Product LED Sales

Product Led Sales (PLS) is an approach where the product itself drives initial user engagement and sales opportunities, which are then expanded upon by sales teams.

Key Concepts:

1. Transition from Product Led Growth to Sales:

   • Product Led Growth (PLG) starts with individuals using the product to solve personal problems.
   • Product Led Sales (PLS) takes this usage and escalates it to an enterprise-level solution, which often involves larger contracts needing a salesperson to communicate the enterprise value 1.

2. Approaches to PLS:

   • Top-down to Bottom-up: Traditional sales organizations moving towards product-led sales to allow potential customers to see product value before signing contracts.
   • Bottom-up to Top-down: PLG companies trying to close larger, more valuable enterprise contracts 2.

3. Sales Integration:

   • Sales teams stepping in when usage shows potential for broader organizational adoption.
   • Sales functions focusing on larger contracts (e.g., $15,000+) which implies going upmarket towards mid-market and enterprise segments 3 4.
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       1

       Product Led Sales

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       2

       Product Led Sales Approach

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       3

       Product Led Sales Defined

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       4

       Investing in Product Led Sales

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       5

       Bridging the Gap

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       6

       Product Led Sales

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       Product Led Sales

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4. Bridging the Gap:

   • Sales teams help bridge the gap between individual user benefits and organizational value propositions.
   • Sales efforts may involve outbound activities to reach decision-makers and negotiating larger deals 5.

Benefits and Applications:

• Enhanced Sales Potential:

  • Using product data to identify and upsell accounts, turning overlooked opportunities into significant revenue.
  • Companies successful in this space include Figma, Loom, and Calendly 6.

• Increased Automation:

  • Reducing overhead by incorporating automated selling processes to scale with market demands 2.

Expert Opinions:

• Elena Verna defines PLS as an extension of PLG, where sales teams close larger contracts by leveraging initial product use 3 7.
• Lenny Rachitsky highlights the importance of aligning product and sales teams to communicate value effectively and target enterprise buyers 5.

For further insights, you might consider listening to the episode "The ultimate guide to product-led sales" on the Lenny's Podcast featuring Elena Verna.