With all the attractions' venue management software available these days, it can be hard to find the right fit for you. A great way to quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively determine whether a particular system is correct for your venue is by testing out a free trial.
This article discusses how free trials work, their general terms, how to request one, and the benefits of utilizing a free trial.
What is a free trial?
A free trial is when a venue operator can ‘test drive’ a software provider's platform.
In most cases, the provider would create a test account for the operator and provide some training on how to use the systems. From there, the venue operator can familiarize themselves with the platform during the stipulated period of time.
The operator will gain first-hand experience of how the system would work in their venues daily and will be able to ascertain better whether or not the product will be advantageous to the running of their operations.
Why is it important to have a free trial before purchasing software?
1. Bye-bye buyer’s remorse
Testing the software you plan to commit to and purchase is essential. Until you try a provider's software, you won’t have an accurate idea of how their software will work with your business. It may sound like a good fit, but in practice, your expectations of the platform may not play out the way you envisioned.
That’s why ‘try before you buy’ is so important — especially for venue management software. Venue management software runs your entire business, so choosing the wrong one can be consequential to your staff, your guests' experiences of your venue, and your bottom line.
2. It gives you a chance to evaluate the providers’ company culture
A free trial also helps you assess whether you enjoyed the customer service experience with the representative you were in touch with throughout the trial.
Chances are, they reflect the greater team culture, so if you enjoyed the experience with them, you will likely be comfortable with other employees in the organization.
3. Free = no business loss OR risk
Free stuff is fantastic, right? Definitely! So when a provider offers you a free trial, you are essentially getting a no-risk and zero-cost way of discovering whether or not their system suits you.
All you will sacrifice is a bit of your time. However, this is time well spent considering how much time, effort, and money would go to waste had you purchased a system without a trial and later found that it was wrong for your venue.
4. Confident vendors offer free trials
Only a vendor who is confident in their offering will offer you a free trial. So you can be assured that if a vendor is willing to let you have a test run of their systems free of charge, they know they have a great product and have nothing to hide.
Be wary, though, because some vendors will offer free trials that do not include the full product features. In this case, you will essentially only be testing a basic version of the product and might find it hard to get a real feel for the product this way.
How do free trials work, and what are the general terms and conditions?
Every vendor is different regarding the terms of their free trials. A few standard terms include:
- The length of the trial — generally, this can vary from 1 week to 14 days to a month.
- How can the customer prematurely cancel the trial, and any associated terms of cancellation, i.e., the amount of notice required before cancellation.
- Countries/ regions the free trial offer is valid in
The vendor's terms and conditions will determine the kind of trial experience you will receive.
At ROLLER, our free trial is offered for 14 days, and you get access to our full suite of venue management apps and features.
The way our free trial works is as follows:
- The venue operator applies for a free trial with ROLLER here.
- The venue operator passes the pre-qualification phase and is ready to start the free trial.
- The venue operator meets with a ROLLER representative via Zoom on the first day of the trial. Before this meeting, your ROLLER representative will set up a free trial platform and worksheet for your venue and send this to you.
- In total, you will meet with your ROLLER representative for three one-on-one coaching sessions via Zoom, where they will take you through how the ROLLER system works in detail and leave plenty of time for any questions.
- Then we leave you to play around with and explore the ROLLER platform at your leisure! But of course, the venue operator is free to contact their ROLLER representative with questions during this trial period at any time.
How do I get a free trial?
Most businesses will advertise this on their website, so it is usually as simple as following the prompts. If not, you can always reach out to their support teams and request a free trial. But of course, whether or not the business grants you a free trial will be at their discretion.
If you’d like to try a free full-feature 14-day trial of the ROLLER platform, click here.
Alternatively, you can also request a demo, and our expert customer success managers will happily demonstrate how ROLLER can help take your venue to the next level.
