Building a $100M business with well-balanced PLG & Sales-Led Motions
Join Amanda Malko, Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer at Thinkific, as she takes us behind the scenes of building a $100M business by seamlessly integrating Product-Led Growth (PLG) and Sales-Led motions into a cohesive GTM strategy. With Thinkific’s “blended funnel” approach, Amanda has successfully aligned teams, optimized the customer journey, and leveraged buyer data to predict and facilitate conversions across different customer profiles and ICPs. Expect practical insights on how to balance customer-centricity with scalable GTM efficiency, alongside fresh perspectives for GTM leaders looking to adopt similar models.
In an engaging conversation on the Game Changers series, host Oana Manolache sat down with none other than Amanda Malko, the Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer at Thinkific, a company on a path to successfully build a $100 million business. Amanda shared insightful views about the blend of product-led growth (PLG) and sales-led strategies.
Initially, Thinkific adopted a PLG model but soon realized the benefits of having a sales motion in their overall growth strategy. According to Amanda, PLG and sales strategies shouldn’t be compartmentalized but instead viewed as different modes of customer engagement and plan types. She emphasizes that these methods can achieve shared and complementary goals, enabling teams to function more effectively together, regardless of whether they belong to marketing or sales.
A salient part of the discussion elaborated on the challenges Thinkific experienced in integrating the PLG and sales funnel. Amanda highlighted the convoluted nature of measuring and reporting in a PLG-dominated business model.
The session progressed towards the importance of offering customers the freedom to shape their own experiences during the sales process. Introducing the notion of Product Qualified Leads (PQLs), Amanda discussed how sales teams could leverage signals from the onboarding experience and self-serve customers. These signals often indicate opportunities for plan upgrades, thus ensuring both customer satisfaction and increased revenue.
Balancing between PLG and sales approaches is a dance, and Amanda candidly spoke about how the ultimate goal of both strategies should be driving the most revenue and value for the business. Experimentation and modifications, such as tweaking website calls to action, are integral to keeping the balance in check and optimizing growth.
The episode concluded with a strong highlight on the dearth of women in leadership roles, specifically in the technology sector. Amanda pointed out the scarcity of female Chief Revenue Officers and recommended Catie Ivey, CRO at Walnut, to be a future guest for the series. In this way, she emphasized the need to bring more women into the industry spotlight, recognizing their potential to drive business success.
All in all, the conversation with Amanda was packed with lessons worthy of being noted down by every marketer aiming to blend PLG and sales-led strategies to drive growth in their organization.
