SaaS products are powerful; they’re an incredible way to leverage a specialist service that will help build, grow, or automate areas of your business. And with a lifetime deal, you get access to these benefits for a super-low once off price.
So how exactly do you choose?
How do you know which products are going to go the distance, and which ones will fall away after a year or two?
And, importantly, do you even need them anyway?
In reality, a lifetime deal is only a great deal if it is going to be useful to you, and if it’s going to be around for the next couple of years. Otherwise, even if it only costs $50, it’s still a waste of money that could have been better allocated elsewhere. You also have to factor in the time cost of learning the product, as well as the cost of researching and buying an alternative if it fails.
The market for SaaS products has exploded, and there are so many, seemingly great, products to choose from. So, to save you time and money we’ve got 5 fool-proof checks that you can do to ensure that you buy LTDs that have the best chance of being around for the long run (and of actually being an asset to your business).
1. Do Your Homework on the Developer and the Company
This is a good place to start. Even if it’s the developer or product owner’s first SaaS product, chances are they’ve been around for a while. We’d suggest that you:
- Find out what other products they’ve been involved in – usually a quick Google search will show this information. Read reviews about the other products then make an informed decision. If they have a good reputation and have been producing high-quality, well-support products, then you know you’re probably making a good decision when you purchase the product.
- Search for them on SEO forums on Facebook – they may not have any products to their name. But if they’re industry leaders, they’re probably regular contributors in a couple of Facebook groups. If no one has heard of them before, it makes sense to do a bit more digging before you buy the product.
2. Check what Features Have Been Rolled Out Recently
One of the keys to a successful LTD is a dev team that’s committed to their product. If you can see that they’re regularly releasing new updates and sharing the information with their customers, that’s a very good sign.
Why? Because firstly, you can see commitment. Regular updates mean that there’s a dev or a team of devs that are actively working on the SaaS product. And secondly, It also means that they’re more likely to react quickly if there’s a big external change that affects their product such as a ranking algo update or Wordpress’s shift to Gutenberg.
3. Look at Their Roadmap
Many product owners offer an LTD once they have a solid product that’s had some user testing but is generally still in the early phases of development. This may mean that the product doesn’t yet have all the features that you might want. For example, it may not have the integration you need so it might not connect to the mail client you need, or post your preferred social media channel automatically. But because the product is still very much developing, those functionalities or features may be on the roadmap. And because the pricing of an LTD is so attractive, it might be worth buying the product and holding it until the features that you need come online.
A published roadmap also allows you to make another useful check. Are they sticking to their promises? Many SaaS products run over their deadlines by a month or two, and that’s fine. But if there have been features promised for months that have still not been released, this should make you pause. Is it because they’ve shifted things around and bumped other features up the queue, or is it because they have other products on the go? If it’s the former, that’s totally fine. But if it’s because they’ve become sidetracked, it’s a red flag, and you might need to dig a bit deeper.
Remember, roadmaps should be regularly updated, but often they aren’t because it’s a pain for developers. They’re much more likely to focus on the nuts and bolts of the product than keeping their customers informed. So, if you’re unsure about any feature updates, get in touch with their support, which brings us to point 4…
4. Chat with Their Support
The whole point of lifetime deals boils down to getting user feedback and a cash injection. In exchange, you get early access to software for a low once-off amount instead of paying a monthly fee. But the potential downside is that the product may not have all of its features online, and there may still be some teething issues. This is not surprising – you’ll be amongst their first customers, but it does mean that they’ll need to have decent support in place.
You may be prepared for a product that is still being built out, but it needs to be usable, and you need to have an easy way to get your questions answered. We’ve found that one of the best strategies here is to have a look at the free version and then compile a couple of questions that you have about the product and send them in an email to their support. Or, if a free version isn’t available, ask support to explain one or two features that aren’t clear.
Why is this so effective? Because you’ll quickly be able to gauge whether:
• They’re able to give you the answers you need
• You can expect prompt resolution of any issues
• The product will actually serve the purpose that you’re buying it for
A good back-up is to check their training material; if you’re trialing a new product, they need to have made it as easy for you to learn as possible with extensive training docs and walkthrough videos.
5. Decide Whether the Product Fills a Current or Upcoming Need
This is a tough one. And here’s where we get personal…
With so many awesome lifetime deals to choose from, it can be difficult to hold yourself back, especially if it’s an exciting product at a super-low price. But don’t buy it if you don’t need it. While we love your support, we also want to make sure that you’re making good decisions for your business. If you can’t see an immediate place for the product in your current process flows or see that it will slot into a new flow that you’re developing, then it is probably worth sitting that deal out.
At Dealify.com we do all the homework, so you don’t have to. For each deal that we run, we sit with the developer to ask the hard questions so that you get only the best products. We want to make sure that you get well-coded, innovative solutions that are going to help your business today, and into the future. And, as an added bonus, we’ll make sure that you get the product at a great, once-off price.
Curious about this week’s popular deals? Check all Dealify deals here.