Making the connection

Recently I followed this discussion over on the Joel on Software forums.

The topic was whether it was okay to ask customers to register their information before downloading trial software. I'm firmly in the "NO" camp here- we used to have a registration page for our staff scheduling software, Oriador Rota, but I always wanted to let anyone who wanted the software have it. We didn't validate email addresses, then we offered a prominent link to an anonymous download, and eventually we just removed the registration page altogether.

Now, back when we originally set up the registration page, we were very naive. For one thing, we thought that feedback was going to be very easy to get once our software was out there being downloaded by hundreds of people each week. I thought that if someone registered for our download and I sent an email asking them about our software, they would a) reply, b) have completed the download, c) have tried the software, and d) tell us what they think. I understand now how far off-base I was, but the months over which I came to this understanding were very disheartening. I think our response rate was maybe 1-5%, with probably a similar percentage of those having completed the download, tried the software and taken the time to tell us what they thought. I think our sales conversion rate was much higher than our feedback conversion rate.

Fast forward to today, I'm much happier that we're not turning away potential customers with a registration form, but the problem of making a connection with potential customers is still there. From the feedback we do get, we know we have a great product, but if you'd told me this time last year that it would take me longer than a year to find out what other people don't like about it, I'd have thought you were just trying to scare me!

In the forum thread that prompted all this, I think it was Bob Walsh who first raised the point that when you ask people to register, you're asking them for something they value (their contact details), in exchange for something that they don't yet value (our software). This, and a few other suggestions over the discussion, prompted me to offer downloaders an opportunity to register their interest while they wait, in exchange for a discount on their eventual purchase. It suffers from a lot of the same problems, but is less obtrusive, clearly optional, and at least offers some incentive to show we appreciate their time.

I don't know if it will work in the long term, but so far the signs aren't good. We've had our first taker, but the rate is already much less than 1%, and it didn't lead to any feedback.