As tech consumers become more savvy and more cloud oriented their expectations for business management software become more complex and more focused on self-service applications and data. Fueled by the desire to access the data and the apps they want from anywhere or any device, business technology purchasing decisions are made more like consumer decisions than ever before, according to recent Gartner Research. Offering free on demand business software trials is a great way for providers to meet the needs of those prospects that are self-service oriented business consumers.
While idea of an on demand business software trial might grab the attention of these prospects, all too often trials expire without the prospect ever taking a test drive. In fact, around the web only about 25-percent of people who sign up for a software trial actively use the system during the trial period, according to UnBounce.com. And only 60-percent of those that do actively test drive the software become paying customers.
These numbers can be greatly improved by keeping prospects engaged through personalized nurturing. This includes offering sophisticated nurture marketing campaigns that include strong calls to action, video demos and setup instructions. Unfortunately most software consultants and vendors don’t have the time or resources available to dedicate to nurturing trial users. In fact, only 26-percent of organizations that offer trials actively nurture their prospect throughout the trial period.
Of course this does not mean that on demand business software trials can’t be beneficial.
Software trial offers are proven to draw increase SaaS leads, and therefore recurring revenue. Not to mention nearly every other method of acquiring new leads is more expensive. So obviously having a trial offer is better than not having one, but making that trial offer a true success that significantly increases lead generation at a lower cost is the big challenge for most organizations.
For a successful trial offer it is essential to enlist a dedicated team of marketing and customer service professionals along with sophisticated workflows to nurture those trial users.
The goERPcloud team is completely dedicated to turning trials into qualified leads, so we are able to interact with all or our trial sign-ups through personalized email campaigns, video walk-throughs, how-to’s and hundreds of other reference resources to encourage trial users to actively engage with the software during the trial period.
Software trials are a great way to draw attention to your solution, but with the right nurturing, more of those trial clicks can be converted into paying customers. goERPcloud can host your business software trials so you can leverage our team’s skills and experience to nurture your products.