Lessons learned pursuing product-led growth (2 of 2)

Deciding when and how to implement a Product-led growth (PLG) strategy is a question faced by startup PMs and founders. In my previous blog post, I share my experience going down this path.

So did we end up doubling-down on PLG? Instead, we pivoted from a self-service Free Trial to a “Request a Demo” motion. Talk about “old school”! However, those demo requests made it possible for product and sales to partner on customer discovery.

This customer discovery opportunity unveiled things like:

• What prompted them to begin looking for a solution (e.g., what was so painful about the status quo that they had to reach out?)
• What were they hoping to see in a demo?
• Who are the users and influencers in the account, and what does the buyer need?

From a product perspective, one of the key lessons we learned was that the Free Trial was too much of a “choose your own adventure”. This “aha” moment helped us realize why Free Trialers weren’t looking to speak with sales — some were getting all the value they needed, others got lost and found alternative solutions.

We also discovered that many of our early users were still in the problem definition phase; they were using our software a way to learn the market, understand the boundaries of the problem, and get a sense for ways to solve it. Essentially, they were early in the buying journey and could benefit from an expert helping them in their own knowledge gathering process.

By simply redirecting our Self-Service efforts to “Request a Demo”, we were able to make a human connection and use the data to tweak our product strategy. Ultimately, we made the following changes:

• Organized our roadmap around the two main jobs our customers were looking to get done
• Started logging those use cases in our CRM so we could measure our Ideal Customer Profile
• Created a proof-of-value test plan our sales team could execute to make sure prospects got value, and they could close a deal

The result was a much faster sales cycle (first call → close in less than 1 quarter) and early adopters who were willing to pay for our solution.

So what’s the lesson?

• PLG may not be the starting point for all products or businesses. For a company that’s pre-product/market fit, taking a traditional approach (inbound demos or outbound prospecting) can be a very effective (and faster!) way to understand customer needs and generate meaningful revenue.
• Once you start landing logos, and finding a GTM model that works, Product Managers will need to shift focus on adoption and retention.

That said, adding a PLG motion later — on top of an existing traditional sales motion — may be something you do to accelerate inbound lead growth. This requires 1) a fast time to value, 2) a product solving a targeted user pain point, and 3) a clear value proposition buyers will pay for to expand usage across their organization.

Tell us what you think, and any of your PLG lessons learned!