The best PLG businesses solve end user pain, distribute where those users live, make it easy to get started, deliver value before the paywall and then hire sales last.
Companies like Slack, DocuSign, and SurveyMonkey waited until their self-service, product-led motions were humming before they scaled their sales org.
There are very real risks in bringing sales into a self-service business.
- Aggressive sales reps could turn off prospects who just want to use the product and be left alone.
- Sales could push the product roadmap towards larger customers with deeper pockets, which could lead to a more complicated and harder to use product.
- Sales is expensive and can drive CAC up significantly.
GTM Approaches as a function of ACV
Sources:
https://openviewpartners.com/blog/product-led-sales/#.XmngApNKjOQ
https://www.saleshacker.com/move-upmarket-saas-sales/