Product-Led Growth (PLG) for B2B Enterprise: A Playbook

PLG used to be for cheap tools like Slack or Calendly.Now, even $100k ACV softwares are sold via self - serve.If your enterprise software requires a demo to understand, you are already losing to a competitor who doesn't.

The "Free Trial" vs. "Contact Sales" War

The modern B2B buyer is a millennial.They hate phone calls.They hate "Discovery Calls" where a 22 - year - old SDR asks them "What keeps you up at night?" They just want to touch the product.

The New Rule: Giving access to the product is not "giving away value"; it is the most effective form of marketing.

Redefining the Funnel: PQL vs MQL

Marketing Qualified Leads(MQLs) are dead.Just because someone downloaded an ebook doesn't mean they want to buy. Enter the Product Qualified Lead (PQL).

A PQL is a user who has:

Signed up for the free tier.
Invited 2 colleagues.
Hit a usage limit(e.g., sent 1000 emails).

When Sales calls a PQL, they aren't "selling"; they are "upselling." The conversion rate is 5x higher.

The "Reverse Trial" Model

Standard PLG says "Start Free, then Pay." Enterprise PLG says "Start with Pro (for 14 days), then drop to Free."

This "Reverse Trial" hooks the user on the premium features(SSO, Analytics) immediately.When the trial ends, the "loss aversion" kicks in.

Navigating the "Enterprise Gap"

The hardest part of Enterprise PLG is the "Procurement Wall." You can get 50 engineers using your tool for free, but how do you get the CIO to sign a $500k check ?

Strategy : Usage-Based Pricing with a "Team Cap."

Let individual teams swipe a credit card for $500 / month.Once 10 teams are doing this, you approach the CIO with data: "You are already spending $5000/month on us inefficiently. Consolidate to an Enterprise License and save 20%."

Case Study: MongoDB Atlas

MongoDB was an open - source database.You had to host it yourself.Then they launched Atlas.You can spin up a cluster for free.Then $50 / mo.Then $500 / mo.Today, Atlas is a multi - billion dollar revenue stream because they removed the friction of "Infrastructure."

Conclusion

PLG is not a marketing tactic; it is a product strategy.It requires the product to do the selling.Your UI is your best sales rep.Fix the bugs, polish the onboarding, and get out of the way.