Do you find that the larger companies that typically want webex demos also want SLAs or a custom contract of some sort?
My company is launching a commercial API soon, and one of the potentially high-paying customers has mentioned wanting to meet to discuss contracts. I was thinking more along the lines of standard terms and conditions and a big "click here to sign up" button, and am not sure we want to consider SLAs or custom agreements. So I'm curious as to whether you're finding that the larger companies often expect them, or whether a great service and standard T&C are enough.
BTW I think I might be able to improve your conversion rate :) The "Terms" links from your sign-up pages go straight to a 404.
(Ouch! Thanks for the heads up. We recently did an A/B test on signup page -- looks like one of the links got mixed up. Fixed it now. Though did not notice any drop in conversions, probably people don't read or care about terms. Sad, especially because our terms are quite simple).
Regarding your other point, yes, some companies have elaborate custom contracts involving different teams: lawyers, procurement and what not. One of the prospective customers sent us 100 page document on Vendor Assessment with stuff like this - 'Do you keep your laptops in an open car?' and 'Do you install anti-virus software and keep it updated'. I was quite surprised but they said it was their "standard" procedure.
Though, we do not offer SLAs and I don't think companies are adamant about it if you convince them that historically your uptime has been in 99.9% range.
Focusing on historical uptime sounds like a good plan to me, and it's pleasing to hear that the companies don't tend insist on an SLA if you can demonstrate that.
Custom contracts are frightening. On the plus side they give you a good reason to charge more. But on the minus side they give the other company a good reason to take you to court if something goes wrong and you're unable to deliver as expected.
My company is launching a commercial API soon, and one of the potentially high-paying customers has mentioned wanting to meet to discuss contracts. I was thinking more along the lines of standard terms and conditions and a big "click here to sign up" button, and am not sure we want to consider SLAs or custom agreements. So I'm curious as to whether you're finding that the larger companies often expect them, or whether a great service and standard T&C are enough.
BTW I think I might be able to improve your conversion rate :) The "Terms" links from your sign-up pages go straight to a 404.