Orange woos techno-sceptics with 'try before you buy'

Orange has today announced that it will be changing the way it sells it products and services to consumers and businesses, using a 'try before you buy' approach to win over the technology-cautious customer.

Research recently conducted by Orange into the UK's attitude towards new technology has shown that Brits are somewhat reluctant to leap in with both feet when a product hits the shelves. Less than 10 per cent of those queried took an early-adopter stance and bought new tech as soon as it came out, with the rest opting to trial something if it was free.

John Allwood, executive VP of Orange UK, said at the launch the change in selling techniques will encourage users to "play with" more of their phone's functionality. "There's a reluctance to commit before trying something first-hand... [If customers like a service], they can keep it, if not they can try something else. Not every customer wants every service."

So now the operator is hoping to get mobile owners – from multinationals to pay-as-you-go teens – using more of the data services on their phones after tempting them with freebies. It's not a surprising move, as analyst reports have put market data services as a key growth sector – data users now top the 100-million mark worldwide.

The new initiative, called Try, will give consumers and businesses one month's free trial of a services that they haven't used before - for example, video messaging, or in the case of services like roaming, a free fixed-price equivalent bundle to use as they fancy.

Rather than a one-off marketing push, Orange will be selling all its products and services with the 'try before you buy' technique and will be offering Try to potential business customers as well.

One of the services that the company is hoping will take off with the business market is mobile email. Speaking at the launch, Orange's customer development director, Alastair MacLeod, said that he hoped breaking down the cost barrier would encourage businesses to take the first step towards adopting new technologies.

Businesses "buy in different ways and for different reasons" than consumers, he said. "They need to see the return on investment to support deployment, but for some services, it's difficult to see the value until you have it in your hand – mobile email is one of those things."

Among the other business services that Orange hope to see "turning the cynics of mobile technology into advocates of mobile technology" is free use of a Mobile Office Card, mobile email and roaming, with SMEs getting a gratis go on conference calling and second lines.

While Orange will be allowing pay-as-you-go customers the same opportunities to test out new services as their contract cousins, they won't always get the same value out of it. In the case of the roaming, for example, contract users get £5-worth of roaming or international direct dialling, pay-as-you-go users will get just £3.

The Try initative will be available to individual customers from today, with businesses customers having to wait until mid-March to get their hands on the freebies.