👋 Hi, this is Vincent with a new edition of the Growth Machines newsletter. This week I’m talking with Ben Williams as part of my upcoming book about Product-Led Sales. If you enjoy the newsletter, please consider sharing it with your product and growth friends!
“Boiling the ocean is a recipe for disaster with PLG. So pick a playbook to focus on first and ignore the others for now. You'll get to them." - Ben Williams
In the fourth episode of the Growth Machines podcast, I sit down with Ben Williams, a product and growth executive with over 20 years of experience at companies like Snyk and Cloudbees, and the author of The Product-Led Geek.
We talk about how to combine Product-Led Growth (PLG) with sales strategies to drive company growth. Ben shares insights from his experiences, including his time at Snyk, on how companies can blend PLG with traditional sales methods. He highlights common challenges and suggests how to deal with them.
We discuss bottom-up adoption, the role of PLG in improving lead qualification and Go-to-Market efficiency, and how PLG can help with contract expansion. Ben emphasizes the significance of developing a growth model for the business and the necessity to focus on driving specific impact instead of trying to boil the ocean.
[00:22] Introducing Ben Williams
[00:53] Combining PLG and Sales: Insights from Snyk
[06:21] Key Metrics for PLG Success
[08:39] Beyond Acquisition: PLG's Role in Retention and Expansion
[11:30] Integrating PLG into Sales-Led Organizations
[18:19] Deciding Where to Start with PLG
[20:13] Closing Remarks
This interview is part of my book about Product-Led Sales which is coming out soon.
Coming soon: My book on Product-Led Sales
Release date: April 2024.
The big idea of this book: you can combine the power of PLG with the value of a human touch in sales. The combined strategy is Product-Led Sales (PLS). My obsession with PLS started with a firsthand learning experience. My current company, Dealfront, was the result of a merger between two businesses. I was brought in as a product leader. My mission was to make sure the solutions we offered could work and grow together. I soon realized we were in a unique situation...
Thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week!
👋 Vincent
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