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Growth Unhinged Carousel

The document discusses the integration of Product-Led Growth (PLG) and sales strategies for efficient revenue growth, emphasizing that PLG is not anti-sales. It outlines a five-step plan for combining PLG with sales, starting with understanding the customer journey and validating the incremental role of sales. The document also highlights the importance of defining appropriate sales plays and compensation structures to optimize sales performance in a PLG context.

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Cássio J Pagnoncelli
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© © All Rights Reserved
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51 views10 pages

Growth Unhinged Carousel

The document discusses the integration of Product-Led Growth (PLG) and sales strategies for efficient revenue growth, emphasizing that PLG is not anti-sales. It outlines a five-step plan for combining PLG with sales, starting with understanding the customer journey and validating the incremental role of sales. The document also highlights the importance of defining appropriate sales plays and compensation structures to optimize sales performance in a PLG context.

Uploaded by

Cássio J Pagnoncelli
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MYTH: PLG IS ANTI-SALES

2,610 reps 2,160 reps

1,440 reps 910 reps

490 reps 400 reps

310 reps 230 reps

GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar


GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar
“
Slack, circa 2016:
“I think we can get away without
having a sales team in any kind of
traditional way probably forever.”

Slack, circa 2023:


900+ people in sales.

Well, that took a turn…

”
But did PLG companies
over-hire in sales?!

Spend on sales 44%


& marketing
(% of revenue) 50%

25%
Spend on R&D
(% of revenue)
32%

SaaS Index PLG Index

GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar Source: OV PLG Index


“
The new frontier is how to combine
PLG and sales for efficient growth.

Your five step plan:


1 - Start with the customer journey
2 - Validate that sales is incremental
3 - Identify product signals to drive
engagement
4 - Define the right sales plays
5 - Be thoughtful about comp &
operations
Step #1
START WITH THE
CUSTOMER JOURNEY

GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar


GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar
Step #2
VALIDATE THAT SALES
IS INCREMENTAL

● Deputy began their journey by carving out


all trial sign-ups for owner-operated small
businesses as self-serve only.

● Conversion rates didn’t budge before and


after the self-service experiment.

● At this point, 70% of new customers and


over 33% of Deputy’s new MRR can be
attributed to self-serve.

● These changes have also freed up sales


capacity to go more upmarket with the
same size sales team.

GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar


Step #3
IDENTIFY PRODUCT SIGNALS
TO DRIVE ENGAGEMENT

You don’t need to


reinvent the wheel
GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar
GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar
Step #4
DEFINE THE RIGHT SALES PLAYS

GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar


Step #5
BE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT
COMP & OPERATIONS

Should reps get commission for deals that


decide to buy via self-service?
Yes, if the account is part of their patch and
there was meaningful sales engagement prior
to the purchase.

What should we compensate based on?


As the sales motion is scaling, individual KPIs
tend to work best. These days most at-scale
PLG companies stick with MRR-based comp.

Should we reward reps expansion?


I like to have a longer window (ex: 4-12 month
tail) so you don’t incentivize reps to go for
broke on the initial transaction.

GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar


GROWTH UNHINGED with Kyle Poyar
PLG and Sales
in 2023
How to combine the
two for *efficient*
revenue growth
kylepoyar.substack.com

Subscribe:
GROWTH UNHINGED

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