Don’t ask questions for which you already know the answer

Don't ask questions for which you already know the answer

I was recently completing an online form to submit a proposal for speaking at a conference. I had to log in to the system for it to recognize me (which it did). One of the first questions it asked me was "Have you ever spoken at this conference before?"

So the system knows who I am, but it doesn't know if I've ever spoken at this conference before? (I have.) Why are they asking me things they should already know?

And this is my message to you: Don't ask questions that will make your members or customers say "Wait, you should know that already!" Because every time you do that, you are telling them, "You're not important enough for me to bother working on getting this information. I'll just ask you for it because that's easier for me." (And as an aside, the customer may not know the answer, or may give an incorrect answer, in which case the data is useless anyway!)

I know how difficult it can be to integrate disparate systems or reference data from past events. But if that question is truly important to you, do the work beforehand or afterward. Don't make the customer do the work for you!

Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives

Inertia Contributes to Bad Data

October 7, 2020

Inertia Contributes to Bad Data Without knowing anything about your organization or its data, I’d […]

What are you doing with new contacts?

September 30, 2020

What Are You Doing with New Contacts/ I was very interested to read in a […]

Be Aware of Selection Bias

September 23, 2020

Be Aware of Selection Bias I wrote recently about the mistaken perception of older members […]

Some Things Just Take Time

September 16, 2020

Some Things Just Take Time I learned recently that an elephant’s gestation period is 18 […]

Sometimes It’s the Least Bad Choice

September 7, 2020

Sometimes It’s the Least Bad Choice Just like in life, sometimes when we’re making technology […]

Our Members Aren’t Tech Savvy

September 2, 2020

Our Members Aren’t Tech Savvy Having worked now in the association space for more than […]

Motion vs. Action

August 26, 2020

Motion vs. Action One key to successful data management is understanding the difference between motion […]

There is ALWAYS a Trade-off

August 19, 2020

There is ALWAYS a Trade-off I’ve written many times about trade-offs (you can read a […]

Little by little, a little becomes a lot

August 12, 2020

Little by little, a little becomes a lot “Little by little, a little becomes a […]

Why do we treat data management differently?

August 5, 2020

Why do we treat data management differently? A recent post on ASAE’s community read: “Looking […]

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top