Is PLG (Product Led Growth) for me?

Product-Led Growth (PLG) is a proven strategy for scaling B2B software businesses, yet many companies dismiss it too quickly. Some believe PLG is an all-or-nothing approach, while others assume it won’t fit their industry, product complexity, or sales model.

But here’s the truth: PLG isn’t a rigid playbook—it’s a flexible framework. You can adopt the aspects that work for your business, integrating PLG principles alongside your existing go-to-market strategies.

What PLG Really Means (And What It Doesn’t)

One of the biggest misconceptions about PLG is that it shifts growth responsibility away from sales and onto product teams. This isn’t the case.

PLG simply means structuring your product and go-to-market approach to reduce friction in how customers discover, evaluate, adopt, and expand usage—all with as little manual effort as possible. The "Product" in Product-Led Growth refers to the product itself as a key driver of business growth, not just the product management team.

With that in mind, let’s tackle some common objections:

Objection: "Our business relies on relationship-based selling."

💡 Reality: PLG doesn’t replace sales—it enhances it.

If strong relationships are your competitive advantage, PLG can support, not disrupt, your process. Consider:

• Can contracts be streamlined? Reducing friction in legal and procurement helps customers buy faster.

• Can product analytics guide sales? Usage data can help sales teams identify the most engaged prospects.

Many successful B2B companies (e.g., HubSpot, Datadog) use a hybrid PLG + sales model, allowing their product to drive lead generation while sales teams focus on high-value deals.

Objection: "Our product is too complex for self-serve."

💡 Reality: You don’t need to make everything self-serve—just reduce friction where possible.

If your product requires heavy customization, consider:

• Pre-configured environments: Let users experience a functional version before deep customization.

• Guided trials or sandboxes: Allow prospects to interact with core features while your team fine-tunes their implementation.

• Incremental onboarding: Instead of waiting for full implementation, get users working with parts of the product as soon as possible.

Often, once customers begin using a "default" setup, their needs shift, reducing unnecessary complexity.

Objection: "Freemium or free trials will increase costs and cannibalize revenue."

💡 Reality: A well-designed PLG motion increases revenue, not erodes it.

To mitigate risks:

• Ensure low overhead for free users (e.g., limit trial duration or restrict high-cost features).

• Target the right audience by offering free access only to qualified prospects.

• Optimize conversion paths by using data to nudge free users toward premium upgrades.

Companies like Zoom and Figma have mastered this balance—providing free value while naturally converting users into paying customers.

PLG Is Not a Religion—It’s a Toolkit

You don’t have to go all-in on PLG overnight. Instead, start small:

• Identify one friction point you can remove in your customer journey.

• Use data-driven insights to improve trial-to-paid conversion.

• Test low-risk PLG elements (like free trials or usage-based pricing) without disrupting sales.

PLG isn’t about replacing what works—it’s about making it work better. So, what’s one way you can start applying PLG principles today?