A well thought out SaaS trial increases time-to-value by maximizing the efficient use of your time and resources, which is imperative for every company looking to provide high-performing experiences to its users. That’s why taking advantage of free trials and demos can go a long way towards helping businesses find the best match for their needs.
So, how do you get the most out of your software trial? This article unpacks four tips to help you maximize your trial experience and ultimately reap the benefits from the products you choose.
1) Identify your organization’s core challenges.
You might think this is a step you’d take after purchasing a product, but knowing what problems you’re trying to solve before you start evaluating software solutions will go a long way towards finding the right one. Understanding, and addressing, your core challenges will have the biggest impact on your ability to meet your business goals.
Here are the three most common challenges the TaskRay sales team see their potential customers facing:
No standardized approach – If there is a lack of defined process and documented procedures, it’s pretty much guaranteed that your trial will not be a success. And if you don’t have your processes well defined upfront, getting your team to adopt a new solution will be bumpy at best.
Disparate systems – Systems that are designed to operate as fundamentally distinct data processing systems without exchanging or interacting with other systems are problematic (to say the least) when trying to create a seamless process. When evaluating a product, it’s wise to think about how it will help to eliminate silos.
Inability to scale – It’s important to consider the ability of a software solution to scale with your business. When conducting a trial, the account representative should be asking you questions related to your current and future goals. If they are not, consider this a red flag.
2) Include primary stakeholders in the evaluation process.
The most successful product evaluations bring together key members of each team to have open discussions about the ideal process and outcomes. For example, one of our SaaS customers led their evaluation through a Customer Success Manager, who opted to include their Salesforce Admin, Sales Ops Manager, Onboarding Manager, and Customer Success lead. Ideally, this group should generate valuable discussion, and help identify how the product offers potential solutions to your core challenges.
3) Test product’s key features to ensure alignment with your business goals.
Ask yourself: Does the desired feature help us solve our core challenges? Does this product feature fit our current organizational structure? Will it grow with our business? Also, aligning specific features to an end user’s role and your process can be helpful when deciding if it’s really necessary. We recommend using the trial as an opportunity to consider your customer’s point of view and explore ways to create more efficiency in your process.
4) Assess your metrics and share outcomes with key business teams.
If you outlined your core challenges before starting the trial, you can use them to determine why a particular feature or solution did or did not solve a particular challenge. Having these metrics will help you determine if the product met your goals and needs appropriately. Once you’ve measured the performance of your trial, it’s critical to share the results with your key team members and stakeholders by tying features and solutions back to your desired outcomes and company goals.
If you’re considering TaskRay to help you master the critical first phase of your customer journey, we recommend scheduling a discovery call during which one of our team members can guide you through these best practices, and more, for a successful trial.