Don’t ask for credit card for trial to reduce SaaS churn

How to use the technique

• Set clear goals upfront and develop a robust strategy for your SaaS business. Is your focus on sign up conversions or paid conversions? Do you have a supporting onboarding process to persuade free subscribers to switch to a paid subscription? You can read more in our free churn optimization framework on how to deal with conversions effectively.
• Clear mention of no credit card required. It should be close to CTA preferably below the CTA so it is visible. Not asking for credit card reduces friction. It increases signups significantly. Visitors cannot say no to your free offer.
• Create an awesome onboarding process. Help users in solving their problem with your app. Tell them how to use your app. Offer them tutorials and make it super-easy for them to use your software.
• Engage with free subscribers. Use email sequence and in-app notifications to build a relationship with free subscribers so they don’t churn after their trial expiration.
• Deliver value during the free trial. Persuade free subscribers to perform common conversion activities that lead to paid conversions. The earlier users get the benefit from your software, the better.
• Ask for credit card information at the end of the trial. Give them an additional trial (of 7 days or 14 days) once they add their credit card. This is a powerful approach to reducing churn after free trial expiration.
• Monitor and analyze conversions. Test lead quality, check conversions at the personal level, and see how it impacts end-to-end conversions. Our free guide has actionable steps on testing and analysis.

Mistakes to avoid

• Not helping users achieve initial success with your software. If you aren’t making it easier for users to get benefit from your software (the reason why they opted for the free trial), you'll lose them. Help them achieve success with your app during the trial.
  
• Offering limited access to the software and/or its features. The whole purpose of not asking for a credit card is to let users explore your software and then switch to a paid subscription if visitors find it useful. So let them use your software as much as they like during trial. Don’t restrict.