“I’m interested in the service, but I’ll need a free trial first”.
For salesmen and saleswomen, this is a common obstacle that must be overcome before a lead becomes a sale.
With the prevalence of free trials – think Netflix, Dropbox, and Hubspot, it may seem natural to accept this demand, but this isn’t always the best course of action for your business.
In fact, there are many scenarios in which offering a free trial is actually bad for business.
Your customer promises to move forward with a sale if your product does what you say it does.
This may feel like the opening you have been waiting for, However, this is actually a red flag.
This is known as a Hangman Promise.
A Hangman Promise is the assurance of future commitment that cannot be fulfilled.
Consider the following scenario as evidence.
Scenario – The agreed time frame of your free trial is not long enough to deliver the value of your product
Your free trial should remove any risk that your customer associates with your product.
But if your product is unable to deliver the required value in the set time-frame then the only possible outcome is negative.
Your customer will feel as though your business has failed to satisfy their needs, and move away from you as a legitimate option, possibly towards your competition.
For a practical example, this would be the case for an SEO agency.
While many customers may request a free trial – looking to see the results of their own SEO firsthand and alleviate any risk, this becomes a Hangman Promise.
The trial period will simply not be long enough to reflect the value of the product.
As Wayne Mulligan, co-founder of Crowdability, puts it, “Do not offer a free trial when your customer can’t get a complete picture of how your product benefits them during a reasonable free trial period.”
In offering free trials on the back of Hangman Promises you will be investing time and money that offers zero ROI.
There is a simple truth behind the economy of sales, no matter what products or services you offer.
If people value something, they will pay for it.
There are no exceptions to this rule.
Consider the apps on your mobile phone right now. If your most used free apps became protected by a paywall overnight, how would you respond?
The apps that you continued to use, despite having to pay for use, would be those you attach the most value to.
In the words of Liam Gooding, founder of Trakio, “free is not a competitive advantage”.
While free trials may seem a simple way to enroll potential customers in the start of your sales funnel, the pros and cons of such an offer must be weighed carefully.
To be suitable for a free trial your product should be:
- able to demonstrate value
- simple for people to use
- retaining value once the trial ends
If your product does not tick these boxes, you are at risk of hurting your business by draining time, energy and resources in pursuit of Hangman Promises that offer reward without ever delivering.