How-to setup ‘Credit Card Not Required’ trials in ChargeBee

Yes. It is possible to setup a simple signup flow with or without card using ChargeBee. Card without trial is the most dominant model with most SaaS Products. However, there are various other options that should be considered, to make an intelligent choice that suits your business.

Here are a few things to consider while setting up the signup flow.

• Trial or no free trial
• How long should the trial be?
• Card or no card during trial
• Setup fee at the end of trial, beginning of trial or no setup fee at all.

Trial or no free trial

There are several pros & cons to each approach.

The most common approach to decide this is to look at competition, to see what they are missing.

• Are they too closed by not giving away a trial?
• Is a trial even needed? Can a personalized demo with customer on call help you close the sale faster?

How long should the trial be?

It depends on how long it takes for your customer to evaluate your product or service. Does it require external help / configuration to be able to test it OR can a non-technical person evaluate it themselves?

You may not want to leave the trial open for too long as well, unless your application demands it. According to studies a 7 to 21 day trial period is quite effective than a 1 month or 2 month trial. Depending on how you want to complement your sales process with Inside Sales / follow-ups, you should define your trial period.

So how do you setup all these signup options with trial in ChargeBee?

You have options for:

• Trial
• No trial

Is it possible to extend the trial period for my customer?

Yes, here is a short video on how to do it:

Signup with card or no card considerations:

Based on a study conducted by Totango having a signup with credit card significantly reduces the number of signups but improves the quality of leads. And a trial without card does exactly the opposite. Depending on what you need at the stage of business, you should experiment with both options and see how the conversion rate improves.

Is it possible to collect card information but not charge customer? What is the best way to set it up?

Yes, you can collect card information upfront during trial, validate the card and store it. While validating the card depending on payment gateway used, we could either do a $0 authorization OR authorize a transaction but not charge it. By doing this, you get a high quality lead with clear intent and you can focus all your energy in converting the customer.

Have a look at the flow setup by aWeber for card with trials.

For further reading: Credit Card Trials Vs No Credit Card Trials 

Set-up fee or no set-up fee consideration:

Should I charge a setup fee for trial?

If your product or service requires an elaborate setup for the customer to be able to use your product or service then it’s only fair that you charge a setup fee.

How do I set it up with ChargeBee?

Delayed setup fee at the end of trial:

You may also charge the setup fee at the end of trial instead of at the beginning. If you let the customer evaluate on his own & then do an elaborate consultation / setup at the end of it, you can charge a setup fee when customer becomes Active. An example is the consultation & training offered like in the case of Hubspot.

When you are launching it is highly recommended that you simplify your pricing model to build traction and continue to experiment while working closely with customers. Wondering if the pricing model that you have in mind will fit within ChargeBee? Why don’t you signup and find out?

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