Let’s review some hot and not-so-hot items in the world of technology.
Hot: Cloud
Not: On Premise Software and Hardware Solutions
Hot: Software as a Service (SaaS)
Not: Perpetual License Based Software
Hot: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Not: Appliances and Use Specific Devices
Besides the obvious fact that they are all technology related terms, what do cloud, SaaS and BYOD have in common that is driving all three of them to be “Hot”?
Before I answer, how much more likely are you to buy something when you are able to try it first?
Think about this in work and in life. Have you been to Costco over the past few years?
New Rules of Customer Engagement, an e-book for sales professionals (and their bosses)
CI columnist Daniel L. Newman’s book is being showcased on Commercial Integrator. Check back weekly for excerpts:
1/10—Intro: Redefining the Sales Process
1/17—Trend 1: How Informed Consumers are Changing Everything
1/24—Trend 2: Why Your Response Time Must be Faster: The Impact of Immediacy on Customer Experience
1/31—Trend 3: Getting Creative: Your Business Value Lies In Your Creativity
2/7—Trend 4: The Role of The Human Network; Your Human Network
2/14—Trend 5: Don’t Sell Me. Show Me! Selling More by Driving Outcomes and Advocacy within Your Client Organizations
2/21—Trend 6: Customer Experience Trumps Everything Else You Do: Why Mediocre is the New Bad and Extraordinary Must be the Ordinary
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You walk down the aisle and it is a meal on wheels; carts everywhere with “Free” samples of Skinny Pop popcorn, chocolate covered blueberries, pork dumplings and VitaMix juice blends. My wife and I sometimes laugh about going there on the weekend for lunch because by the time we finish our shopping we are usually stuffed.
Notice the quotes I place around “free” sample.
Nothing is free. By the time you get out of Costco it is rarely under $200 (in my experience). And if you are anything like me, you wind up buying at least one thing that was on “free” sample each time you go.
The free trial once again worked and led to another conversion.
Let’s go back to those technology driven items I talked about at the beginning of the story.
Cloud, SaaS and BYOD—have you figured out what they have in common?
How about that each of them is a platform that allows the upmost simplicity for resellers to gain users?
How many free, freemium or free trial services are you using today?
Do you use Google Apps, Dropbox, Pandora, Base CRM, Amazon Prime, Netflix or Constant Contact? While all of these cloud-based services offer a free edition, every single one of them offers a premium (subscription service).
They also all drive revenue off of you using their free services so either you are paying to remove ads or you essentially are the product (by which ads are pushed to you).
The beauty of the model that all of these companies have is that they make it extraordinarily easy for you to try their products. In the past year I have used or I am currently using every one of those above applications and have upgraded to paid editions of three of the services. In every case where I upgraded to a paid version I started out using a free trial.
Download eBook: New Rules of Customer Engagement
Bottom line is in the world of selling, whether it is the food you buy or the technology you consume, smart businesses are finding ways to let people try their product before they make you buy.
