By Rachel Andrew CHAPTER 11builDing ConfiDenCe To TRY a new PRoDuCT
Just the fact that you offer support at all can be a huge selling point. In our
case, we sell a commercial product that has many free competitors. Pur-
chasing a license entitles customers to free and unlimited support, so our
customers can rely on someone being there to help them. Our customers
use our product to provide services to their own customers and need to
have confidence in getting help quickly if they encounter difficulties. They
can’t wait for days to receive help when their website has to go live the next
day, and they need to be sure they won’t end up missing a deadline because
of slow — or no — support.
There are a number of open-source competitors to Perch, not least
the behemoth that is WordPress. Support for these products, however, is
often by way of a community forum, where you might get help, but as you
haven’t paid any money, it is down to some kind soul being willing to help
you free of charge. The inclusive support we offer, therefore, can be a huge
selling point to move the customer from wondering whether they should
pay for a CMS solution, to parting with the money for a license fee.
SuPPoRT Can be YouR beST MaRKeTing Tool
One of the reasons I write and talk about support is because of the huge
part it has played in the success of Perch. It is the thing people talk about
the most, and speaking to the developers of the product, not just technical
support staff is a big part of that. Support really can be your best market-
ing tool, because people talk about the experiences they have.
As I’ve already outlined, offering support may be a significant differen-
tiator between your product and free alternatives. Hearing from existing
customers that the promise of support rings true underlines that promise
far more than your own marketing materials ever could.