Question on selling
Feb 14, 2012
By
Sean T
Hi, we normally sell our courses online (i.e. subscription) but an organisation has asked us to provide a version for them to host on their LMS. In terms of common practice, would you usually:
(a) Provide it at a one off fee;
(b) Provide it and charge an annual fee, trusting that when they say "we've stopped using it" ...they have;
(c) Some other way we've not thought of.
I'm stumped on whether its possible to expire a course so grateful for any thoughts on common practice.
Cheers
6 Replies
I use scormcloud. For all intents and purposes they have a scorm 1.2 compliant package that they upload to their LMS. In reality it is an API to a cloud based server where the actual content is stored and thus you control the content, access etc, however it is not free.
You can then charge based on enrollments, completions, whatever you want.
If you go with the option of using their LMS, you can request access to an account that can only generate reports on usage. That way, you can tell how many times the courses have been used.
Take a look at some going rates for completed courses, then maybe give them a discount for being a current subscriber. Selling courses outright could be a natural addition to your business model. Plus if you sell it, you won't have to worry about tracking, expiration and any additional relationship management.
Not a bad position to be in. The product is already finished and someone wants to give you more money for it.
Best of luck!
I always sell outright (based on hours to build) no particular reason, that's just the way my business model works - and frankly, that is what all of my clients have asked for.
If it is a course that you sell already, you could calculate the #seats etc. over a 1 to 3-year period for example, and calculate the price of giving up your IP completely.
Exactly what you end up doing will depend on your particular business model, however, you may want to add on some sort of "fee" for providing this service, and use it as a negotiation point. Also offer a 6-month "check-up", just to see if they want to have any information customised for their specific needs.
That also gives you a "front of mind" factor when it comes to developing new courses.
Good luck.
Bruce
If you're looking for cost comparisons, you can also check out the elearning courses for sale in the OpenSesame marketplace - this will give you an idea for the "by-the-seat" pricing for courses in your topic areas.
Thanks all, sounds very much like a one off charge with behaps a retainer for yearly development on top to reflect as and when they change their policies (they asked for a few minor amendments to our standard course).
Pricing conversation with the client in a couple of hours so I'll see how it pans out...
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