How can we convince current customers to switch to support contracts?

Question

We have developed an SaaS product that has been running with some success. Lately we have experienced a spike of customer requests at the end of the month, which is not related to problems with the software, but with human error and business irregularities on the client side. Because of this, there are significant periods where our people are just responding to customer requests and can't do much else.

We have decided that the best way to deal with this is to charge customers for the service. We now need advice on how to convince old customers to start paying for a service that they have been getting for free. We have considered charging on a case-by-case basis, so to recognize the difference between 5-10 minute requests and hour long support work, but that means a lot of billing management for not much extra. The alternative would be support contracts. What is a good way to solve this conundrum?

Answers: 0 public & 0 private

Recent questions

Do people really steal invention ideas?

I sometimes see questions on forums like Quora about how to stop people stealing your invention i...

4 5386 2
Is interpretation of known historical facts protectable under copyright law?

I am looking for useful sources on protecting copyright. I am in the process of writing a book ba...

3 6115 2
Fair Use and news feeds

What is the current wisdom on compiling news feeds on a third party website so far as copyright i...

1 3962 0
Looking for good patent firm

How to find a good patent firm to help me apply patent in USA

3 4320 2
What constitutes 'prior disclosure'?

This might be a silly question but I’m a bit confused by ‘prior disclosure’ as it applies to pate...

2 4823 1

Do you have a question about your invention or intellectual property?
Search the questions below or post your enquiry to one of our experts via Directory.
(User questions are no longer posted publicly on this page.)