Tell me Less

Deep joy: I need to evaluate some new software. Like most developers it something I do on a regular basis -a triumph of hope over expectation that inevitably leaves my various PCs cluttered with garbage, and worse.

Talking of which..

Dear Software Provider

I'm about to evaluate your software.

If it is any good, I'll buy it. If not, I don't want to hear from you.

I do not want to fill in five pages of 'Required Fields' telling you about my business, size of business, number of employees, market sector, and especially not my phone number. If I have a problem, I'll call you.

You are not doing me a favor by letting me download this.
I'm giving up my valuable time to see if your miserable product is worth my hard earned cash.

So guess what - I'm not going to waste more of it filling out stupid questionaires. You don't need to know what databases I use, what languages I prefer and what my shoe size is. And that drop-down list of 'relationships' to say whether I'm an end user, VAR or supplier - I'm none of those yet. Just let me see the damn software.

Ask me what you need to know: an email address to send a registration. Nothing more. Because I'm not giving you any other marketing-related crap that your employees can leave on a bus.

And no, I do not want to speak with an advisor. If I need an advisor to test your software, you need to think about redesigning your website. Or your software. Or both.

Got it? No?

Then you're off the list. I'm off to your competitor who will ask me my email and nothing more.

Some of us have better things to do with our time.