01 | Prove eligibility first
‘New customer’ may mean never registered, never paid, never claimed a brand offer, or using a company-domain email. Startup programs may also check incorporation age, funding, headcount, and region. Meeting one condition does not ensure approval.
Save the eligibility page, date, and required-material list before applying. Never provide passwords, verification codes, customer lists, or sensitive business data beyond what is necessary.
02 | Convert the headline saving into effective cost
‘$5,000 value’ does not mean your team saves $5,000. If only 20% will be used, effective value is closer to that portion. Subtract required upgrades, marketplace membership, and annual commitments.
A practical formula is: effective saving = planned spend minus offer-period spend minus added implementation cost. A product you would not otherwise buy does not create savings at list price.
03 | Record the regular renewal price on claim day
Many offers cover only three months, six months, or the first year. On claim day, record the end date, regular plan, seat count, and cancellation window, then schedule a review at least 30 days before renewal.
If the offer encourages data imports, automation, or staff training, switching cost rises by renewal. Renewal risk is a claim-day procurement condition, not a future surprise.
- Regular monthly or annual price after the offer
- Auto-renewal, cancellation window, and refund terms
- Target plan after seat and usage growth
04 | Check data ownership and the exit path
Can contacts, content, recordings, automations, and reports created during the offer be exported in usable formats? How long is data retained after downgrade? These answers determine whether a deal becomes lock-in.
For products handling customer, financial, health, or voice data, also check deletion, subprocessors, regions, and permissions. A discount does not lower the required data standard.
05 | Keep a claim record, not only a link
A usable claim record includes applicant, date, source page, eligibility evidence, outcome, offer end, regular price, review owner, and exit plan. This preserves context through staff changes.
If the source has no fixed public expiry, mark it ‘recheck required’ rather than ‘ongoing’. Without sufficient history, do not claim a historical low.