Should vendors offer and promote Educational discounts?
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We have always offered educational discounts to customers, but we never promoted them. Potential clients had to ask if they were available.
I think we were concerned about how hard it is to verify student or teacher information on a world wide basis, and also we were concerned that some people using the software professionally might feel that they were eligible for an educational version because of a part time, or adult education class.
On the other hand, one of my colleagues advises:
@unknownuser said:
Student copies are one of the most valuable marketing tools we have. It has been the most effective way to get into most of the commercial accounts we get into. Of course it is a long term strategy that takes 24+ months to see any kind of return.
Our biggest problem is making the student program visible enough. We recommend making it as visible as you possibly can.
I suppose that is another reason for hesitation. When you are starting out it is hard to implement a strategy which will take 2 years or more to start showing results.
What do you think?
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Are we likely to get abused by invalid student copies if we start promoting student discounts.
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Is it likely that an appreciable number of students in the SketchUp community will turn into commercial customers after they graduate?
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Has anyone else had experience with this either as a student client, or selling commercial products into an educational marketplace?
Al Hart
IRender nXt from Render Plus -
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Speaking as a student, i am far more likely to try and learn a piece of software if their is a student version available. Leading on from this, im a lot more likely to buy a full version of the afore mentioned software when i start using it commercially, as it is what i know.
I suppose the way i look at it is no sale at all Vs. initially reduced profit, but with an increased user base.
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