

Ask HN: Should I put my trial version download behind a contact form  - koraybalci

Hi there, I am about to release a software product (won't give the name since website is not ready yet) and I need your insight.<p>1. The software is targeted to specific people, mostly architects and civil engineers. It's a windows app, nothing web based.
2. It will be a commercial app, with a single type of license (to keep it simple in the beginning).
3. I will be giving a trial version (I am thinking to make it valid for 10 days).
4. In the website, I am planning to put the trial download behind a contact form, so that I can contact people who downloaded the trial later on.<p>However, I am not sure to go with this plan, putting a contact form might alienate my potential customers. What are your thoughts and experiences on the subject?
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grok2
You really should simply try it out (A/B testing) and see what happens...your
own data will help you decide.

1) Initially don't require the contact form for some time 2) Then, require
contact form for some time 3) Finally, try having an optional contact form --
they can still download the trial even without filling out the form.

One of the reasons to try this out instead of relying out info from others is
that the behavior may be specific to the kind of software you are selling and
specific to the target niche and so generic advice won't be suitable.

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mryan
My personal opinion is that this is a bad idea - unless I have to use a
specific software package, asking for my contact info before I try your
software is enough to make me close your website and go on to the next one.

Beginning the download is the first thing a user does after deciding "this
looks cool, I'm going to try it out" - do you really want that first
impression to be a negative one? dreamux seems to have nailed it - make it
easy for them to download, and even easier to contact you to purchase when
they are ready.

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dreamux
I usually vote no on such ideas from the standpoint that if they don't like
the trial, the won't want to be contacted either. However, if you want to
reduce the pain for customers to reach out to you or purchase a license --
make it easy to do _from_ the trial software (a prominent
upgrade/purchase/contact button with as few click-throughs as possible)

