find the growth channel that works for you
There’s a lot of noise about recent growth tactic deaths:
“outbound is dead”
“cold email is dead”
And of course there’s the annual “SEO is dead” cycle, etc. etc.
Successful companies find the channels that work, “dead” or alive
I drank the product-led growth (PLG) kool-aid. Well, really, I got the idea in my head that there was one way to grow a business.
In my head, PLG was that way. The era of sales was over. Outbound, outreach, cold contact was dead. I mean, “I never respond to cold emails,” I told myself.
Who does? So why even consider it? Add AI spam to the mix and there’s too much noise to even consider emailing someone for their business.
Sigh. The things I tell myself.
Perspective matters: Sitting in the stands vs being in the arena
PLG is still in the plans for Accoil. The idea of building a product in a way that allows more and more people to find it, try it, adopt it, and expand its use — all without our team having to be involved — is exciting.
The reality of implementing PLG playbooks starts with product-market fit and users finding and trying our products.
Until enough people find and try the product, we have to build momentum.
While planning the business, PLG made sense.
Now that we’re building it, the first sales need to come from somewhere. Now that we’re in the arena, the growth plan changes.
There’s no playbook written for your business yet and there are seasons for everything
This is why first principles matter. You and me, our job is to get new customers, show them so much value that they stick around, and expand inside those companies.
When we figure out which of those three things need the most attention, it’s easier to figure out which way to grow.
For us, it’s the season of acquiring customers and making the market aware of us.
I spoke with a company who gets thousands of trials each week, no outbound needed. They’re in the season of PLG.
Another company has tons of trials and people paying, but they lose customers after a few months. They’re in the season of churn and retention work.
Don’t let LinkedIn tell you which way to grow
I was way too focused on product-led growth. When one of my co-founders and I went to Saastr (big tech conference) and heard big company CROs like Kyle Norton talk about outbound, it was like an awakening. We could do that too, despite being focused on PLG for so long.
So don’t let any one person, method, or school of thought dictate how you should grow. Check your season and find the right playbook for right now.
Which season are you in?
Peter
(495 / 500)
PS: To be clear, I’m bullish on PLG. Wes Bush’s [Product-Led Growth](https://productled.com/book/product-led-growth) is a must-read.