Building a separate journey for expired trials

Begin a separate expired-trial journey once the trial’s end is verified and the account needs a response under its actual billing and access terms. First establish whether it continued on a paid arrangement, needs payment action, lost access or has an uncertain record. A pre-expiry countdown should not keep sending after the deadline.

Establish the state at expiry

Use the authoritative account or subscription record, including the actual end time and any extension. A provider status label alone may not describe product access or whether payment succeeded.

These are planning categories. Stripe, for example, generates an invoice when a free trial ends if the subscription is not paused, and a subscription can enter a paused status when a trial ends without a payment method.

Paid and discounted trial offers are also available through Stripe. Check the actual arrangement before promising continued access, a charge or cancellation, or describing its status or terms.

Give the new journey a new job

Before expiry, a message may help someone use remaining trial time and understand the coming decision. Afterwards, one customer may need a payment step; another may need access to completed work; another may need help with an unresolved fault. Choose the response from the verified situation.

Silence does not establish a price objection. If the customer never reached the intended result, ask what stopped them or offer relevant help. If they did reach it and chose not to continue, a brief follow-up may be appropriate for an eligible recipient. Do not grant an extension or discount without approved terms.

Control entry, exit and re-entry

Identify each distinct trial end by a stable account, trial or subscription record. A corrected date, repeated event or new trial should not replay an old path without a fresh decision. Give any message describing current access or billing a limited lifetime and recheck its claim before sending.

Exit or change course when the account becomes paid, a person takes over, the customer declines further marketing, or the proposed offer no longer fits. Inspect separately scheduled campaigns and sales messages too; stopping one journey does not establish what those queues will do.

Before sending a promotional return offer by email or SMS, check the applicable ACMA guidance and your organisation’s compliance process. Assess an account update by its full content, including any promotion or directly linked sales material.

Inspect outcomes

Count expired accounts by verified state, messages held or sent, paid outcomes, support handovers and sends made after a status change. Report recovery of an existing payment obligation separately from a new purchase decision. Review histories involving an extension, late billing update, failed payment and several users sharing an account. A paid outcome after contact is an association unless a suitable comparison supports a causal conclusion.

Key Metrics to Inspect After Trial Expiry