We surveyed 250+ GTM leaders of mature PLG organizations.
This research will provide you with an understanding of how the best PLG organizations run a sales-assist motion.
There’s no debate that building a self-serve product is the future of SaaS. But repeatedly (think Slack, Atlassian, and Figma), it’s been proven that self-serve doesn’t replace sales.
Any successful PLG organization will eventually need sales. And when that time comes, it’s critical to ensure reps are focused on users and accounts ready to buy.
Defining a PQL and/or PQA score significantly boosts revenue efficiency.
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saw 25+% increase
in opportunity close rate
saw 25+% increase
in meeting conversion rate
saw 25+% increase
in email response rate
While defining PQL/As helps prioritize who reps should talk to, the right product insights arm reps with how to best follow up with that user or account.
Most reps struggle to leverage product data because it is not easily accessible or actionable.
In fact, as inbound demand grows, PLG companies become increasingly dependent on a CRM to surface product data to reps – but in turn, discourages rep’s ability to understand and utilize the data.
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Although the CRM has played a critical role in sales over the last 2 decades, it is not set up to properly support a product-led motion.
Reliance on a CRM to surface product data in hindering rep productivity.
While we know using product data in a sales pitch will get better response, if finding meaning from the data is too hard – reps simply won’t use the data.
CRMs are entrenched in most sales organization today but are not equipped to empower reps to sell to their best ability.
To success at Product-Led Sales, reps need a purpose-built tool that allows them to draw insights and take action from any data point.
As inbound demand grows patterns will emerge across signups, playbooks operationalize the outreach process and messaging based on specific high-intent product activity.
Playbooks allow reps to perform at their highest potential with efficiency and ease.
In fact, as inbound demand grows, playbooks become critical for repeatable, high-quality sales follow-up at scale. In fact, of companies with 10K+ monthly signups, 70% leverage playbooks.
PLG is a cross-functional endeavor between all go-to-market functions, but most of all, sales and marketing. Sales is adapting how to sell, while marketing is adapting how to support.
In fact, sophisticated marketing teams play such a notable role that their north star metric has shifted to support PLS. 32% of marketers are measured on the quality of inbound brought in (i.e. PQLs/PQAs) and another 23% are measured on activation.
Therefore, it is critical to first and foremost align on what a quality PQL or PQA is.
Marketing will not provide adequate value by simply driving a high number of signups. Mature marketing organizations are responsible for ensuring the quality of PQLs and PQAs that come into the business.
For example, sophisticated marketing teams can automate campaigns for free trial and free-to-paid conversion, freeing up sales bandwidth for upsell and enterprise conversations.
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Product-Led Sales shifts the decades-old top-down selling motion. And with a drastic shift like this comes other inherent changes.
First, the type of person that’s best suited to sell to well-informed product users can change. Those that see PLG as a viable sales strategy for their business may invest in a more consultative sales role – what some folks call a Sales-Assist or Product Specialist.
Secondly, if the selling motion changes, there should be adequate rewards for reps that harness that change. As a sales-assist motion becomes a substantial revenue generator in a business, rep compensation is shifted to support converting more PQLs and PQAs.
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Define a cross-functional team & get buy-in
Start small & make continuous improvement
Make data usable otherwise effort is wasted
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