# Seven-step inquiry form cut to four steps: +53% conversions

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Lead form (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Multi step form
- Date shared: 2016
- Test run by: [HomEquity Bank](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/homequity-bank/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/how-homequity-caters-to-seniors
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/homequity-seven-to-four-step-form/

HomEquity Bank cut its inquiry form from seven steps to four and saw a 53% lift in conversions. The bank's digital team ran the test in early 2016, after an earlier move from one page to seven steps, and it was published as a MarketingSherpa case study. HomEquity Bank sells the CHIP reverse mortgage to Canadian homeowners aged 55 and older.

## Result

**+53% conversions**

- Conversions: +53% compared with the seven-step form.
- This came on top of the 154% lift from the earlier move from one page to seven steps.
- The source does not say whether questions were dropped or grouped together, and gives no sample size or duration.

## Control

A seven-step reverse mortgage inquiry form.

## Variant

A four-step version of the same inquiry form.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- Seven steps may have felt long, so visitors gave up before the end.
- Fewer clicks to finish means fewer points where someone can leave.
- Four steps likely kept the benefit of short screens while cutting the sense of a long process.

## Caveats

The source does not explain how the steps were reduced or describe the test setup, sample size or duration. The audience is Canadians aged 55 and older.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we combine our multi-step form into fewer steps, then more visitors will finish because the process feels shorter while each screen stays simple.
- Primary metric: Form completion rate
- Guardrail: Lead quality or contact rate
- Guardrail: Drop-off at each step
- Guardrail: Time to complete
- Who should test it: Lead-gen teams that already use a multi-step form and see steady drop-off across later steps. If most people leave at step one, fix that step first.

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Credit: HomEquity Bank ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/homequity-seven-to-four-step-form/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.