[notfromhere]

Eh, kinda depends. Some software tools are complex, and a trial won't really show you the functionality. Free trial users aren't exactly going to spend time configuring a complex piece of technology, so you'll just get a lot of useless signups instead of actual users.

[FL410]

So what. Let them in to play around, they’ll see why they need to talk to a sales engineer (a TECHNICAL person, not the guy who sets appointments with the technical person).

If you’re selling a SaaS product and you can’t let me go in and play with it without talking to sales about my budget, timeline, and favorite color first, I’m not buying your product. Full stop.