A few months ago, I received an offer from Vocus, an on-demand software provider for PR professionals, to try one of their products which competed with something I was using on a regular basis. Usually, I throw offers like this away without giving them much thought since I get so many and simply don't have the time to switch service providers. However, I was intrigued to read that Vocus was offering a $50 Barnes & Noble gift certificate for just sitting through a one-on-one online demonstration so I signed up. The sales rep did a good showing off the product but I opted not to give it serious consideration because Vocus wouldn't give me a free time-limited trial like I'm accustomed to getting from software providers.
My Vocus experience is a good lesson on a couple of levels. If you want to stand apart from the competition and get people buzzing, give them an incentive to try your product like the $50 Barnes & Noble gift certificate that Vocus offered to me. However, if you don't people to test out your product on a limited basis at no obligation, you're limiting the numbers of people who will actually make the switch.
