We're getting close to launching our product which is a consumer desktop app. We're currently in private beta.<p>Should we give our beta testers a free or discounted copy of the final Pro version? Some sound like they are expecting a free copy or they'd be offended.<p>I want to be as generous as possible and establish strong long-term relationships with our customers, especially those who've given us extensive feedback. But we've got a big beta list that took time to generate and thats a lot of potential revenue we're kissing goodbye. I'm conflicted.
Long answer to a short question: (It depends.)<p>Some things I've picked up from being a beta tester, to running betas, and working at a company that did betas from tens of beta testers to many thousands of beta testers:<p>- There are groups of people who jump from beta to beta, trying to get a free ride without having to pay for the software (always jumping to the next beta because it's "good enough" if it doesn't meet a high quality bar)<p>- There are those who go well beyond the extra mile and help shape the products giving insights we never thought of. Those people were worth far more than $25.<p>One of the teams decided they would give the final version of software worth hundreds of dollars to any tester who submitted one or more pieces of feedback. This worked to:
- Help links between the testers and the company long term.
- Was a fair way of rewarding anyone who at least found an issue or design flaw.<p>Managing a good beta community takes a LOT of time and resources. At the start of the beta I spent more time engaging with users though the bugtracker/email (which ended up establishing norms) than actual deving, but when I ended up with 3 or 4 testers who understood what I was trying to achieve and try out what I wanted - they were brilliant. So perhaps instead of trying to figure out who should get pro versions and who should not:<p>- Give anyone who gave you valuable feedback/real bugs the pro product since it's so cheap - but be transparent. Loads of testers feel involved (and feel they have the right) to something so if you are transparent about the criteria then they can be applied to everyone rather than "top" people. Beta tester revolts get ugly and cost so much time and goodwill.
- Find some way of rewarding the top few testers who you have a good relationship with and <i>help</i> your development and product evolution.<p>Although just about every project has had completely different expectations, motivations and feedback loops so chop and change any advice to suit you. However in every project I was involved with: the testers felt part of a community so don't ruin that.
Wil Shipley (Omni Group, Delicious Monster, etc) has a great talk called "Monster Marketing" full thing here: <a href="http://www.viddler.com/explore/rentzsch/videos/4/" rel="nofollow">http://www.viddler.com/explore/rentzsch/videos/4/</a>).<p>~25mins in he talks about being a software slut. Do that.
Select a small set of users of different sets (like those who speak minimal english) and and of different age groups and whatever categories you want.<p>Since you are in private beta and you work on paid stuff. Give them free copies of the final pro. Thats the best you can thank them. That's a lot better than paying every beta tester $50 and of a lot more value and respect to them. If its a good product they would be more than happy to get a free copy.
as a customer, i would be very upset if something was taken away from me, unless initially it was clearly labeled a trial (and beta does not equal trial--gmail is still in beta).<p>could you let them use the pro version they have for free (version 1), and offer them a discount in 6 months for upgrading to Version 2? or offer them a maintenance & support package for a fee?
I'd say it depends on the number of beta testers; you say you had a big beta list, so it might make more sense to offer a discount rather than just free versions, if you intend on doing anything at all.<p>Is the Pro version more featureful than a "non-Pro" version, or is the app itself the only version?