Introducing PLG & Why it’s Important for SaaS Startups
So, you’ve found the silver bullet to success, it’s a one-step process – Collect customer feedback! OK, perhaps not.
BUT, in the highly competitive and rapidly evolving SaaS industry, where PLG has become a critical component for startups to achieve growth without intense headcount expansion, it’s more important than ever. PLG requires a product experience to compel users to try, and ultimately buy. For that to occur, SaaS startups need to build a product that solves real issues and generates value for their nuanced users. How do they know what value is? One step – collect customer feedback. See, kind of a silver bullet, but not really.
So, customer feedback really can be considered the secret weapon for SaaS companies looking to achieve rapid growth.
Here are some reasons why customer feedback is crucial in PLG:
- Product validation: Customer feedback helps validate the product’s value proposition and ensures that it meets the needs of potential customers. By collecting feedback, companies can identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments to their product roadmap.
- Customer-driven development: PLG is all about putting the customer at the center of your business. By actively seeking out and incorporating customer feedback into product development, companies can create a product that resonates with their target audience and maximizes customer satisfaction.
- User-generated content: SaaS companies can leverage customer feedback to create user-generated content such as testimonials, case studies, and reviews. This type of social proof is highly effective in driving product adoption and convincing potential customers to make a purchase decision. PLG is a word of mouth and reference game!
- Retention & expansion: In PLG, a satisfied customer is not only the best source of marketing, but also a key driver for retention and expansion. By regularly collecting feedback, companies can proactively address any issues and improve the customer experience, leading to higher retention rates and potential upsell opportunities.
Implementing a System to Collect Customer Feedback
Now that we’ve established the importance of customer feedback in PLG, let’s discuss how SaaS startups can effectively collect and utilize feedback to drive growth. At a high level, a pragmattic approach involves the consideration of four factors…
- Choose the right platform: There are several customer feedback tools available in the market, so it’s important to choose one that aligns with your goals and budget. Some popular options include SurveyMonkey, Userback, User Interviews.
- Determine what to ask: It’s crucial to ask the right questions in order to gather valuable feedback. Consider using a mix of open-ended and close-ended questions that cover various aspects such as product features, user experience, and overall satisfaction. The most popular types of customer feedback collection include NPS, CES, onboarding, and feature prioritization.
- Make it easy for customers: To maximize response rates, make the feedback process simple and quick for your customers, capture them in-app, don’t ask them to abandon their current task to provide feedback to you and your team. This can be achieved by using tools that allow for in-app feedback, those with an easy-to-use interface, and tools that have templates for customer feedback collect that are optimised for success.
- Analyze and take action: Once you’ve collected feedback, it’s important to analyze the data and identify common themes or areas for improvement. Use this information to make necessary changes and communicate them with your customers. This shows that you value their feedback and are actively working towards improving their experience.
Final Thoughts on why PLG startups should collect customer feedback
To wrap up, those that collect customer feedback are putting themselves at a distict advantage against those who don’t collect customer feedack. Understanding user sentiment, requirements to work to informing frameworks like JTBD is a powerful step for SaaS companies looking to succeed in the PLG landscape.
Actively seeking out customer feedback is achievable if product managers, multi-hat wearing founders and anyone else in the product management game pragmattically approach the task and focus on the four simple steps we outlined above. It doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg, it isn’t the domain of enterprise only organizations, and it certainly isn’t beyond you!
One last thought, is to be mindful it’s you can’t just collect customer feedback once and the jobs done. It’s an ongoing process and should be regularly incorporated into product development and roadmap decision making. By continuously listening to your customers, you can ensure that your product remains relevant and competitive in the ever-evolving SaaS market. So, make sure to make collecting customer feedback a top priority for your PLG startup!
# Happy customers = happy growth! # Keep evolving, keep growing. Cheers to a successful PLG strategy!
