Opt-in is the way

This week we are taking a minor diversion and looking at the trend towards "opt-in". Customers are no longer happy to accept a generic product that satisfies only 80% of their needs. At the same time they don't want to pay for 20% of a product's features that they have no use for.

Product Features

This is pushing service providers towards an opt-in model where customers can pick and choose which features they are willing to pay for and those that they won't. These needs are likely to change over a customer's lifetime, so provide customers with the flexibility of adding or removing features as required.

The implications for service providers are:
  • Break-down products into small feature sets that can be easily understood by the customer;
  • Simplify your billing rules so that when combining multiple feature sets, the total cost to the customer can be easily calculated and;
  • Provide customers with the ability to activate new products as they require them and provide them with self-service interfaces (web or IVR) to do so.

This opt-in model allows for product customization by the customer. Take a look at Google's Gmail opt-in features as an example of this.

You will also need to consider whether charging for different features is appropriate. As a general rule, if the feature doesn't cost much to implement, offer it free of charge. Otherwise, charge for it appropriately. Your customers will be happy to pay for the features that they need when they aren't paying for those that they don't.

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