Profitability is one goal that most of the SaaS CEOs who ask me for help all share, and SaaS customer retention is the key to achieving that goal. Though, while they’re all focused on achieving profitability, how that is measured varies from company to company, for the sake of this post we’ll consider profitability to […]
SaaS Customer Retention is the key to Long-term Profitability
October 16, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
SaaS Churn kills Growth; Customer Retention is a Growth Accelerator
October 15, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
SaaS Churn Kills Growth, Profit, and ultimately your SaaS Business… together we can end Retention Deficit Disorder today! Very often when I’m asked to help grow a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business, the CEO is often focused on Customer Acquisition strategies… the “how can we get more people into the top of the funnel?” issue. But when […]
SaaS Customer Retention Requires Ongoing Realization of Value
October 15, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Improve SaaS Customer Retention by helping your customers Continually Realize Value When we buy something without trying it first, this is based on what I call “Perception of Value.” When we buy something after trying it, this purchase is based on our “Realization of Value” during the trial. Makes sense, right? But what about Customer Retention? […]
Free Trials: Not just for Startups or toy Web Apps
October 3, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I am frequently asked to help SaaS, Web App, and Cloud companies on strategies to Accelerate Profitable Growth. One way we frequently achieve rapid and long-lasting results is by Accelerating Customer Acquisition through the Optimization of their Free Trial Strategy.
Why $1 Trials are a REALLY Bad Idea
September 22, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
It is well-known that I help B2B SaaS and Cloud companies achieve Profitable Growth, often by accelerating Customer Acquisition, improving SaaS conversion rates, and optimizing Free Trials. Because of that, I am often asked for my opinion or advice in public forums, like recently when I was asked about $1 Trials on Quora. At first, I […]
SaaS Pricing Model: How a 10x Price Increase lead to Happier Customers
August 22, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Stormpulse adjusted their SaaS pricing model by raising their prices 10x… and getting happier customers in the process. So I just had a Progress Check and Planning meeting with a retainer client, Matt from Stormpulse, who told me since they moved away from Freemium just 4 months ago to a Premium-only SaaS offering with a […]
Free Trial Frustrations from a SaaS CEO
August 22, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Have you ever wondered why people who sign-up for your Free Trial don’t turn into customers? Well, I got an email from the CEO of a SaaS document management company the other day and she was at her wits’ end wondering the same thing! She wrote me to vent her frustrations about her Free Trial […]
SaaS Free Trial: How Self-Service fits with a High-Touch Sales Process
August 22, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
How do you determine whether a self-service SaaS Free Trial is appropriate for your otherwise high-touch sales process? A SaaS Free Trial is an integral part of the sales process and not something separate… never forget that. So, whether you have a 100% automated, self-service sales model, a high-touch sales process, or a hybrid (many […]
Simply Offering a SaaS Free Trial Increases Conversions
August 14, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
For those companies who’ve offered a SaaS Free Trial and had it fail, it is hard to see how it could ever work. For those who’ve never offered a Free Trial, the idea of adding an extra 30 or 60 days to the sales cycle seems like a bad idea; they’re doing just fine, thank […]
SaaS Free Trial: Your Customer Qualification Machine
August 14, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I believe in the saying “high-tech allows for high-touch” and that we can use the self-service nature of the web – including your SaaS Free Trial – to not eliminate the human-powered sales force, but to scale it efficiently to let each salesperson work better leads and close more sales. In my experience, SaaS Free […]
SaaS Free Trial Optimization: When to start?
August 3, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Before you start Optimizing your SaaS Free Trial to improve free-to-paid Conversions, learn the 5 things that must be done first… Here are five things that are required before optimization really makes a lot of sense. You don’t want to spend a lot of time optimizing your Free Trial if these aren’t already in place. On […]
7 Tips for Software Vendors Moving to the Cloud
July 26, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
As a Strategic Consultant, I have worked with the Executive Teams of many Enterprise Software and Independent Software Vendors (ISV) to develop strategies for becoming Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Cloud Services vendors. …and I must say that I’ve come to what I consider to be a shocking conclusion: Far too many people think the Cloud is […]
How to keep App-generated Email from Being Marked Spam
July 26, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
The most concise definition of Transactional Email I could find (after a 7 second Google search) is: Email primarily containing information about current or prior business dealings, such as confirmation of a sale, a registration number, an invoice, or an opt-in or opt-out confirmation. Contrast this with “marketing email.” UPDATED FOR 2014! Transactional emails are those […]
SaaS Free Trial: Confused Minds Don’t Buy
July 25, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
When it comes to your SaaS free trial, complicated isn’t cool…it kills conversions! Confused minds don’t buy… they bounce, and take the money that you spent to get them to your site and their lifetime value as a customer with ’em! Look at your SaaS sales funnel, your Free Trial sign-up process, their first in-app […]
SaaS Free Trial Users are a Vanity Metric
July 6, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
There is no such thing as an “inactive user” in a SaaS free trial. You can’t be a “user” if you aren’t “using,” right? Makes sense. I think we get confused because in software the “user” connotation comes from the fact that a user is literally someone for whom an access account has been created. […]
SaaS Pricing Page Design: Highest Price on the Left?
