↩️ Why you should use reverse trials

Reverse trials are a relatively new, and increasingly popular, method to convert your customers. Particularly common in SAAS businesses but useful for all business types. What are reverse trials?

Reverse trials are a hybrid trialing system, a free trial combined with the ‘freemium’ model. You start with access to all features like a free trial and when the trial time elapses you revert to a freemium version. Each outlined:

• A free trial gives you all features then ends. No more access.

  
  

  • Good examples of this include Apple Music and Amazon Prime

    
    

• A freemium trial only gives you limited features, you always pay for premium features. You don’t get to use the premium features until you pay.

  
  

  • Canva and mailchimp are famous examples of freemium

  
  

• A reverse trial gives you all features THEN reverts to freemium. You have seen the benefits of the paid version, but after your trial you retain freemium level access and can upgrade whenever you want.

  
  

  • Toggl, my time tracker of choice, uses this well. As do Grammarly and Spotify

Free trials actually have a slightly better conversion rate than reverse trials on average, more people opt to buy after a simple free trial, but reverse trials have a much better initiation rate - more people start them in the first place. Freemium tends to suffer from conversion issues, converting free users into paid users at less than half the rate of free trials or reverse trials.

The 1-3% drop in absolute conversion rate vs the reverse trial is worth the significantly higher initial engagement you get from offering a reverse trial. A reverse trial brings signficantly more people into your funnel and converts at a comparable rate to free trials (and MUCH higher than other methods).

There are additional factors that influence the trial type you should select, particularly your industry and target audience. However, broadly speaking, reverse trials are your optimal choice. Give them a try.

💡 Quote I'm pondering

"Every business is bottlenecked by the entrepreneur in one of 3 ways. 1. Skill deficiency. 2. Trait deficiency. 3. Belief deficiency” - Alex Hormozi

Click here to share this quote on Twitter

Both point 1, your skills existing on a continuum, and the above quote on bottlenecks come from this YouTube video. Ignore the cringy title, the video is full of incredible insights. Well worth a watch.

I shared this in my Work Smart Wednesday newsletter. Want the full set of related insights? You can read them here: https://worksmartwednesday.substack.com/p/work-smart-wednesday-september-6

👋 Want to work together?

When you’re ready, here are 3 ways I can help you:

🔍 Clarity Call - we will discuss your situation and create a step-by-step action plan together so you know exactly what you need to do next for maximum impact

👓 StartSmart - Achieve a 6 figure income within 6 months, whether you only have an idea or you have already started your business

🧘 Overload to Optimal - reduce your workweek to 20 hours or less within 90 days while running your 6-8 figure business