionnaire, just be clear as to how they are joining the mobile list and how they an opt-out.

Landlines haven't gone the way of the Dodo yet, but their days are numbered. The "home phone" field may be, too.