2 builders who never spoke to each other

Spend the first year on onboarding, not features

Trials that do not convert are an onboarding problem rather than a traffic problem, so put the year into in-app tips, recorded walkthroughs and grinding the bugs out of whatever step trips people up. Cut churn by getting the customer an actual result, walking them through it personally if necessary, and fold the training into onboarding rather than selling it separately. Design against the brakes as well as the pull: fear of another tool and entrenched habit hold buyers back even when they want the outcome.

The method

1. 01

   Spend the first year mostly on onboarding rather than features: automated in-app tips, recorded walkthroughs and help documents, plus grinding out the bugs in whatever step trips people up.

2. 02

   If trials are not turning into paid accounts, the onboarding is the problem, not the top of the funnel.

3. 03

   Bundle the training into the product as a required part of onboarding instead of selling it as a separate cross-sell.

4. 04

   Cut churn by getting customers a result, not by adding to the tool.

5. 05

   When what you sell is a long-term goal, make the commitment stick by attaching a reward the buyer feels straight away, cutting the goal into small specified steps, and adding game mechanics so the work reads as a habit rather than a chore.

What it returned

• $1,888

  $1,888 per month, 37% of the $5,000 goal, with a new trial only every other day and many not converting

• 1,000

  A customer about to cancel was walked through planning and promoting a landing page, passed 1,000 subscribers, and stopped being a churn risk

• The author shipped only three or four significant features across the whole of that year, with the CSV import bugs absorbing much of the time

• The email marketing course he planned to sell became mandatory for new Academy customers

Sources

• Fresh Start Effect - Why We Buy 🧠Katelyn Bourgoin · customercamp.co · The Psychology of the Fresh Start Effect · undated
• The hidden reasons why people are using your softwareJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Examine the forces behind a purchasing decision · undated
• How selling a SaaS app like an info-product doubled revenueNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Adding training · 2014-06-26
• Web App Challenge Update: The Final StretchNathan Barry · nathanbarry.com · Revenue · 2013-06-04
• Chapter 6: Thriving in the Long, Slow, SaaS Grind - Tyler TringasTyler Tringas · tylertringas.com · Year 1: From beer money to rent money · 2017-03-14