> Why do many enterprise software companies offer free (or low cost) trials then?
So does Qt. So much so in fact, they even offer an entire free product; evaluate it all you want. Just don't use it to build a commercial product while paying zero dollars and then come back when it's half-built and expect to dictate pricing terms after the fact.
> Does the company that you work for (or yours if you're a founder) take the same "take it or leave it" attitude towards potential customers?
I'm not going to talk about my work here. I'm writing on my anonymous behalf only. I've worked at places that were more or less liberal with evaluations and more or less tolerant of tiny accounts. I have never worked somewhere that salespeople loved customers who wasted their time asking for freebies and handouts with illusory promises of future money that never seems to materialize.
No, they don't. Not in any meaningful sense. They're offering to let you evaluate a bed, so long as your evaluation doesn't include sleeping on it.
> expect to dictate pricing terms after the fact
Excuse me, but who here has said a single thing about the customer dictating terms? Not a single person.
> I'm not going to talk about my work here.
The question was rhetorical, thanks.
> who wasted their time asking for freebies and handouts
No one is asking for either a hand-out or freebie. Potential Customers are asking to evaluate a product before paying for licenses THAT THEY MIGHT NOT USE. That is not un-reasonable.
So does Qt. So much so in fact, they even offer an entire free product; evaluate it all you want. Just don't use it to build a commercial product while paying zero dollars and then come back when it's half-built and expect to dictate pricing terms after the fact.
> Does the company that you work for (or yours if you're a founder) take the same "take it or leave it" attitude towards potential customers?
I'm not going to talk about my work here. I'm writing on my anonymous behalf only. I've worked at places that were more or less liberal with evaluations and more or less tolerant of tiny accounts. I have never worked somewhere that salespeople loved customers who wasted their time asking for freebies and handouts with illusory promises of future money that never seems to materialize.