Orchestrating Your Product Demo into Actionable Signals for Sales
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For New Relic, the journey to fully commit to Product-Led Growth (PLG) has been an evolving one. During their talk at PLGTM Summit 2024, Hanné Venables, the Senior Director of Growth Operations at New Relic, alongside Ben Ernsperger, Senior Marketing Operations Manager, shared how the company has orchestrated product-led signals into actionable insights, enhancing both customer acquisition and retention.
The big takeaway? PLG isn’t an “either/or” strategy but rather a powerful addition to traditional sales-led motions.
You can also watch the full session here 👇
New Relic’s PLG Motion to Commit
New Relic started exploring PLG a few years ago with their freemium offering. In the early days, the focus was on creating a "happy path" for users. The idea was simple: let users sign up for free, start using the platform, and once they exceed their free tier limits, they’d be encouraged to upgrade. Soon it became clear that the “happy path” is not so straightforward.
This is where New Relic’s team leaned heavily on Product Qualified Signals (PQS). PQS allowed them to monitor user behavior within the product and identify when someone had reached a point of high engagement or was likely to benefit from an upgrade. These signals became resourceful for bridging the gap between product usage and the sales team's involvement.
By tracking user interactions and mapping out the customer journey, they ensured that the "happy path" didn’t just end at product engagement but extended into meaningful sales opportunities. Sales reps could then step in at critical moments, armed with data about how the user had been interacting with the product, making their outreach much more personalized and effective. This strategy not only maintained New Relic’s existing sales focus but also allowed them to expand and diversify their revenue streams through PLG.
Product Qualified Signals: The Bridge Between Product and Sales
New Relic implemented product-qualified signals to automatically identify when a user was ready for a sales conversation. For instance, if someone exceeded their 100GB/month data ingestion limit, the sales team would be alerted. This triggered immediate follow-up from their Inside Sales team, perfectly timed to nudge account admins with the benefits of upgrading to a paid plan.
The element of timing has also proven crucial in their growth. Reaching out at the right moment when a user needs help or is ready to upgrade is key in a PLG model.
Driving Growth from Within: Expanding Existing Accounts
Beyond acquiring new users, New Relic focused on expanding existing accounts by tracking signals like feature adoption and user growth. These signals indicate when a customer might benefit from additional features or licenses, providing sales reps with insights to deliver more targeted, value-driven conversations.
This proactive approach reframes the sales process as less of a transaction and more of a partnership. Rather than waiting for customers to come forward with expansion needs, New Relic’s sales team is able to anticipate those needs and offer solutions before the customer even realizes the opportunity.
From Pay-as-You-Go to Committed Contracts
Once users are on a paid plan, New Relic aims to convert them from pay-as-you-go (PAYG) to annual contracts. This was another key focus of their PLG strategy, and they shared how they use data to identify high-potential accounts that are ready to move to a more committed contract.
Their Account Executives (AEs) play a vital role here, engaging with multiple stakeholders to show the benefits of an annual commitment. The team is always looking to deepen the customer relationship.
Retention: Signals to Prevent Churn
The last piece of the puzzle is retention. New Relic monitors for potential churn signals, like drops in usage or lack of engagement, and takes proactive steps to address these risks before they turn into customer losses. Again, the key here was data-driven decision-making. By staying close to how users engage with the product, New Relic ensures they're retaining and growing accounts over the long term.
Measurable Outcomes: A Success Story
The impact of these strategies has been profound. New Relic has seen impressive outcomes, including:
30% Year-over-Year Growth in Paid Accounts: Their efforts have led to a significant increase in conversions from free to paid accounts.
62% Quarter-over-Quarter Increase in New Logo Wins: The targeted engagement has bolstered new customer acquisitions.
30% Reduction in PAYG Churn: By proactively managing customer relationships, New Relic has effectively decreased churn rates, showcasing the success of their product-led strategy.
As New Relic continues to refine its approach, the company is focused on enhancing automation to streamline processes and minimize manual handoffs.
New Relic’s experience shows that you don’t have to choose between product-led and sales-led growth strategies. By combining the strengths of both, they’ve created a model that drives sustainable growth across the customer lifecycle.
PLGTM Summit 2025
The 2024 Summit was a massive success with over 230 joining us live. Excited to share that PLGTM Summit 2025 is happening again in San Francisco! Now 3 days long on May 13 - 15, 2025 with dedicated days for sales, marketing, and ops. Also new for 2025 is a dedicated executive track/offsite.
Tickets start at just $240 when you use code EARLYBIRD. See you there!
PLGTM Jobs
Sr. Content Marketing Manager | Nylas | On-site | San Francisco, CA
Multiple GTM roles | Open AI | Hybrid | USA
Multiple GTM roles | BILL | Hybrid | USA
Growth Marketing Manager | Podium | Hybrid | Lehi, UT
GTM Operations Manager, Expansion and Retention | Vercel | Remote | USA
Demand Generation Manager | SonarSource | On-site | Austin, TX
🚨Are you hiring for a GTM job in a PLG company? Fill in the form and we’ll feature your job post in the next PLGTM Insider newsletter.
Candidate Profiles
🆕 Sarah Hofmann | Strategy & Operations Leader | New York, NY
Subhashree Durai | Marketing | Remote or In-person | Chennai, India.
Christopher Haywood | Marketing | Remote | Barcelona, Spain.
Dave Reinke | Marketing | Remote or In-person | Spokane, Wa.
AJ Sedlak | Ops | Remote | Pittsburgh, PA.
Kacyn Goranson | Marketing | Remote | Denver, CO.
Cassandra Schwartz | Marketing | Hybrid | Seattle, WA.
🚨Are you looking for a GTM role at a PLG company? Fill in the form and we'll feature your profile in the next PLGTM Insider newsletter.