On Feb 19, 2006, at 3:06 AM, Richard Altenburg (Brainchild) wrote:
So, to be short, treat your demo users the same way you would like to
be
treated, and let the sales come as a natural result.
It's this kind of comment that really irks me. You make it sound like
there is something ethically wrong with charging for support. Probably
not your intent, but that's the way it sounds to me. I surely do not
expect the same support when trying out a product as I do after I pay
for it.
Support and the amount given depends on the type of product, the type
of customer and the price you are getting for the product. I can give
you the two example that I am intimately involved with.
FTP Suite: I originally supported everyone the same, paid or unpaid,
for the exact same reasons you state: they might buy. Well, some did,
but I log my time and what I found that, even at the lowest rate I
charge, I lost money. Every time. Some products require more hand
holding, some customers require more hand holding. I improved my manual
and provide additional example projects . So now, paid or unpaid, you
can submit a bug via a form and get a response that involves everything
except for sending an RB project for examination and testing against
the customer's FTP server. Paid customers get priority. Paid support,
either via incident or via support plans, means a customer can send the
RB project, set up a test account with a server, etc. In each case, it
is via email only. Having access via phone amounts to consultation
which I charge for at a much higher rate. Even with this, some
incidents cost more in time than the revenue they generate, but at
least it comes close to evening things out.
A-OK! WoM: Here, I provide email support to all, but only guarantee a
reply to paid customers. It's not mission-critical application. (Well,
some fanatics feel it is, God bless them! :-) So, if I cannot solve a
problem within a reasonable time frame, I simply offer a refund and I
support my vendors with refunds as well. I would let them keep the
program anyway. So far, no one has asked for a refund.
This is sort of melds into the pricing discussion of a couple of weeks
ago: If it is a business, treat it as one. If you are giving everything
away, some people will naturally take advantage of that, and even if
some pay for the app, I'm willing to bet many times (depending on the
product) you lost money on the deal.
If you don't already, keep a record of the time spent on customer
support and you will have a realistic view of your particular
situation. If you truly are _not_ bleeding cash by provide support to
non-payers then it surely makes sense to continue. But I think you'll
find that is not true.
HTH,
Joe
--
Joseph Nastasi
Pyramid Design - a software development firm
http://www.pyramiddesign.us
Voice 609 601-0814 Fax 609 601-0815
Products:
A-OK! Spacecraft Simulation System - http://aok.pyramiddesign.us
A-OK! The Wings of Mercury http://www.aokwom.com
FTP Suite for REALbasic - http://ftpsuite.pyramiddesign.us
Columnist for REALbasic Developer Magazine
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