Enabling Product-Led Growth Success

Alignment: Where Transformation Begins

Across models and hybrids, one truth remains: the top companies across software and SaaS maintain an edge by achieving cross-functional alignment on the value and differentiation they provide to customers. For some, that journey means improving alignment between the product development and growth teams who manage the self-serve funnel. For others, that could be creating better alignment between selling and customer success teams that step in when free users show buying signals. The department names and functions may change, but the power of alignment on your value proposition will never change.

A simple exercise we use to help teams align on their value and differentiation starts by ensuring everyone has the same answers to these Four Essential Questions:

1. 1. What problems do you solve for your customers?

   2. How specifically do you solve those problems?

   3. How do you do it differently from your competition?

   4. Where have you done it before?

Our work with rapid-growth tech and SaaS firms often begins by posing these questions to a cross-functional group of leaders. For most organizations, the variance in the initial responses to these questions can be a powerful, telling moment. If your leaders can’t align around the answers, your staff and teams will also lack the business vernacular needed to be relevant to company-wide business challenges. Even if they are lucky enough to get in front of economic buyers, they will be delegated down to technical people in the organization who speak and use the same technical language. Your sale will come down to the features and functions of your product, not the value of long-term product use. 

Equipping your teams with a framework they can use to articulate your solution’s value and differentiation in a way that’s relevant to enterprise-level business challenges demands consistency around these Four Essential Questions. Without language and methodology built on consistent answers to the questions, customer-facing teams will continue struggling to uncover and attach their solutions to big problems that demand urgency and funding.

Value Framework: Five Characteristics

1. It outlines what's important to the buyer

Even in PLG models with self-service users on a free version, buyers want to know that their needs are understood and that your product provides the best possible solution. That message and connection still must be communicated, even if through the website, app, or other customer-facing materials. A Value Framework outlines the specific reasons companies would choose to purchase your solution. It seems simple, but most organizations have varying viewpoints on what those buying reasons are. If Product Development, Marketing, and Sales can't align on why people buy your products, you will suffer from inconsistent messages in the marketplace, time wasted describing features that aren’t important to your buyer, and ultimately an ineffective means of distribution.

2. It provides a tool to uncover business pain

Opportunities are won or lost on discovery. Companies using free trial periods or open source versions gather valuable information on usage patterns, visited pages, and who’s sending referrals. Your customer-facing teams need questions that can artfully make the connection between usage and quantifiable business pain. By having the ability to understand and quantify your prospect’s business pain, you can articulate the connection for how your product solves their specific pain points. A Value Framework gives your organization a tool for executing discovery for identifying negative consequences to current business challenges–and how your software can solve those problems.

3. It categorizes what makes you different from your competitors

A great salesperson can articulate the benefits of a strong product all day long. It’s harder to provide a succinct answer for why someone should choose their solution over a competitor’s. Less skilled sellers may jostle uncomfortably on price and features instead of articulating the differentiators that align with the buyer’s specific needs. A Value Framework gives everyone the talking points that clearly explain your company’s differentiation in ways that map features and functions to the desired buyer outcomes. It’s a comprehensive and concise differentiation cheat sheet that teams can reference, ensuring these selling points remain top-of-mind.

4. It lists success metrics from previous clients 

For the buyer, it's all about observing proof that you can do what you say you can do. To be truly convinced that your product or service can alleviate the business pain, the buyer needs to be assured of the positive outcomes that come from adopting your solution. Case studies, success metrics, and testimonials aligned to the needs of your prospect provide insurance that the buyer is making the right vendor decision. Many companies have these assets, but most of the time they're used inconsistently. A Value Framework organizes these proof points into a reference tool that can (1) be easily accessed by everyone in your organization, and (2) be positioned in ways that align with the top-of-mind issues for your buying audiences.

5. The whole organization can leverage it

Because of the previously mentioned components, a Value Framework drives consistency across the organization. For example, your product team can make development decisions based on the value drivers and competitive differentiators that help your product stand out and maximize product-market fit. Enterprise sellers will leverage marketing more because their collateral uses the same customer language. Your Services department will better understand the promises made to customers during the sales process. A customized Value Framework built with the right inputs intrinsically aligns your entire organization behind those value drivers.

Leadership Perspectives on PLG