How To Turn Failed Trials Into Sales

Read time: 5 minutes

Welcome to our latest edition of the newsletter! Today, we will take a different approach from what we’ve done in the past. We will focus on a specific Go-To-Market struggle and share proven strategies to overcome it. Our objective is to help you, as a founder, tackle your GTM challenges and improve your startup's chances of success. So, let's dive in and equip you with valuable insights that you can apply to boost your sales and optimize your conversion rates.

We also added a small surprise for you at the end…Enjoy!

Imagine this scenario: a prospect visits your website, signs up for a trial, and even goes through a Discovery Call and Demo. Everything seems to be going well during the trial, with the prospect exploring and adopting every major feature of your product. But when the trial period ends, they decide not to convert. Does this sound familiar? Don't worry; the 3+9s are here to save the day!

You might be wondering, "What is a '3+whatever'?" No worries; we'll explain what it is, why it's relevant, and how to implement it effectively.

What is a “3+9”?

To survive and succeed in any business, you must understand how to make your customers' Lifetime Value (LTV) higher than their Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and how long it will take to achieve this (you can read more about it here). If you're selling a service or software, one of the best ways to achieve this is by getting your customers on a long-term plan that allows you to help them achieve their Desired Outcome, leading to renewal and upselling opportunities.

However, a 7-day, 14-day, or even a 30-day trial might not be sufficient to convince prospects about the potential value they can get with your product or service. Sometimes, at the end of the trial, they cancel it or don't convert because they haven't fully experienced its value. That's when the "3+9" strategy comes into play. It offers potential customers who are still uncertain about the value an opportunity to test your product more comprehensively and for a longer period, without the high upfront investment of an annual plan. Think of it as a "big blind" fee to see the "flop." The "3" represents the initial shorter period, and the "9" represents the remaining part of the contract, adding up to a full 12 months or 1 year.

This can be structured in different ways, such as 3+9, 4+8, 2+10, and 6+12*.

Now that we understand what it means, let's explore why it is important.

What is the value of a “3+9”?

Here’s a list of reasons that can help convince you of the value of having this option as a fallback plan in your business: