Software providers occasionally offer a free trial to potential customers. The prospect sounds great: a look under the hood, if you will. With some applications, that’s all you need to make an informed decision. However, when it comes to powerful applications that handle complex tasks, like commission management, free trials fall flat. In fact, they may even cost you time and resources you don’t have.
Commission software that delivers on its promise requires a lot of setup. It needs data to effectively operate. During the course of a free trial, the typical commission administrator won’t have time to identify every data source and import it. They will also run out of time to implement the full commission plan and it’s unlikely they’ll get much support during a free trial.
A free trial, especially on commission software, will eat up time and money and cost you even if it doesn’t impact your finances directly.
The bottom line is that you need to see proof that commission software can process your unique commissions. You won’t see that for free and here are a few reasons why.
Setup & Implementation
Building out the basics of a commission plan within an application requires a lot of time and resources. If you get access to a tool without the benefit of setup and implementation assistance, you miss a lot. You spend hours mapping out your commission variables. That eats up any time you have to see how the tool delivers on your unique commission structure.
Training
When a free trial begins, it’s a mad dash to try the software out while you can. In the lead-up, a salesperson may offer a quick walk-through. However, in-depth training is generally reserved for paying customers. So free trial users struggle to figure out operations and functionality without any reliable guidance.
Support
On top of a lack of training, free trial users also forfeit any support. Most only have contact with the sales team on top of that — a department not well prepared to provide the support they need. It means that those users will be left to their own devices and if they run into an issue, it will not be resolved to their satisfaction, at least not until they start paying.
Time Limitations
Any free trial acts as a ticking clock. Those trials range from a couple of weeks to, at most, 60 days. But every second of the trial is counting down to the moment a decision must be made. The pressure from sales will continually increase during that time as well. Finally, the potential customer must make a decision with the little bit of experience and information they were able to glean from their brief trial.
In reality, these trials are costing you. It may not be financial but you’re paying.
You Pay
- Time: Given the lack of setup, support, and training, free-trial users spend hours trying to figure out the software on their own.
- Resources: While trying to implement commission structure, an organization on a free trial expends resources on the effort.
- Commitment: Whether you realize it or not, you’ve submitted to some level of commitment by agreeing to a free trial. By taking part, you agree to dedicate attention and consideration to an application for an agreed-upon period of time. Throughout that period, the salesperson has no qualms about contacting you at any time. They may even fill your calendar with meetings. And with each passing day, they’ll increase the pressure on you to buy.
There’s an alternative. At Core Commissions, we provide our customers the opportunity to try our application with everything they need for success. They’ll get the training, setup, and support they need. It’s not free but the price is affordable and reasonable. You also aren’t under any additional commitment to us if you still can’t make it work.
Get all the information you need through our Quick Start program. Contact us for more information or set up a free demo. We can’t wait to prove to you that Core Commissions is the best commission software for your team.