Persuasive Momentum Dead End - a Web Site Story

While we were developing content for this site, we thought it would be nice to include some of the latest statistics regarding Internet use in the buying process. We started at an Internet magazine -- a web site which had been cited in an older article. We figured we had a good chance of finding updated statistics here.

Not finding what we needed right away, we turned to the site's search which delivered several pages of "hits". It was here that we discovered that a subscription was required to access most of the site's content. We wondered what a subscription cost. Depending upon the price, we might be interested.

Back on the home page we didn't find any links to subscriptions above the scroll, so we selected the Product tab. A nice box labeled "Subscriptions" provided a link to learn more. We followed the link to a page that killed our momentum in an instant. Here were the options on the page:

1. See a Sample Report
2. Request a Demo
3. Find out why so many leading companies in virtually every industry rely on ... Request Info on Subscriptions
4. For Immediate Assistance Call ...

Here are 6 ways that this page created a persuasive momentum dead end.

1. The site had led us to believe that a subscription provided on-line access to the treasure chest of web content. On this page, it appeared that a subscription delivered a physical (think ink and paper) report. This inconsistency created confusion. It wasn't what we expected. It wasn't what we were looking for.
2. We didn't understand the option to "Request a Demo". What do we need a demo for? We were expecting the subscription to give us access to the web site content. How difficult is that?
3. Look at the third call to action. We are already sold on what we think is the value of the subscription. Why do we have to find out how others get value from their subscription?
4. The third call to action also required us to give them our name, email, phone, company, title, and a written description of "how they can help us" to get information on their subscriptions. We are on the page where we are expecting that information to reside. They got us here and now they want us to jump through a hoop to give us information about the product? Fat chance.
5. We came to this page looking for a subscription price. There was no price in sight and no price to be found. Frustration had set in.
6. The fourth call to action was "For Immediate Assistance Call". By this point, we were so annoyed that we really didn't want to talk to anyone. We exited the site. We will not return.