Why PLG SaaS Companies Should Use Voice of the Customer
In the world of SaaS, a new strategy has emerged that disrupts traditional sales models.
This strategy is called product-driven growth (PLG). It's one of the hottest buzzwords right now, but many teams struggle to get it right.
Companies like Atlassian, Notion, and Airtable are growing exponentially, outpacing their competitors, and steadily increasing revenue. These companies, and many more like them, rely on a product-driven strategy.
In this article, we will explore:
What PLG Really Means How the Voice of the Customer Impacts Product-Driven Businesses The benefits of integrating customer reviews into feedback loops Best practices for aligning teams and boosting your growth Understanding PLG CompaniesProduct-driven growth is a strategy that leverages the product itself as the primary driver of acquisition, retention, expansion, and monetization. A product-driven company is pioneering the world of SaaS, disrupting traditional sales models and putting the power in the hands of the user.
An important point to mention here is that PLG is not a product, it is a company. Every team and department is part of the process and must work together.
These companies prioritize creating a product so valuable and user-friendly that it sells itself. They believe that if they can deliver a product that users delight in, those users will tell others about it, resulting in massive growth and virality.
At the heart of PLG is a deep understanding that the end-user experience is the most critical factor in ensuring long-term success.
Product-driven growth companies include Canva, Figma, HubSpot, ClickUp, Slack, Calendly, and the list goes on. All are built on a freemium model and rely heavily on user adoption and virality to drive growth.
These samples also have a powerful onboarding path that allows users to discover the value of their products almost instantly.
Let's dive into specific examples to demonstrate the concept of PLG.
Slack relies on a powerful freemium model to allow potential customers to experience the value of the platform without buying it. The software prioritizes customer success and delivers a positive and strong end-user experience. Ultimately, Slack sells its active user base by promoting a paid version with more robust features, leading to exponential revenue growth. Calendly offers a super-fast onboarding experience that allows new users to generate and share a meeting link in seconds. These links feed their user-generated content (UGC) virality loop by promoting the product every time they use Calendly.Additionally, they all support user journey via PLG flywheel: Enable, Adopt, Adore >, Defend.
Activation is the process of allowing users to discover the value of the product as quickly and easily as possible. To enable users effectively, you need to provide a seamless onboarding experience. Adoption is how companies turn new users into active, engaged users who regularly use and benefit from their products. To drive adoption, you need to provide features that help users achieve their goals and build habits within the product. Adore is the stage that refers to the emotional connection users have with your product, creating loyal fans who are more likely to continue using it and recommending it to others. It means going beyond simply meeting user needs and providing enjoyable experiences that exceed expectations. Advocacy is the stage where your most loyal users grow into champions and brand ambassadors who actively promote your product to others. For...
In the world of SaaS, a new strategy has emerged that disrupts traditional sales models.
This strategy is called product-driven growth (PLG). It's one of the hottest buzzwords right now, but many teams struggle to get it right.
Companies like Atlassian, Notion, and Airtable are growing exponentially, outpacing their competitors, and steadily increasing revenue. These companies, and many more like them, rely on a product-driven strategy.
In this article, we will explore:
What PLG Really Means How the Voice of the Customer Impacts Product-Driven Businesses The benefits of integrating customer reviews into feedback loops Best practices for aligning teams and boosting your growth Understanding PLG CompaniesProduct-driven growth is a strategy that leverages the product itself as the primary driver of acquisition, retention, expansion, and monetization. A product-driven company is pioneering the world of SaaS, disrupting traditional sales models and putting the power in the hands of the user.
An important point to mention here is that PLG is not a product, it is a company. Every team and department is part of the process and must work together.
These companies prioritize creating a product so valuable and user-friendly that it sells itself. They believe that if they can deliver a product that users delight in, those users will tell others about it, resulting in massive growth and virality.
At the heart of PLG is a deep understanding that the end-user experience is the most critical factor in ensuring long-term success.
Product-driven growth companies include Canva, Figma, HubSpot, ClickUp, Slack, Calendly, and the list goes on. All are built on a freemium model and rely heavily on user adoption and virality to drive growth.
These samples also have a powerful onboarding path that allows users to discover the value of their products almost instantly.
Let's dive into specific examples to demonstrate the concept of PLG.
Slack relies on a powerful freemium model to allow potential customers to experience the value of the platform without buying it. The software prioritizes customer success and delivers a positive and strong end-user experience. Ultimately, Slack sells its active user base by promoting a paid version with more robust features, leading to exponential revenue growth. Calendly offers a super-fast onboarding experience that allows new users to generate and share a meeting link in seconds. These links feed their user-generated content (UGC) virality loop by promoting the product every time they use Calendly.Additionally, they all support user journey via PLG flywheel: Enable, Adopt, Adore >, Defend.
Activation is the process of allowing users to discover the value of the product as quickly and easily as possible. To enable users effectively, you need to provide a seamless onboarding experience. Adoption is how companies turn new users into active, engaged users who regularly use and benefit from their products. To drive adoption, you need to provide features that help users achieve their goals and build habits within the product. Adore is the stage that refers to the emotional connection users have with your product, creating loyal fans who are more likely to continue using it and recommending it to others. It means going beyond simply meeting user needs and providing enjoyable experiences that exceed expectations. Advocacy is the stage where your most loyal users grow into champions and brand ambassadors who actively promote your product to others. For...What's Your Reaction?
