Setting Up Trial Periods
Trial periods let customers experience your product before paying. This dramatically increases conversion.
Why Trials Work
✅ Reduce buyer hesitation — "Try before you buy"
✅ Increase conversion rate by 20-50%
✅ Identify product-market fit faster
✅ Better customers (those who tried it) stay longer
Trial Duration Best Practices
14 days: Good for simple products, fast sales cycle
30 days: Most common, works for SaaS
7 days: Only if product is intuitive/easy to learn
60 days: For complex products with learning curve
Creating a Trial Plan
Go to Product Catalog → Select product
Click + Add Plan
Configure:
Name: "14-Day Trial"
Price: $0
Billing Cycle: One-time
Trial Period: 14 days
Click Save
Trial to Paid Conversion
Timeline:
Day 1: Trial starts, customer gets full access
Day 7: Send email: "Halfway through! Here's what you're getting..."
Day 12: Send email: "Trial ends in 2 days. Ready to upgrade?"
Day 14: Trial ends, subscription transitions to paid plan
Trial Best Practices
Collect payment method on signup: Required to convert to paid
Send progress reminders: "You've saved 14 hours this month"
Onboarding is critical: Best customers complete onboarding on day 1
Email during trial: Tips, feature highlights, success stories
Make upgrade easy: One click to convert to paid
Allow trial extension: 7-day extension for hesitant customers
Trial Metrics
Signup rate: % of visitors who start trial
Conversion rate: % of trial users who become paid customers
Time to value: Days until customer realizes value
NPS during trial: Net Promoter Score (predictor of conversion)
When Trial Converts to Paid
On day 14 (or whenever trial ends):
✅ First invoice created
✅ Payment charged automatically
✅ Subscription becomes "Active"
✅ Confirmation email sent
✅ If payment fails, retry logic begins
Tips
Most products see 20-30% trial conversion (good benchmark: 25%)
Daily emails during trial increase conversion by 5-10%
Free upgrade credits work better than extended trials
Track which trial users convert — build ideal customer profile
Use trial to gather feedback — "Why didn't you upgrade?"