Free Trials And Why Your Services Business Needs Them
If your business offers any kind of service, then you have likely at least once floated the idea of offering free trials.
Of course, no business owner likes the notion of a “free” anything. You’re in this to make money, not to offer a freebie that people can use and then abandon – so why would you ever want to offer free trials? It can sound like there’s no benefit for
It can sound like there’s no benefit for you, if you don’t examine beyond the surface of the potential a free trial can offer.
If you’re in need of some convincing, then perhaps these reasons will show you that offering a period of free trials might just be the best thing your company has ever done…
REASON: Customers Who Would Otherwise Move On Will Stick Around
There’s an important part of free trials, and it’s all in the wording: free. Humans like getting things for free. We’ll accept things we don’t even want or need if they’re free, because we like the idea of being able to get a good deal.
So if you have generated a lead that has brought someone to your site, they might be on the fence about whether or not they really want to commit.
Even if you offer a low-cost first month, every part of their mind will be screaming that they can do without your service or that there will be a lower cost one out there.
With the introduction of a free trial however, you tempt them to at least give it a go where they otherwise wouldn’t. After all, it’s free, so they’ll think they’ve got nothing to lose – and they don’t, but you have everything to gain.
REASON: People Forget To Cancel Free Trials
It’s true. For example, a huge number of people subscribed to Tidal to obtain the new Kanye West album – and then they forgot to cancel it. Some customers will have stuck around for the right reasons, but for others, they just forget they have a service.
This gives you a second opportunity to turn them into a customer when they do remember – with the benefit that they already know they can afford the service, because they have already been paying it!
You’ll need effective management of free trials for this to work, something that good invoicing in Salesforce can help you take advantage of. When you see someone hasn’t
When you see someone hasn’t cancelled a trial but also hasn’t used your service, you can pounce and see if there is anything with which you can help them. Helping their forgetfulness will be a chance for you to generate a hot lead.
REASON: People Are Sceptical
The internet and its most infamous scams have made sceptics of us all. Most of us always check a page is SSI encrypted before we enter payment details; we teach ourselves to doubt and keep doubting the things we hear online; we check social media for reports before we make a decision.
The impact of this scepticism on your business is incredibly important. It means someone might be genuinely interested, a true potential customer, but still feel wary about handing over money. This is all the more true if you’re a relatively small, start-up company. The only way to navigate through this scepticism is to let your service speak for itself, which you can do through free trials.
So, do you think you would consider using free trials in your services business in the future?
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