May 20, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
SaaS pricing page design is always evolving, and when I created the Pricing Page Success Formula for SaaS and Web Apps in 2009, the jury (me) was still out on whether placing the high priced version of your product on the left and moving lower to the right really mattered.
SaaS Conversion Rate: A Simple Trick to DOUBLE Your Revenue
April 15, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
When your Free Trial fails to convert customers, it drives down your SaaS conversion rate by doing exactly what it was designed to do. Think about that for a second. There I was working on a ‘Optimizing SaaS Conversions’ presentation and I wrote this statement: For many SaaS & Web App vendors, 100% of sales […]
SaaS Pricing Strategy: The 10x Rule
March 26, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
First thing to clearly understand when developing your SaaS pricing strategy; pricing is a function of Marketing. If you think creating your SaaS pricing strategy is a function of Finance, Accounting, Operations, or even Sales… you’re doing it wrong. That means anyone who comes up with a price for their app (or for your app) […]
Display a Phone Number to Increase Conversions?
March 26, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Does displaying a Phone Number on your website Increase Conversions? I’ve been talking about Trust Factors and their effects for years and as I’ve done more work in this area others have taken an interest, too. For instance, LessAccounting got a 2% lift in paid conversions they were able to correlated directly to adding a phone number […]
SaaS Affiliate Marketing: How-To Supercharge Your Growth
March 26, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I’ve been asked if you can “quick start” a new venture or reinvigorate an existing offering with SaaS affiliate marketing? Here’s the answer I generally give… “it depends.” Okay, let me dig in a little deeper. SaaS affiliate marketing can really super-charge your growth, BUT if you don’t have everything in alignment (or your ducks […]
9 Ways to Instantly Improve Your PPC Results
March 25, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
The success of your Free Trial in converting customers is directly tied to the quality of prospects that enter the trial in the first place. That’s something I tell the Free Trial Dominator Premium Members all the time…. you’re success depends on your ability to attract the right audience. So this means that the Attention […]
Why SaaS Free Trial Optimization is So Important
March 20, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Over the years I’ve been called on by the CEOs and Executive Leadership of several hundred SaaS and Web App companies around the world to help them achieve Profitable Growth. In that time, I’ve learned a thing or two about the importance of Free Trials. For instance, I know that if you offer a Free […]
SaaS Free Trial: The #1 Reason You Fail to Convert Customers
March 19, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
The #1 reason your SaaS free trial is failing to convert customers is simple… Right after a prospective customer signs-up for your Free Trial, you fail to engage them. Data shows that prospects active in the first 3 days of a SaaS Free Trial – regardless of trial length – convert at a significantly higher […]
Switch from a Reactive to Proactive SaaS Free Trial
March 13, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
There are two types of SaaS Free Trials: Reactive and Proactive; you want to be one of the latter because they will convert more prospects to customers. Period. Reactive SaaS Free Trials Most SaaS & Web App vendors fall into this category, and their mindset about Free Trials is something like this: Get them to […]
SaaS Free Trials: The Shorter the Better?
March 12, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Most people don’t realize that the length of a SaaS Free Trial is just a marketing gimmick designed to get prospects into the trial. Sure, 30-day Free Trials are the de facto standard for SaaS apps, but whether it’s 7, 14, 15, or 30-days, few providers can say WHY they came up with that length. […]
SaaS and Web Apps: Increase Your Free Trial Conversion Rate
February 20, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Introducing Lincoln Murphy’s Virtual Consulting program focused on Free Trial Optimization for your SaaS or Web App and 100% Guaranteed to help Increase your free-to-paid Conversion Rate! Do you ever wonder why, even though you offer an amazing SaaS or Web App that meets a real market need, you’re not reaching your sales and revenue goals? […]
SaaS Free Trial Conversion Rate Optimization Resource Guide
February 18, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
If you’re like a typical SaaS provider, a substantial amount of your sales are online which means your SaaS Free Trial Conversion Rates are directly correlated with revenue. A poor performing Free Trial means you have lower revenue than you should… and that’s a problem. I put together this list of my best resources to […]
Where is Your Ideal Customer on the Awareness Ladder?
