Best of the ISP-Lists

The "Free Trial Period" Dilemma

Members of the ISP-Marketing list debate the merits of giving a free trial period to prospective subscribers.

On the ISP-Marketing list in October, NS asked,

"How many of you have tried offering potential customers a free trial period? If you have, do you think it increases your signup numbers? Does it create any additional problems such as more strain on your support staff?"

A couple of respondents claimed that free trials do work for them:

[JB recounted] "I'm not in the US, so maybe my market is different, but for us it is a good marketing strategy since people can really see the quality of the service. It does increase our signup numbers, and it doesn't create more strain on tech support; they're just another user. People test our quality, and they stay. It's a simple formula that works for us."

[DB proclaimed] "We're not an ISP, but we offer a free, fully-functional thirty-day trial copy of our software. We've definitely seen an upward trend in the number of visits to the site and downloads of software, which we use as one method of obtaining sales leads." A flood of others contended that the model is dangerous, and offered alternative suggestions:

[WC suggested] "Free anything cheapens the image that public holds of a given product. I would never do a free trial; you always want the other side to bring something to the table. In this case, you want to get the customer in the habit of paying for your service. Therefore, you can always provide a special such as three months for the price of two: that's a nice way to get them on board and paying."

[CJS agreed] "I do not recommend it. You usually just find bottom feeders who want something for nothing. We came across many people who were just jumping from trial period to trial period using a Hotmail or Yahoo! account for their email. I would recommend that you do a thirty-day money back guarantee instead. This allows people to try your service without unusual risk, but weeds out those who are not serious. Plus, it gives you all their billing information."

[WDV concluded] "One thing I figured out a long time ago is that if they come on for a freebie, they will leave you in a heartbeat for the next freebie."

—End