I love new product trials because who doesn’t like free stuff (even if it is for a short time!). I can’t think of the number of times I signed up (or not) for a new service or bought a product because I was given a sample/trial.
How often have you gone to a supermarket and seen the staff giving out free samples of products or software companies asking you to try their product or service for a month and see if you like it, else cancel the service without any charges?
Just this week, I had taken my car to a tyre shop to get a puncture fixed, and a sales executive approached me to try a product they were promoting that would improve the life and quality of my vehicle’s suspension. Now call me sceptical, but I think the manufacturer of my vehicle’s suspension would have sunk a fair bit of money into Research and Development of the suspension and produced the most optimum product for my car. No addition of a rubber or silicon piece is going to improve its performance! Then the sales executive said the magic phrase – 30 Days Money Back Guarantee!
I could return the product with a full money-back guarantee within 30 days if I did not see an improvement in the performance of the suspension. And I was almost hooked. Now, I am a city driver, and for the most part, I am stuck in traffic on paved roads; I don’t think there is a way even to observe if there will be an improvement in the performance of my suspension. So, I might even be eligible for the money-back (always read the fine print). But the point I am trying to make here is that I almost bought a product I did not need because of the offered trial period.
However, in my opinion, a trial period offers more benefits to customers. It helps them make an informed decision more often than not. The following four points will illustrate a few benefits of using a trial period.
1. It is free
Most of the time (and this is especially true in the case of online products and services), the trial period offered is free and is only there to encourage the buyer to try their products or services. You get to use the product for this trial period free of cost, and at the end of the period, you can opt to pay for the service and continue or just cancel the service. You have experienced the product, and the company will send you periodic mailers with special offers in the hope you will change your mind someday and sign up for the product. No money was lost.
2. Experience the product
This point is probably the most important aspect of a trial account – the ability to use a service before investing time and money to help you make an informed decision. The trial account will help you evaluate, see the investment made by the company in the product/service, and hopefully, help you make a more informed decision. Now granted, in most cases, you will not be given full access to the product and will only get to experience the most fundamental aspects of the features offered, but it will be enough to help you get a feel of how the product/service works.
3. Commitment to the client
Most companies that offer trial accounts are usually not trying to hard-sell a product to the client. By offering a trial account, the company is not only helping the client make a more informed decision but also showing their commitment to the client. Even a trail account costs money to the company and is an investment the company is making in their clients. Not all companies offer trial accounts. Usually, those who do are confident in the products/services they provide and believe that customers who experience the trial account will sign up with them.
4. Q&A
When a client experiences a trial account, most of the questions about the product/service should have been answered. However, because of the use of the trial account, new and more refined questions might have cropped up. You will not have the opportunity to have these questions answered by the company before investing in the product/service, rather than having them resolved after signing up for the service (and in many cases, not getting a satisfactory answer and having to compromise).
I am not saying that all companies that offer a trial account have a good product or deliver quality service. There have been cases where a trial account is just a façade with no foundation, so please do your research and don’t just rely on what you see in the trial account. But, in most cases, the trial account is a good starting point in the relations between the client and the company.
We at Robert Kennedy College have been offering trial accounts to our clients for over a decade to develop trust with our students from the get-go and help them make an informed decision. Chat LIVE on WhatsApp with one of our Education Advisors for more information on the programme that is right for you, the application process, and for getting your Trial Account activated today!