Earlier this week I received an email that went something like this (paraphrased)
My CRM used to have a native integration with another contacts app, but they’ve removed it and recommend Zapier instead.
I’ve been doing this a long time and have never had to pay for another tool, so I won’t.
Instead I’m thinking about hiring an integration firm to create a script to map the data. That way it will be a one time cost, instead of a subscription.
This seems like an extreme case of something that most of us have: subscription aversion.
In this case, we’re talking at least $500 to create a script… and that’s being conservative. Compared to a Zapier account at $29 per month.
If you look at that logically, that’s over 2 years of subscription you’d get for the same price.
Even if we ignore that the script would
- Likely cost more than that
- Break down at some point and need maintenance
- End up needing modifications as the business changes
It’s still a f*cking horrible decision.
Additionally, the subscription would:
- Be more flexible
- Enable you to do even more things
- Not involve the stress of setting this up yourself
If you’re reading this you’re probably like “yeah that’s silly why would you do that”.
But I reckon you’ve made plenty of similar decisions. Because I do it all the time as well.
I’d easily pay $199 for something I’ll never use but balk at a $19 recurring product.
WTF right!?
There’s something about subscriptions that are a turn off. Maybe because you have too many, or you look at your P&L statement and see how much is being spent on “software.”
But so often this mindset means you miss out on something that could make a huge difference to your business.
How I deal with this to make better decisions
I’ve been dealing with this simply by properly evaluating the REAL costs each time I think about switching to a cheaper tool or signing up for something new.
That includes:
- The time that would be saved with the new system
- The team’s time saved
- Switching cost (measured in my time)
- Maintenance if self hosted
And usually by the time I’ve done this, the monthly cost doesn’t even register against the $ value of the time saved on the new system + time wasted doing it the other way.
