Product-led growth (PLG) is a business methodology in which user acquisition, expansion, conversion, and retention are all driven directly by product usage. Now, more than ever, Customer Success is responsible for onboarding and adoption (which we’ll note the importance of later in the survey)—not just at the beginning of an engagement, but also as new users are added—as well as ensuring ongoing effective usage of the product throughout the customer lifecycle. Customer Success teams play a critical role in driving PLG and improving the customer experience.

Defining product-led Customer Success and its importance:
At its core, product-led customer success isn’t much different from the “traditional” customer success mindset everyone is accustomed to. But the biggest (and most important difference) lies in how we approach the customer and set them up for success with our product.

What makes a product-led customer success approach special?
Unlike traditional customer success, product-led customer success is based on the constant monitoring of your users’ in-app data, behaviors, and engagement, along with assessments of customer health. In other words, product-led customer success strategies are triggered by product usage and in-app metrics.

By knowing the stages where users feel stuck, where exactly they found obstacles, and how to help them will not only help you to boost your overall trial-to-paid conversion rates, but it will also improve your retention and overall customer success and growth.

Product, more specifically in-app, data tells us exactly how the customers feel when they’re inside your product. Instead of making guesses around how we can help our customers, we know exactly what needs to be done. Maybe it’s a quick demo call, sending some helpful resources, or something else. Since it’s the product that’s driving growth now, we need to start using product data to tailor the perfect customer experience. This is the most effective way to ensure a successful long-term relationship.

Product-led customer success: The Three Pillars. If you want to find success with product-led Customer Success, you’ll need to set up a few things first. Here are the three pillars you’ll need to get started:

– Clearly defined user journey(s), user onboarding, and feature adoption flows
– Various user segments (both account-based and product-based)
– The ability to proactively reach out to and educate customers (both in-app and out-of-the-app)