[Blog Series] Self-Serve Your Way to PLG Success
Fast tracking product-led growth: A comprehensive self-service implementation guide
Why the blog post?
Welcome to our exclusive series of blogs explicitly tailored to provide PLG implementation guidance to Product and technology Leaders, SaaS Architects, and Developers. While there is a plethora of resources available for GTM leaders and Product Managers, we've uncovered a gaping void in the realm of support and guidance for implementing PLG.
Our mission is clear: to equip you with the necessary architectural decisions, product capabilities, and the tools and technologies needed to build self-service within your product.
This is just the beginning – the first installment in a comprehensive series that will revolutionize your approach to growth.
Why has PLG emerged as the new norm for B2B SaaS companies?
2023 has marked a significant turning point for the tech industry, signaling the end of the "Growth at all costs" era and ushering in profitability's (re)emergence. Alongside this shift, we have witnessed the identification of key factors contributing to startup failures and struggles.
According to the CB Insights report: Why startups fail', two primary culprits stand out:
Running out of cash, accounting for 38% of failures.
Lack of market need, responsible for 35% of startup setbacks.
Product-led growth (PLG) allows for mitigating a few of these failure points. Here’s Openview’s take on the business benefits of PLG
Refer to some of the following reports to get yourself up to speed on the business trends.
Battery Ventures: OpenCloud Report
OpenView: Age of Connected Work
Why should your B2B product start with self-serve?
First and foremost, let's start by understanding what self-serve means in the context of SaaS before delving into how it facilitates Product-Led Growth (PLG).
What is SaaS Self-Service?
A self-serve PLG experience allows users to sign up, try the product, and gain value from it without requiring onboarding or interaction from the company's sales or customer success team.
Let's face it, B2C products like cars, Spotify, Netflix, and the never-ending list have nailed the art of try-before-buy. But hold up, why have B2B products been so slow to catch on?
Enter the big guns of cloud providers – AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google GCP, Digital Ocean. These pioneers have embraced the bottom-up approach, letting developers try out various products (open-source, cloud offerings, you name it) with a simple signup. They've shown us the way!
Now, it's time for B2B products to take a page from their playbook and realize the game-changing benefits of Product-Led Growth (PLG). We tapped into the wisdom of ChatGPT to give us the lowdown on those benefits.
Here's what we've got:
It's time to bring the try-before-buy phenomenon to the B2B world and make some serious waves.
Self-Service significantly improves TTV and TTR vs. SLG-based product
When discussing PLG (Product-Led Growth), it is essential to include the comparison with SLG (Sales-Led Growth) to highlight the different strategies. It approaches organizations use for business growth and customer acquisition. This comparison allows businesses to evaluate whether adopting a PLG model would be more effective in achieving sustainable growth and improving customer experiences.
PLG: Empowers end-users to self-service products with autonomy, driving rapid growth through word-of-mouth.
SLG: Empowers sales teams to personalize experiences and tailor value-prop conversations.
Let’s see how
Witness the discernible contrast in Time To Value(TTV), where the Self-Serve (PLG) approach swiftly initiates within a mere 30 days, accompanied by nominal initial payments, aka Time To Revenue (TTR). In stark comparison, the conventional SLG conversion cycle prolongs over 6 months, with usage potentially commencing after an extensive 9+ month period.
According to Gartner, more than 72% of buyers prefer a self-service approach over traditional sales motions, as it enables faster time-to-value (TTV) and eliminates the need for direct representation.
We will explore their differences at a larger level in upcoming blogs.
By now, we have witnessed how PLG is becoming the norm for B2B companies, thanks to its user-friendly approach, viral growth potential, lower customer acquisition costs, faster time-to-value, scalability, and data-driven decision-making.
This is the first installment in the comprehensive series. In the upcoming blogs, we will delve into considerations for building your Self-Service product and each capability in detail, providing valuable insights for successful implementation.
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