Transforming Your “Smart Forms:” Going Mobile

For many large organizations, forms are a critical part of your business. But even if you’ve transitioned your forms online, chances are you are still operating from what we would call the “PDF paradigm.” So, let’s talk about why your “smart forms” may not be that smart after all. (You may read the Part 1 of the series here).

Customer expectations for mobile interactions have changed now that virtually everyone uses a smartphone or other mobile device. They want great experiences wherever they are, whenever they choose, and over any device type. Unfortunately, PDFs and hard-coded HTML forms were never designed to handle the mobile experience. If you rely on these types of forms to engage your audience, it’s time to transform your digital forms.

Transforming your static forms into great vehicles for digitally mobile interactions is well worth the effort. The remainder of this post (part 2 of a series) demonstrates the benefits of doing so.

What Mobile Customers Want from Forms

Your mobile customers don’t ask themselves whether or not your mobile forms are great. They judge you by the mobile experience you deliver. Is it simple? Is it fast? Is it comprehensive? In fact, they expect you to deliver anything and everything over mobile, including:

• Getting a quote or proposal
• Opening a new account
• Filing an insurance claim
• Updating personal and profile data
• Signing contracts
• And more

According to Forrester, 44% of younger millennials and more than 50% of older millennials say they feel frustrated and annoyed when a bank’s website isn’t mobile friendly. This is why the best forms are not really forms at all. They are interactive, digital discussions that take place over any device. The end result is completion of whatever transaction a mobile customer is seeking.

How to Empower Mobile Users with Next-Gen Forms

Many companies are still offering the same blank fields to everyone on a web form, instead of dynamically filling forms in an intuitive, adaptive manner. That undermines the power of mobile.

By using an adaptive digital technology, you can hold “conversations” with customers and prospects based on their personal and mobile context. This means you can get all sorts of new data from them and enhance their experience in response.

Imagine pre-filling forms so customers don’t need to type. They merely tap and swipe to confirm data. And the experience can be uniquely better in many ways:

• Upload photographs from a phone (e.g. damaged property, driver’s license)
• Use current geolocation data during “live” service, e.g. filing a claim in an auto accident
• Connect to maps, scan barcodes, or leverage other third-party apps
• Continue a “form” journey in remote locations using cellular service – or pause it until the signal reconnects

Taking advantage of the tools now available with mobile devices, you can empower customers like never before.

Next-Gen Equals New Benefits

Digital disruptors are entering many markets, especially in banking, insurance, healthcare, education and other core services. These upstarts are targeting mobile users, because they represent the future of customer interaction. By transforming from old ways of presenting static forms to next-gen forms that drive adaptive experiences, you can avoid being disrupted, or worse, displaced.

There is also a great upshot to the digital-mobile revolution. If you transform right, you will attract more customers and make your existing ones more loyal.

4 More Ways Your Forms Are Killing Customer Engagement

This post on engagement and delivering a better personal experience discusses 1 of 5 key areas of forms transformation found in this new eBook we created based on our in-depth experience in helping businesses just like yours. The other areas addressed by the eBook include lessons to make your forms digital and mobile, minimize friction, eliminate disconnects and errors, and speed forms toward real-time process completion. Download your copy now!

And, learn more about Intelledox Infiniti Next-Generation Forms capabilities.