Ep. 53 - Finding PLG Nirvana while avoiding a Hype Cycle beat down with Peter Zawistowicz, Head of Marketing at Pace

There’s a lot of hype with Product-Led Growth (PLG) with the promise of low-cost customer acquisition and streamlined expansion.
But as Peter Zawistowicz, Pace’s head of marketing says that when you introduce a PLG motion into an organization with an existing direct sales motion, you get an interesting set of problems.
Most notably, sellers in a PLG motion are almost always left in the dark while still trying to hit their numbers.
Intercede too early and it could artificially inflate price points.
On the flip side, self-serve customers that lack proper guidance when problems arise could leave money on the table and lead to churn.
That’s the problem that Pace is tackling with a new set of tools that are built for customer facing roles that allows them to focus on the users that really need their attention and eliminating the rest of the noise.
In this episode, Zawistowicz draws on his (and the founders’) background with companies like Gremlin and MongoDB that successfully implemented PLG motions to help Pace customers to find enlightenment—the right mix of sales and customer service intervention to maximize growth.
Other notable topics include:

• What to do when you don’t have product-marketing fit
• Not getting beat by hype cycles
• Getting the DIY champion on your side
• How to provide salespeople with actionable insights vs letting them self-serve

Other resources to check out:

Interview with Vinay Bhagat, Founder and CEO of TrustRadius who publish a yearly report about how B2B buyer behavior is changing.
The Lead Gen Mistake I Guarantee You’re Making – how to create content that better identifies intent from today’s b2b buyer.
And, if you want an outside look at your content with actionable advice, take advantage of our Content Audit. Valued at $20K in free consulting.

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Thanks for listening to the SaaS Backwards Podcast, brought to you by Austin Lawrence Group. We help SaaS firms reduce churn, accelerate sales, and generate demand. Learn more at AustinLawrence.com.
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