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Mariya Delano

Things Mariya Says on Podcasts

Where to Find Them

Mariya Delano has been a guest on Smart Bear Live .

Recently: “E11 w/ Mariya Delano: How to Fix a SaaS Trial-to-Paid Conversion Problem” on Smart Bear Live (October 2026).

What They Said

“They're used to worrying about it. They're used to being upcharged when you're this much cheaper than everyone else. It's suspicious.” — Mariya Delano, Smart Bear Live

The founders of an email marketing tool explained that even their cheapest plan allows 500,000 emails a month so customers never have to think about limits. Delano argues that for experienced marketers, a price this generous reads as a warning sign rather than a perk.

Smart Bear Live · 2026-10-24 Permalink → Listen →
Smart Bear Live Around 34:33 into the episode
Jane Portman

it's just Benedict's like lower baseline for any limit that we're just reflecting there. So it's literally how

Benedikt Deicke

the limit actually works is like five times the number of users, but a baseline of at least 500,000 with the idea that we don't want people to worry about that part at all. Because they're

Mariya Delano

used to worrying about it. They're used to being upcharged when you're this much cheaper than everyone else. It's suspicious.

Benedikt Deicke

Interesting. Well, that's an easy value to change. What do you think would be a good value?

Mariya Delano

And I answered the question about how many emails should be on the lower paid plan, and I would say up to 5,000 on the lowest paid plan is standard.

Jason Cohen

Just 5,000.

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode
“No, no, it needs to hurt. … You need a consequence that is obvious, not just to the marketer, but to their boss.” — Mariya Delano, Smart Bear Live

On a live teardown of a SaaS company's falling trial-to-paid conversion, the founders proposed a $1,000 guided onboarding fee. Delano says the fee must be painful enough that the customer's boss notices, or the onboarding won't actually happen.

Smart Bear Live · 2026-10-24 Permalink → Listen →
Smart Bear Live Around 23:40 into the episode
Jason Cohen

…now it's in the budget. It's now in their monthly or quarterly reports that they're doing this. So now their boss is expecting it to happen. Coordination is happening on their side because they paid for it. In fact, 10 grand is probably too low, but whatever. I don't know what you should charge.

Jane Portman

What we had in mind was like a thousand dollar guided onboarding fee.

Mariya Delano

No, no, it needs to hurt. That's why I was asking what are the consequences. You need a consequence that is obvious, not just to the marketer, but to their boss.

Jason Cohen

Right.

Mariya Delano

Because otherwise they won't show up.

Jason Cohen

Also, it's costing you more than $1,000 to get them onboarded. Right now, you are giving away free consulting services, it sounds like

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode

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