Product-led growth B2B companies succeed if they master this first step | Elena Verna

Summary

The transcript discusses how companies should focus first on product-led growth and retention before acquisition. Retention has two key metrics - activation and engagement. Without these, there are limited opportunities for product-led acquisition. Determine if the product has a one-to-many collaborative element to enable product-led strategies. If not, rely more on marketing and sales. Most B2B lack one-to-many relationships. Execute both sales-led and product-led motions correctly together over time, instead of choosing one approach. Reinforce the product-led roots even when chasing enterprise sales to avoid slowing growth. Letting product usage and community growth lag risks enterprise pipeline drying up.

Takeaways

• 😀 You must first focus on product-led retention before product-led acquisition
• 😇 Retention has two key metrics - activation and engagement
• 🧐 Without strong activation and engagement, acquisition efforts will fail
• 😎 Successful companies layer sales-led and product-led growth
• 😮 Don't abandon one model when adding the other - amplify both
• 🤔 Determine where to start with sales or product led based on market and use cases
• 😠 Avoid letting enterprise sales crush underlying product-led growth
• 😢 80% of companies abandon product growth when chasing enterprise sales
• 😡 Pivoting from product to pure sales requires changing company structure
• 🥺 Successful companies never forget the product-led roots that drove initial growth

Q & A

What are the two main KPIs for retention according to the speaker?

The two main KPIs for retention according to the speaker are activation and engagement.

What does the speaker mean by a 'habitual loop' in relation to product-led retention?

A 'habitual loop' refers to getting users to habitually use your product through engaging features and experiences that keep bringing them back.

What are the prerequisites for effective product-led acquisition?

The prerequisites are strong product-led retention with good activation and engagement metrics, so you have a solid user base to build acquisition strategies on top of.

What are the two types of monetization models mentioned?

The two types are product-led self-serve monetization and sales-led monetization chasing larger contract values.

What layering game is the speaker referring to?

The layering game refers to typically starting with either product-led or sales-led, and then later layering the other model on top rather than switching completely.

What crucial mistake do most companies make when scaling up sales?

They let go of their product-led growth initiatives and tactics that were the original root of their success.

Why does the speaker say the sales pipeline starts drying up when focusing too much on sales-led enterprise growth?

Because without continuing to grow the product-led user base that feeds inbound sales interest, there is no foundation for sales to continue exponential growth.

What pendulum swing is the speaker advising companies to be aware of?

The pendulum between investing in product-led growth vs. enterprise sales - needing to correct back to product if neglected too long.

What percentage of buyers will typically be in a company's user base according to the speaker?

The speaker says only 30 percent or less times will your buyer actually be in your user base.

What crucial mistake do most companies make when scaling up sales?

They let go of their product-led growth initiatives and tactics that were the original root of their success.