Free trial periods provide great incentives for your clients to test out your product or membership before getting charged the full price. In most cases, this is a powerful setup that can help you on all fronts, from client acquisition and retention to word-of-mouth recommendations.
However, there are some steps you can take to prevent this system from being abused by users who sign up for a free trial, then cancel, then sign up again, (always cancelling before they get to the part where they have to actually pay).
NOTE: We always caution common sense in these “what if” scenarios, since a better business practice is to focus on establishing a system of trust between you and your clients.
ARTICLE CONTENT:
Possible Setup Scenarios for Preventing Multiple Free Trial Periods
Setup Scenario #1: Create a 1-Time Coupon
One easy solution is to create a 1-time coupon that’s unique to the user. Once they sign up for the coupon, they’re eligible for a discount that equates to a 30-day trial off your product.
See the tutorial for how to create this kind of coupon here: Tutorial.
Since the coupon will only be generated one time, there is no possibility of having the user sign up multiple times (unless they use different email addresses).
Setup Scenario #2: Create a Free Access Signup That Expires After 30 Days
Another option is to simply create a free product (or opt in) that gives users access. In your CRM automation, you would automatically apply the appropriate PAYF (remove access) tags after a 30 day wait period.
If users are logged in with the PAYF tag, they are redirected to a page that thanks them for testing out your product and includes a link where they can purchase the full product. (Make sure to REMOVE the PAYF tag for anyone who purchases the full product!)
