E-commerce · Software
Customers sign up on a Tuesday and cancel before the second invoice.
A one-time licence is sold once. A subscription has to be sold again at every billing date, and the buyer is reminded each time that they could stop. That changes where the work is.
A 90-minute audit call and a written, scored report. Turnaround, reporting and term are agreed in writing after the audit.
In one paragraph
A software subscription is access to a product for a recurring fee, billed per user, per plan or by usage, and renewed until the customer cancels. GullySales works on how plans are priced and shown, why payments fail, and the cancellation and renewal moments where a subscription business keeps or loses its customers.
The sign-up page gets the attention, but the money sits in three plain places: the plan a customer picks, the card or mandate that fails on the due date, and the cancellation screen. We look at all three before touching the advertising.
Last updated 7 Oct 2026.
Who it is for
This is written for you if you sell software subscriptions online.
- SaaS companies whose growth has stalled because customers leave as fast as they join
- Sellers of memberships and plans to access software, tools, templates or data
- Resellers of subscription plans and bundles, including those who add service on top
- Founders deciding between a month-to-month plan and a yearly plan, or adding a team tier
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- Anyone hoping to hide the cancellation route. A hard cancel makes complaints, chargebacks and bad reviews, and we will not design it.
- Products with so few customers that nothing can be learned yet. Get the first thirty paying users by hand first.
How buyers choose
What decides the sale of software subscriptions.
Which plan is for me
A buyer looks at three plans and picks the cheapest that does the job, or the middle one if it is marked. Names, limits and the line under each plan decide which column gets the click.
Yearly or month-to-month
A discount for paying a year up front improves your cash and commits the buyer, and a month-to-month price is the one they compare with rivals. The page has to make both easy to read.
What am I locking in
Buyers ask how to cancel, whether they can downgrade, what happens to their data and whether a refund is possible, before they pay. If the answers are hard to find, they assume the worst.
The invoice for the company
A business pays against a GST invoice, often to an approved vendor list. Whether you issue the right invoice with the company's name and tax number is part of the sale.
Where sales are lost
What usually goes wrong when you sell software subscriptions online.
In the words sellers use on the first call.
“Payments fail and we lose customers who wanted to stay”
A card expires, a mandate is declined or a balance runs out, and the customer is cancelled without knowing. A reminder before the date and a retry with a clear message recovers some customers who never meant to leave.
“Everyone picks the cheapest plan and then asks for more”
If the limits on the lowest plan are in the wrong place, you get support requests, not upgrades. The limit should be at a point where users benefit from the next tier.
“We do not know why people cancel”
A cancellation with no reason recorded cannot be fixed. One question on the cancel screen and a call to the larger accounts tell you more than a year of guessing.
“Customers on a yearly plan forget us and then dispute the charge”
A long gap between charges means a surprised customer. A message before renewal, with a link to change or cancel, brings fewer disputes than silence.
The scope
The work we would propose for software subscriptions.
Measured on trials, paid conversions, retention and churn. Anything here that needs a platform or tool we have not used with you is confirmed in the audit before it goes in the scope.
- Pricing page and plan structure reviewWe look at plan names, limits, the order of columns, the default billing period and the wording under each price, and propose changes to test on your own traffic.
- Failed payment recovery messagesThe reminders sent before and after a failed charge, in email, SMS and WhatsApp where the customer agreed, each carrying a link to update the payment method.
- Cancellation flow and exit questionsA short, honest cancellation screen with a reason question, an option to pause or downgrade, and a record of every answer, which feeds the product and the pages.
- Renewal outreach for yearly customersA message ahead of the renewal date summarising what the customer has used, and a call for large accounts. The first weeks after sign-up are included because renewal is decided there.
- Upgrade prompts for team and higher plansPrompts shown when a user reaches a limit or invites a colleague, saying what the next plan adds and what it costs, in plain words.
Billing and invoice details
A review of the invoice a business customer receives: company name, tax number, plan and period. Checked with your accountant, since it is part of whether a company will buy.
What we do
What you get for software subscriptions.
Each deliverable and what it is there to change.
A plan and price review
A page-by-page note on what each plan says and where buyers hesitate, with changes to test. It decides what goes on the pricing page next.
A failed-payment message set
The sequence around a declined charge, written out with the link and the wording for each channel. It recovers customers who did not mean to leave.
A cancellation reasons record
A running table of why people leave by plan, source and length of stay. It shows which fix to make first.
A renewal calendar
Customers by renewal date with their usage and the person who will contact them. Large and at-risk accounts are called before the date, not after it.
How the result is measured
- Trials started
- Paid conversions by plan
- Failed payments recovered
- Retention by sign-up source
- Churn, with reasons
- Renewals, split by yearly and month-to-month
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Free audit call
90 minutes with whoever handles your enquiries: how they arrive, how fast they are answered, where they are lost.
After the call
Written, scored report
Six areas scored, fixes ranked by return and cost. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come with it, in writing.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
Enquiries by source, reply time, conversion and cost per order, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
Usually the cheapest one on the report: reply time, a follow-up sequence or the marketing-to-sales handover.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
What we need from you
What to have ready before the audit call.
None of it has to be tidy. We read what you have.
- Your pricing page and sign-up flow
- Plan names, limits and prices, including yearly options
- Your payment provider and how failed charges are handled today
- A list of cancellations over the last year with any reasons given
- The names of your largest customers by plan
Selling in India and abroad
Selling software subscriptions beyond your own market.
Where you sell decides sizes, units, seasons and returns. We work from Bengaluru and have no overseas office, so for a new country we start from your own sales and the platforms you already use.
Payment methods differ
A buyer in another country may not have the card or mandate that works for recurring charges at home. Which methods your payment provider supports for each country is the first thing to check.
Price shown in local currency
A subscription priced only in rupees puts a foreign buyer off, and a currency change on each renewal surprises them. How to display and charge is a decision for you and your accountant.
Tax on foreign sales
Tax rules for software sold abroad vary, and they change. We do not advise on them. Your chartered accountant should confirm before a country is opened.
FAQ
Questions about selling software subscriptions online.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Should I give a discount for the yearly plan?
How do I reduce churn without making cancelling hard?
Is usage-based pricing better than fixed plans?
Can I sell a subscription through WhatsApp?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
More in Software
Sellers of software subscriptions also need
Also selling from a shop, a workshop or a warehouse? See the page for saas and software companies.
This page is part of the e-commerce section. The D2C brands page covers the arithmetic of acquisition cost and the second order for any brand.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with the free audit.
Option 1
The audit on its own
A 90-minute call and a written, scored report. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix the audit ranks first, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
The offer
Start with a free audit of how your software subscriptions sell.
It is useful on its own, whether or not you hire us.
What you receive
- A 90-minute call with the person who will do the work
- A written, scored report on the six places orders leak
- Every fix ranked by what it returns and what it costs
- The one thing to do first, and why
- An honest line on whether you need outside help at all
- If you do, the scope and the fee in writing
No invoice. No obligation. No sales script.
Your next practical step
Get a free audit of how you sell, and a scored report of where the work is.
90 minutes. A written, scored report. No invoice and no obligation.