14 Days To Fail—Where Trial Periods Go Wrong And How To Fix It
Our sales pro @Diogo Silva shares his experience on the topic of offering trial periods in sales, and how to make the most of them. Catch the full article here.
"There are several different free trial models, from freemium versions to those requiring credit cards that get charged automatically if not canceled. Each one can be successful when used properly, but in general, conversion rates on free trials are between 1 percent and 10 percent."
"A proactive sales team can dramatically help improve conversion rates during the 14 days of a free trial by helping the prospect understand your product, using automation to stay in close and consistent contact with them, and tailoring their demo and trial period toward solving specific problems the prospect may have."
What is your experience with leveraging trial periods to convert your leads? Let us know in the comments 📣
Comments
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Here's my perspective from the other side ... the buyer.
My problem with free trials and demos is simple. I rarely want/need the best, non-enterprise version. Let's say in PipeDrive, I only need the "Advanced" feature list. As I try to understand the different feature list, they don't always translate to what I think they are and I don't know how to 'try' them, especially in 14 days. And all the company videos demo-ing the product are for the enterprise-version, or at least the highest feature list self-serve. So I'm left confused as to what I really need (versus want), which delays or prohibits a buying decision. And that doesn't even factor in the difficulty comparing with a competitor!
If software companies would do demo videos for each feature list to help the prospective buyer, I believe conversion rates would go up. As a prospective, I want to see what Good/Better/Best gives me. You can show the features and THEN highlight what the next level will add to it. Help me move up the feature list, don't cram it down my throat.
I can tell you that right now, we are planning for the future and I am experiencing this exact scenario with half a dozen software tools. I have procrastinated the buying decision until I have sufficient time to maximize my 14 day trial. And any help I request from the company that doesn't involve and enterprise buying decision is directed back to my paragraph one above to fend for myself!
And finally, I just upgraded in PD. I got in on the mid-level feature set, got embedded in it, saw the value, and decided I needed the next level AND more licenses to take advantage. My spend increased 400%.
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