February 3, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I recently gave my clients some interesting questions to ask themselves… and I thought you might want to ask yourself these questions, too. If someone looks at your marketing site – main page, pricing page, sign-up page, whatever – for 5 seconds, what will they think your app does? If your ideal customer looks at […]
What’s the biggest issue you’re dealing with right now?
January 26, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I do what I do for one reason… to help SaaS & Web App vendors be more successful. Period. If I’m not doing that, I’m not doing my job. Some I will help be more successful by working with them 1-on-1 or through programs like the Free Trial Dominator (which is awesome, IMHO). But others […]
Your Signup Form is Hurting Your Free Trial Conversions!
January 10, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I had a SaaS vendor ask me the following question when I mentioned “average” Free Trial conversion rates: When we look at broad Free Trial conversion ratios, I would assume some of the variances may depend on how much information is required to sign up for a free trial. For example, there are a number […]
How to Offer Both Freemium and Free Trials
January 9, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I got this question from a SaaS vendor about offering both Freemium and Free Trial options and I wanted to share my response to him with you. UPDATED FOR 2015! Our current app has two pricing tiers – free and paid. Simple pricing has its advantages! We’re coming out with a major redesign of the […]
SaaS Customer Retention: The Secret to Reducing your Churn Rate
January 4, 2012 Article by Lincoln Murphy
When it comes to SaaS Customer Retention, I get questions like this frequently: Hi Lincoln, I’d like to hear your perspective on minimizing churn, especially in an industry with steadily declining prices, Adding more value with a better customer experience and more product functionality to mitigate price erosion and churn helps. Better segmentation. What else? Churn […]
What’s Your Biggest Challenge in 2012?
December 30, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I believe in moving forward, not looking back. So my question as we go into 2012 is this: What’s Your Biggest Challenge as a SaaS or Web App Vendor in 2012? Is it making your Free Trials more effective at creating customers? Coming up with the right Pricing? How to handle Competition? Whether to go […]
Average Free Trial Conversion Rates… and why they don’t matter
December 28, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I get asked what the average Free Trial conversion rate is or “what’s a good conversion rate” all the time. But since I’m not an analyst or researcher I don’t have industry-wide data, but even if I did, well… you’ll see. Softletter (the SaaS University folks) on the other hand collects and publishes this type […]
What’s the Ideal SaaS Free Trial Length?
December 27, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
So, what’s the ideal Free Trial period is for SaaS and Web Apps? As you can imagine, I get asked that a lot. Sure, the 30-day Free Trial is common among B2B SaaS & Web App vendors, but there aren’t any rules. And with everything from 14-day to 60-day (and longer) trials appearing frequently I […]
Year-End Free Trial Conversion Ideas
December 26, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Today is December 26, 2011. You have 6 days – including today – until the year 2011 is over and done with. So what are you doing to convert those currently in your Free Trial to customers in 2011? It isn’t too late to convert them! I’m willing to bet that you have some users […]
SaaS Free Trials: Common Problems with Sign-up Forms
December 22, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
I just posted the video from the 12/21 Group Coaching call to the Free Trial Dominator site. I started by showing an email sent by 37Signals to former prospects as a way to get them to come back. It used the “updated feature” method. I reviewed the marketing sites – from the marketing site, to […]
Focus on People, not Features, in 2012 (Happy Holidays!)
December 21, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
For a lot of us, the holidays are a time of reflection. Looking back on 2011, I’d say this has been one wild and crazy year! I’ve spent a ton of time working with the best SaaS & Web App companies on the planet to get them more customers. Save for the occasional social network […]
The Free Trial Secrets of 100’s of SaaS vendors… just for you
December 20, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Peter Drucker famously said “The purpose of a business is to create a customer.” I say “The purpose of a Free Trial is to create a customer.” If you believe my version, then the Free Trial Dominator is for you. I’m capping Charter Memberships at the first 10 members and I’ll close it down as […]
SaaS & Web Apps: Optimize Your Pricing Page for 2012
December 18, 2011 Article by Lincoln Murphy
Your Pricing Page is the most important marketing page on your site. Don’t believe me? Think about this… if 100% of your sales come from the Pricing Page, then you better believe that it’s the most important page on your site! And it better be designed to convert! There are some very specific things that […]
