Thanks for the detailed email Bill.
Maybe you'll be addressing the web site issues that others have talked
about in another email, but I'll send this anyway.
I also found the RunRev website a bit more complicated than it might
need to be, but I also find tying my shoes a bit complex.
There's a great book named "Don't Make me Think" in which the author
suggests having a few people sit down and use your software or web
site. You sit there and watch/listen as they attempt to find things.
Quite a revealing experience. Then you streamline things a bit, fix 'em.
Clear, direct, few steps (one is ideal) routes to plunking down a
credit card means more revenue. That is a good thing, especially for
us who also use Rev to make a living.
Maybe you already do such testing with the web site... maybe not.
sims
On Nov 17, 2009, at 6:46 PM, William Marriott wrote:
RunRev does have a unique policy of updates and upgrades compared
to, say, Adobe. Instead of paying on a per-version basis, one gets
essentially annual subscriptions to new versions, after the three-
month window you get with new purchases expires.
The reasoning behind this is to even out our revenue over the year,
to put more of a focus on giving attention to what is truly needed
by users (as opposed to coming out with versions "synthetically" on
our own financial timetable), to make it easier for customers to get
the latest versions right away (instead of having to make multiple
purchase decisions frequently), to ensure products built with Rev
are always of the highest available quality (so our customer's
customers are happy), and to eliminate destructive debates over what
should constitute a free "update" versus what warrants a for-fee
"upgrade."
I think it's actually a pretty amazing value for the money. If you
bought Rev 2.9 on Sept 1, 2008 and a software assurance pack on Dec
1, 2008, you would have received Rev 3.0, 3.5, *and* 4.0 as part of
that. Three major new versions for "a single low payment!" Sorry to
sound like a TV pitchman, but isn't that truly remarkable?
Under traditional software upgrade models we could probably have
charged four or five times as much for you to keep current over that
time period. Compare us with, say, FileMaker Inc., which is earning
a reputation for gouging customers with ho-hum upgrades priced quite
close to the new-copy retail. Compare us with the percentage of
retail you pay to upgrade your Adobe software.
We call it software assurance because you are assured that your
software will always be up-to-date. That's something we think
professional developers value. With the addition of the new
automatic updates functionality for all editions, that is becoming
even more of a reality.
For revEnterprise users, it also means access to pre-release builds
and admission to our exclusive "Improve" list (a forum that perhaps
needs to be renamed at some point, as we are now better at acting
upon input for improvement from all corners).
[The term "software assurance" isn't as non-standard as you would
think, by the way. Microsoft calls their similar program exactly
that.]
Although new purchasers are entitled to three months of updates and
upgrades free (so you can be sure you'll get bug fixes, etc.), they
also have a full year of eligibility for the "Early" assurance pack
price. After that, the cost for an assurance pack essentially doubles.
The exception we made for select customers with the offer below is a
very short-term incentive to encourage people who mostly have been
stuck in the 2.9 or even 2.6.1 era to try out the new, much-more-
usable and much-more-capable Rev 4.0. (It's time to come back to the
fold!)
Quite honestly, the behavior we want to encourage is for customers
to purchase Rev, then make the annual assurance plan purchase more
or less automatic. I suppose a downside is that there are some
people who are always going to "kick the tires" before they spend
any more than they have to, but having an assurance plan not only
works out best for you in the long run, but is the best way to
support RunRev's continuing efforts to deliver great software.
- Bill
p.s.: Think about it: $99/year and you could have gotten three
fantastic new versions ... and support a company that's working
really hard to not only earn a spot on your desktop, but also change
the way the world thinks about software.
Richard Gaskin wrote:
Bill Marriott wrote:
The Order Now button directs to to the "Early" software assurance
package page for your edition of Rev.
How many people looking for "upgrade" will think of "assurance"?
When I think of "assurance" I think of the Crimson Permanent
Assurance Company. ;)
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX61PUZ3xkI>
I had a client confused by this recently, and when I upgraded
("assured"?) my own license a couple weeks ago I experienced the
same uncertainty.
People are accustomed to paying for software upgrades (point
releases), with the occasional free update (point-point releases).
Some specialty software is sold by subscription, in which a fee is
required annually.
RunRev's pricing is a unique mix somewhere between the two, and
while I assume there are good reasons for this unusual pricing
structure and I wouldn't advocate changing it, if unique
nomenclature is used it may be helpful to translate RunRev's terms
into industry-common-speak.
Perhaps "Early Software Assurance Pack" could be renamed "Early
Upgrade Assurance Pack" for clarity.
And FWIW, the front page of the Store section doesn't show upgrades
at all; only when you click to buy what is marked as a full license
do you find the "assurance" (upgrade) option.
If the pricing is working well for RunRev don't change it; the
prices are quite reasonable once they're understood.
Just a little honing of the terminology and layout in the store
would make it a bit easier for folks to give RunRev money.
--
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World
Rev training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
Webzine for Rev developers: http://www.revjournal.com
revJournal blog: http://revjournal.com/blog.irv
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
use-revolution mailing list
[email protected]
Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription
preferences:
http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
