Hi friends. I need s
[2023-03-15 02:12:02 PM] : Hi friends. I need some advice please on the right thing to do. When I first launched Ruby on Mac, I had 2 versions: Basic and Prime, and it was a one-time cost with free updates forever. Then, when I added the Ultimate version, I limited Basic and Prime to 1 year of free updates. And a few months ago, I removed the Basic version, meaning no one new could buy it anymore.
Now, I'm trying to figure out the best way to announce the change to the original Basic customers. On one hand, I don't want to have to keep maintaining and updating it, and on the other, the original customers might expect to keep getting updates forever. I was thinking of sending them an email explaining that I stopped selling Basic and that unfortunately, I won't be able to keep it up to date. However, they can still use the version they have now, but it's not guaranteed to keep working forever.
If it stops working, then they can upgrade to Prime or Ultimate. But since the price of Prime/Ultimate might go up in the future, they can take advantage of a 20% discount if they upgrade in the next 48 hours.
I'm not the first business to make changes to its product lineup or pricing, so I think my customers might be understanding, but I wanted to see what others thought. Thanks!
2 Replies
[2023-03-15 03:19:57 PM] : I think there's an article about this on stackingthebricks.com
Build Your Business, One Win At A Time
Ship more stuff. Make more money. Help more people.
[2023-03-15 03:50:12 PM] : Doing tech comms and docs for deprecations and removals is an important part of my client work. A good way to think about how you present the situation is to give your customers real agency about what happens next (within your constraints—you don't have to negotiate with folks about a timeline, for instance). To synthesize with 30x500 a little, make it about them and their pain, not your business strategy.
By all means, offer that upgrade (though a 48-hour deadline sounds like a squeeze). But you can also do things like make your customers keenly aware of the alternatives (e.g., acknowledge the existence of, say, a good Homebrew tutorial or a competitor) and consequences for continuing as they are (e.g., if they continue at their own risk, what breakage might look like and when it would be likely to occur).
The other route—showing people one and only one exit—can look like a shakedown, even if it's a really good option. It's a trust destroying event. (And just personally, I've been on the receiving end of that and was so incensed I spent more money on a competitor rather than upgrade.)
[2023-03-15 04:49:23 PM] : great notes from Daniel Beck, and concisely says what's covered in this series: https://stackingthebricks.com/how-can-i-raise-prices-for-my-existing-customers/
[2023-03-15 07:26:23 PM] : Thanks, Daniel! Those are some great points. You gave me some additional ideas. And thanks for the links, Alex. I'll check them out.
Here's what I'm thinking now: for those that bought Basic before it was limited to 1 year of updates, I will offer help over email in case the script stops working in the future. If it's an easy fix, I'll provide an updated version. Otherwise, I can point them to some free options. I'm not aware of any paid competitors.
For those that paid for 1 year of updates, would it be fair to say that if the script stops working, the only option is to upgrade to Prime/Ultimate? I would still point them to the free options, but if they wanted to pay for another year of updates, it would have to be Prime or Ultimate. They wouldn't have to buy Prime at full price. They could upgrade to it, which would mean paying $11 more than they would have if Basic was still available. But with the 20% discount, it's only $1 more. And I would emphasize that Prime is worth a whole lot more than that. And that Ultimate includes free updates forever vs 1 year only for Prime.
Again, this is only in the case that Basic stops working at some point in the future. It's possible it might continue working for a few years, in which case no upgrade is necessary until it stops working.
[2023-03-16 07:10:21 AM] : It sounds like you might have three buckets of users. Do I have this right?
1. Basic (indefinite)
2. Basic (one-year, with months remaining)
3. Basic (one-year, expired or soon-to-expire)
For group 1, it sounds like you've got a solid plan. You might consider setting an official end-of-life date—even if it's an explicitly soft deadline—to motivate folks to hurry up and ask questions now, rather than waiting years. Please don't ask me how I learned this.
For group 2, I think the main concern is going to be to make sure that those people feel like they got what you promised (i.e., that you'll support them through the end of the one year). If you want to swiftly stop supporting Basic, you might consider bumping them up to Prime for the remainder of their one year (if practical—I know stuff like this can be fussy). Clients that have done this really like that the discontinued product ceases to exist now, rather than support a thin tail of expirations.
For group 3, it also sounds like you've got a good plan though we're getting a little outside my expertise. The Basic + $1 upgrade price sounds like a good way to avoid creating the impression that this is some sort of artificial price increase, especially paired with communication that continuing to use Basic unsupported is an option.
[2023-03-16 10:34:51 AM] : +1 to everything Daniel said. I would also say that you can optimize your offer for "what's fair and easy to implement" and have an internal policy of no-questions-asked upgrading anyone who feels like the deal isn't fair, to avoid headaches. my bet is the # of people who request that is vanishingly small.
[2023-03-16 10:37:54 AM] : I only have buckets 1 and 2. The first expiration will happen on 9/14 and the last one on 11/30. I like the end-of-life idea for group 1. For group 2, yes, I was always planning on supporting them until their year expires. Once it expires, they can continue to use Basic unsupported until/if it stops working. At that point, they can either upgrade or try alternatives.
[2023-03-16 10:43:26 AM] : sounds like you've got a solid plan!