Slide 1

Managing a Paid Product

What? I have to pay for this?

A presentation by Chad Allen

Director of Product Management

Formerly of:

@chadallen

What Do You Mean by Paid Product?

Customers pay an ongoing fee for access to a regular stream of goods or services

Three Rules For Managing a Paid Product

1. Assume Nothing

What percentage of paid services offer free trials?

The fact that only 35% of 550 observed sites offer trials of any type shocked us. Our expectation was that most subscription sites offered some type of free trial.

SubscriptionSiteInsider.com

A free trial works if I can fully evaluate the product in two weeks

A free trial doesnt work if I need more than two weeks to the realize value of the product

Here is the highly sought-after 3 day free trial to Match.com. Match.com promotional codes are hard to come by If you use it wisely, you can sign up for the match.com 3 day free trial and meet someone, then cancel the subscription.

onlinedatingmatches.com

BTW

Assume Nothing Test Everything

2. You Dont Work for the Data, the Data Works for You

Live by the Data

Which design won?

but dont die by the data

Yes, its true that a team at Google couldnt decide between two blues, so theyretesting 41 shades I cant operate in an environment like thatThere are more exciting design problems in this world to tackle.

Douglas BowmanFormerly: Visual Design Lead at GoogleNow: Creative Director at Twitter

Stopdesign.com

A designer, Jamie Divine, had picked out a blue that everyone on his team liked. But a product manager tested a different color with users and found they were more likely to click on the toolbar if it was painted a greener shade.Add to PortfolioGoogle IncGo to your Portfolio As trivial as color choices might seem, clicks are a key part of Googles revenue stream, and anything that enhances clicks means more money. Mr. Divines team resisted the greener hue, so Ms. Mayer split the difference by choosing a shade halfway between those of the two camps.Her decision was diplomatic, but it also amounted to relying on her gut rather than research. Since then, she said, she has asked her team to test the 41 gradations between the competing blues to see which ones consumers might prefer.

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3. Be Nice

87% of all consumers will never go back to an organization after a bad experience

RightNow Technologies and Harris Interactive, October 2008

Balance selling with customer experience

Freemium is Your Friend: Provide Value ASAP

Some Terminology:

Free Trial = provide full product for limited time periodFreemium = provide limited product for unlimited time

Marc,You just made my day! What a great and effective email. I just wanted you to know how powerful it was and that it gave me goose bumps. I have put off paying for your service however I believe I now will.

Freemium Provides Continuous Customer Feedback

Marc,If your readers bomb the interview maybe they should start their own business. There are some guys down the street for where I live making a good living right now. They sell Tacos for $1.00.So my advice to you is that if you fail your interview, go sell Tacos.