Product-Led Growth vs Sales-Led GTM

Two fundamental go-to-market approaches for software companies, each with distinct advantages depending on your product, market, and business model.

What's the Difference?

Product-Led Growth (PLG)

PLG relies on the product itself to drive acquisition and conversion:

• Users discover and adopt product through the product itself
• Free trials and freemium business models
• Self-serve onboarding capabilities
• Lower customer acquisition expenses
• Bottom-up adoption (users influence purchase)

Examples: Slack, Dropbox, Zoom, Figma, Notion

Sales-Led GTM

Sales-driven approaches rely on human relationships:

• Sales team drives adoption and purchasing
• Direct outreach, product demonstrations, and contract negotiations
• Higher customer acquisition costs
• Top-down purchase decisions
• Relationship-driven sales process

Examples: Salesforce, Oracle, Workday, SAP

When to Use Product-Led Growth

PLG works best for:

• Low-cost software solutions (under $500/month)
• Self-service products with clear value
• Strong product differentiation
• B2B SaaS with product-driven value propositions
• Target audiences that self-educate
• Viral or network effects built into the product

When to Use Sales-Led GTM

Sales-led strategies work best for:

• Enterprise software platforms
• Complex implementation requirements
• High contract values ($50k+ ACV)
• Multiple stakeholders in purchasing decisions
• Long sales cycles (3+ months)
• Customization-intensive solutions
• Regulated industries requiring compliance

The Hybrid Approach

Many successful companies use both approaches:

| Motion | Use Case | |--------|----------| | Self-serve freemium | Awareness generation and SMB | | Sales team | Enterprise and strategic accounts | | Outbound sales | Expansion opportunities |

How to Implement Hybrid

1. Start with PLG - Build self-serve motion first
2. Add Sales for Enterprise - Layer in sales for larger deals
3. Use Product Signals - Sales focuses on product-qualified leads
4. Separate Motions - Different teams for each motion

Key Metrics by Approach

PLG Metrics

• Product-qualified leads (PQLs)
• Free-to-paid conversion rate
• Time to value
• Product adoption scores
• Net revenue retention

Sales-Led Metrics

• Sales-qualified leads (SQLs)
• Win rates
• Average deal size
• Sales cycle length
• Quota attainment

Conclusion

Product-led growth is ideal for self-service tools with clear value, while sales-led GTM works better for enterprise and complex solutions. Many successful companies combine both approaches, using PLG for awareness and SMB while sales handles enterprise accounts.