So, you’ve built a high-engagement bottom-up funnel, and now you have aggressive sales targets to hit. In a Product-Led Growth (PLG) company, customer segmentation is key to unlocking revenue growth.

This guide is for revenue leaders at PLG companies, including:

• Sales leaders

• Growth leaders

• Founders

• Anyone looking to turn product adoption into revenue

Read on to discover:

• The best (and worst) customer segments for product-led sales

• Strategies used by top PLG companies

• Sales tactics that accelerate deal velocity and revenue expansion

What is Product-Led Sales?

Product-led sales (PLS) is about selling to companies already using your product. You make it easy (or free) for users to start, then leverage usage data to identify sales opportunities and drive larger deals.

Sales teams benefit from higher conversion rates and shorter cycles by focusing only on engaged, high-potential accounts. Customers, in turn, experience a frictionless buying journey because they’ve already derived value from the product before engaging with sales.

“Great segmentation for PLG companies makes it feel like reps are shooting the right fish in the right barrel. The only way you can accomplish this is by looking deeply at user and account behavior.”
– Jesus Requena, VP of Growth, Algolia

Product-Led vs. Sales-Led Segmentation

PLG companies have a unique advantage: real usage data. Unlike traditional sales-led models that rely on firmographics, territories, and assumptions, PLG segmentation prioritizes actual user behavior.

Key Segmentation Factors for PLS:

1. Product Usage – Track user behavior, feature adoption, and key milestones.

2. Employee Count & Total Addressable Market (TAM) – Relevant for seat-based pricing models.

3. Account Momentum – Identify surges in activity, like a power user inviting 10+ teammates in a day.

Focusing on real product engagement helps sales teams pinpoint the best opportunities and avoid chasing low-intent leads.

“The most important usage signal for sales is momentum. The new ‘speed to lead’ is noticing when a power user invites a wave of new teammates and acting on it the same day.”
– Jonathan Krangel, Sales Strategy & Ops, Retool

The Best Segments for Product-Led Sales

In a PLG motion, the product does most of the selling. Your job is to close—not convince. The key is knowing when and where to engage.

1. High-Value Free & Trial Accounts

Self-serve signups generate volume, but not all users are equal. Prioritize:

• High-profile logos – Identify valuable brands in your funnel using tools like SimilarWeb.

• High-intent users – Track key product adoption signals.

Sales Strategies

• Land top-tier accounts from self-service signups. Spot high-value brands early and reach out.

• Align sales & self-serve teams. Ensure clear roles to avoid internal friction over lead ownership.

Sales Tactics

• Identify champions & decision-makers within accounts before engaging.

• Send personalized content (e.g., Loom videos) to users who haven’t fully adopted key features.

2. Self-Serve Paid Accounts with Expansion Potential

Many PLG customers start small with a Pro or Team plan via credit card. These are ripe for expansion into enterprise contracts.

Sales Strategies

• Convert Pro users to Enterprise. Identify accounts with high expansion potential.

• Consolidate fragmented accounts. Some companies have dozens of separate teams using your product without central coordination—help IT unify them.

Sales Tactics

• Use NPS & customer love signals to start expansion conversations.

• Showcase product usage data to highlight team adoption and enterprise features.

“At Loom, we see tons of Free & Starter plan users swiping their personal cards because they love the product. That’s a massive signal to start a sales conversation.”
– Sam Taylor, VP of Sales & Success, Loom

3. Enterprise Accounts with Upsell Potential

Don’t wait until renewal to explore upsell opportunities. Instead, proactively identify:

• Accounts under-utilizing premium features.

• Consumption-based models with room for growth.

• Teams with low seat penetration.

Sales Strategies

• Sell add-ons & premium capabilities to existing teams.

• Expand across departments by engaging power users and champions.

Sales Tactics

• Track enterprise feature adoption. Low usage = a potential expansion opportunity.

• Build relationships with champions. Find your most active users and those inviting new teammates.

“We tested assigning reps to ‘help’ (increase usage) rather than ‘sell’ (close new MRR). It worked so well that our 1-person pilot team is now 100 strong.”
– Scott Tousley, Head of Startup Growth, HubSpot

Lower-Value Segments for PLS

Opportunistic Accounts

For accounts that aren’t sales-ready but still show promise:

• Help them get value first. Focus on education and engagement rather than pushing a sale.

• Share best practices & documentation. Use low-effort tactics like Outreach sequences and personalized Loom videos.

The Dead Zone (Where Sales Teams Go to Die)

Avoid wasting time on:

• Low-usage, small accounts. If product adoption is weak and the company size is tiny, it’s unlikely to convert.

• Inactive users. Instead of manual outreach, rely on automated marketing nurture sequences.

“PLG lets us focus on fewer, higher-quality leads. Instead of chasing 100 random accounts, we now know exactly which 3 to target today—and exactly what to say to them.”
– Jonathan Krangel, Sales Strategy & Ops, Retool

Start Small & Scale Smart

The most successful PLG sales teams don’t try to boil the ocean. Start with one or two high-potential segments, refine your playbook, and scale from there.

In future posts, we’ll cover:

• How to apply the right sales pressure at each stage

• Best practices from top PLG companies like Loom, Retool, Figma, and Algolia

Want to chat about these strategies? Reach out—we’d love to help you refine your PLS motion. 🚀