Free trials are a great way to attract potential clients and make a strong first impression. They help convert leads into long-term clients by allowing for an opportunity to explore your coaching services, which is a great strategy for driving client sales.
With ABC Trainerize, you can offer free app trials in one of three ways:
- Creating a 100% off Discount Code
- Using a 25% off Discount Code to Simulate a One-Week Trial
- Creating a Free Product
In this article, we will walk through each option so you can choose the best fit for your business.
Option 1: Creating a 100% Off Discount Code
A 100% discount code gives clients free access to a product for a limited time or full duration, depending on how the code is set up.
In the steps below, we will outline how to create a 100% discount code for a monthly recurring product. For a general guide on discount codes, visit: Creating Discount Codes.
1. Navigate to the Payments tab and select Discount Codes from the left navigation menu.
2. Click the + New button
3. In the dialog pop-up, choose a unique name for your discount code (e.g., 'FREETRIAL'). Alternatively, you can use our code generator to generate a code.
4. Set the discount type to 'Percentage' and enter '100%'.
5. Choose the duration type. For a 100% discount code applied to a monthly recurring product, the best option is to select First billing cycle only. After the first billing cycle, the client will be charged the full price. Note that when applied to one-time products (not recurring), since there is only one billing cycle, the code will apply to the entire duration of the product.
- Depending on the payment cycle, you can also use the 'Valid For' duration type for your discount code. When applied to recurring products, the discount code will apply to each billing cycle that falls within the select number of days, weeks, months or years. After that, the full price will be charged. When applied to one-time upfront products, because there is only one billing cycle, the discount code will apply to the entire duration of the product, even if that extends beyond the time in which the discount code is valid.
6. Select which product you would like the discount code to apply to. You have the option to choose all products or specific ones:
7. Set any usage limits you wish to apply. The "Total maximum redemptions" allows you to control how many times the discount code can be redeemed. You can also limit one code redemption per client to ensure clients are only redeeming the code once
8. Set a redeem-by date if you'd like to put an expiration date on the discount code usage. This only limits when the discount code can be attached to a product, and not the duration of the applied discount.
Option 2: Use a 25% Off Code to Simulate a One-Week Free Trial
This option is great for monthly recurring products. A 25% discount code can act as a 1-week free trial when used with a monthly product, since one week is roughly 25% of the month. This option is ideal if you want to offer a free week while still collecting payment details upfront for continued billing.
In the steps below, we will outline how to create a 25% discount code for a recurring product. For a general guide on discount codes, visit: Creating Discount Codes.
1. Navigate to the Payments tab and select Discount Codes from the left navigation menu.
2. Click the + New button
3. In the dialog pop-up, choose a unique name for your discount code (e.g., 'ONEWEEKTRIAL'). Alternatively, you can use our code generator to generate a code.
4. Set the discount type to 'Percentage' and enter '25%'.
5. Choose the duration type. For a 25% discount code applied to a monthly product, the best option is to select First billing cycle only. After the first billing cycle, the client will be charged the full price. Note that when applied to one-time products (not recurring), since there is only one billing cycle, the code will apply to the entire duration of the product.
- Depending on the payment cycle, you can also use the 'Valid For' duration type for your discount code. When applied to recurring products, the discount code will apply to each billing cycle that falls within the select number of days, weeks, months or years. After that, the full price will be charged. When applied to one-time upfront products, because there is only one billing cycle, the discount code will apply to the entire duration of the product, even if that extends beyond the time in which the discount code is valid.
6. Select which product you would like the discount code to apply to. You have the option to choose all products or specific ones:
7. Set any usage limits you wish to apply. The "Total maximum redemptions" allows you to control how many times the discount code can be redeemed. You can also limit one code redemption per client to ensure clients are only redeeming the code once
8. Set a redeem-by date if you'd like to put an expiration date on the discount code usage. This only limits when the discount code can be attached to a product, and not the duration of the applied discount.
Sharing Discount Codes
Once you have created your free trial discount codes, you can generate a discount code link within the Products tab. These links automatically have the discount code attached to either the product or checkout link, without the need for clients to manually apply it! Check out our embedding discount codes in payment links article for a detailed step-by-step on how to create these discount code links.
- For new products, discount codes will take effect at the time of purchase or when a trainer applies a code to a client’s account. For existing products, discount codes will take effect as of the next billing date. Trainers can add and remove discount codes as they choose.
- You can choose exactly which products your discount codes apply to. Apply them to one or multiple products and say hello to full control over how much you charge for your services.
- There are also options to set the maximum number of times a coupon can be redeemed across all clients, and an option to limit redemptions to once per client.
Option 3: Create a Free Product
If you prefer not to use discount codes, you can create a free product as a standalone free trial offering. Visit How To Create A Free Product for more information on free products.
- Free products are one-time only and cannot be recurring.
- Free trial products do not require clients to enter credit card information. If clients would like to continue with your services, are the free product has expired, they will have to purchase another product.
