🚨 88% of your best users will never convert

Wanted to say a huge thank you for the incredible support of the Pricepoint launch last week. I’m still trying to catch up but will get back to everyone hopefully by end of week!

But if you’ve seen customer acquisition costs go way up in the last 18-24 months and you’d like some help, feel free to book in a free 30-min growth strategy session where I’ll share some tips. No sales pitch.

Now onto the article!

Most SaaS companies celebrate when 10-15% of their free users start a trial. But this metric perfectly demonstrates what I see in growth audits every week: companies obsessing over trial conversion rates while ignoring the massive opportunity in trial start rates. Before showing you how reverse trials can get 100% of your ideal users experiencing premium features...

Q: Can you spot the fundamental difference between these two trial experiences?

Look at the two images below. One is Clay's standard trial signup. The other is Asana's trial notification. Take 30 seconds to study them.

What's the key difference in user psychology?

Scroll down...

The main issue with standard trials is a motivation gap that kills 85-90% of potential conversions before they even start.

Standard trials require users to actively opt-in. They need to:

• Click "Start Trial"

• Enter credit card details

• Overcome commitment friction

• Make an active decision right now

When product teams see 8% trial start rates, they think: "We need better CTAs, clearer value props, more persuasive copy on the trial page."

This creates the wrong optimisation focus:

• "Should we remove the credit card requirement?" (maybe adds 2-3%)

• "What if we extend from 14 to 30 days?" (marginal gains)

• "Let's A/B test the button color" (please, no)

The result? You're optimizing for 10-12% trial starts instead of asking why 88% of users never experience your premium features at all.

The brutal reality: Your best potential customers might never see your aha moment because they didn't feel ready to commit to a trial on Day 1.

Q: So how could you get 100% of your ideal users to experience premium features without asking them to start a trial?

Think about what psychological principle would make users want to keep paying after experiencing something they never asked for.

The solution is below...

Most people think about trials backwards. Stop asking users to opt-in. Start giving access automatically, then take it away.

This is called a reverse trial, and it flips the psychology of freemium conversion.

When you take away premium features users have been using, the pain of that loss dramatically outweighs the pleasure of discovering those features in the first place.

Here's What This Looks Like:

You have two approaches to implementing reverse trials:

Option #1: Give It to Everyone

Automatically enroll 100% of new signups in premium access for a limited period (3-7 days).

• No credit card required

• No "Start Trial" button to click

• Immediate access to all premium features

• Duration based on your time-to-value

This works when:

• Your ICP filtering is strong (you're confident signups are qualified)

• You have high-quality signups and low spam/fake accounts

• Premium features don't have significant marginal costs

• You want maximum exposure to premium features

Option #2: Give It to Select Users (The Earned Reward)

Automatically enroll users who hit meaningful behavioural milestones.

If you're taking this approach, you need three critical elements to make it work:

1. Make It Feel Earned

• Trigger it after meaningful behaviour (Day 4 of consecutive usage, 3 completed workflows, first successful project)

• NOT on Day 1 to everyone (kills the special feeling)

• Frame as a reward: "You've hit 4 days straight! Here's Premium access for 72 hours"

2. Make It Feel Personal

• Personalise the trigger based on user behaviour

• Reference their specific accomplishment

• Use language that makes them feel recognised: "Thank you for being an active user" or "You're in the top 2% of users"

3. Make It Unexpected

• Don't announce it in onboarding ("Complete 4 days and unlock Premium!")

• Surprise them when they've proven engagement

• Never repeat the offer to the same user (creates expectation, kills goodwill)

This works when:

• You want to target only engaged, high-intent users

• Filtering signups by behavior improves conversion economics

• Your product has habit-forming potential

• Time-to-value is longer (premium features need days to show impact)

Change #2: Clear Feature Loss Communication

Regardless of which approach you choose:

• Before trial ends: "In 24 hours, you'll lose access to Advanced Voice Mode, unlimited queries, and priority support"

• After trial ends: Show greyed-out features with "Upgrade to get this back"

• List specific features being removed, not vague "premium access"