The Business of Software

Hi

My software opens up a page on my site when the trial is uninstalled, purely for statistical purposes.

I've had a look at TrialPay, and I'm considering using this as a final effort to get the sale.

This has also got me thinking, I could also provide affiliate links of compet^H^H^H^H^H^H related software. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I'm not desperate for money, but if someone offers you some...

I think it would be better to run a survey why the user has uninstalled in the first place and offer a discount for your own software.

Also, maybe the user is uninstalling it temporary and etc. Would you really want to offer your competitors product then?

++Thomas

I occasionally get great feedback from my uninstall page which is worth a lot of money -- finding out about a bug people in the field are experiencing or hearing negative feedback translates directly into a better product, and therefore more sales.

You cannot monetize on an uninstall. If someone is uninstalling your app then either they don't like it or they are simply fixing up their PCs. Our software pops up a web form for feedback, and numerous people write back about their experience or about the fact that it's only a temporary uninstall. This info is invaluable to us (hint: put in an uninstall feedback form). My guess is that you want to offer a last chance 'buy me at a 50% discount' offer, which will only annoy customers who have paid full price (and then uninstalled) or gain you customers who don't like your software and will give you endless support headaches.

Simon@AutoUpdate+
http://AutoUpdatePlus.com
Get Updates to Clients!

> You cannot monetize on an uninstall.

Depends on how you do it. If the trial is expired and you offer people an option to get the product "for free" through TrialPay, some WILL take the offer.

I have seen customers uninstall for various reasons and I'd definitely not want them to see a message that implied "well if you aren't going to buy, how about buying something else from a competitor".

I have good response with launching a survey after uninstall. The survey is 4 short questions and has led to us learning more about our trial users and why they don't buy.

I recently use TrialPay too.
It has been running for about a week or so.

The statistic isn't good for me (maybe cause it's been running for only short time).

Here's what i get:
Free trial -> TrialPay: less than 1%
Trial -> Buy within 1 day: 4-5%
Buy without even try -> 4-5%
Buy within 2-13 days of trial: 2%
Buy after 14 days of trial: 1%

Somehow I think TrialPay is still very limited. They offer some good stuffs for US based customer, where as for other countries far less. Oh, all of my TrialPay customers come from US.

+1 for feedback after uninstalling. Even though i don't use this technique, but i believe it will be very helpful to build a better, sellable product.

Well, I have sold 2-6 licenses through TrialPay every day the last weeks, but I also present it as a "payment option" on the web site..

You'd be a fool not to, Brian, as your main competitor does!

Personally, I wouldn't put it anywhere near as I feel it will devalue my product. I might A/B it.

anywhere near my 'Buy-now' button, that is

I offer a TrialPay option during uninstall, but ONLY IF:
a) It's not a registered user.
b) It's not early in the evaluation period.

For those interested, I've built this in Inno Setup, and I freely share the code here:
http://www.alternativepaymentresources.com/shareware-resources/uninstall-offer-inno-setup-uninstaller-demo