I’ve been a fan of Pipedrive since their early days, after I found out that a bunch of the founding team were fellow graduates from the same door-to-door sales program I participated in back during my college days.
They really understood sales in a granular way and it showed in their CRM’s UI/UX. They were also impressive, unrelenting hustlers, which I respected a ton.
The founders were always going to go after the SMB with their model, especially as Salesforce was crushing everything in its path in the mid-market and enterprise, and they were always product-led.
I recently was helping my cousin setup Pipedrive for his law firm’s sales efforts and was intrigued by how their pricing strategy aligned so well with their product-led approach.
I couldn’t help but think that this was a “product-led pricing model.”
As soon as I signed up for the free trial, there was a banner at the top of the page indicating how long I had to navigate the free trial, along with a quick link to manage my subscription at any time.
Next, I noticed that they placed me on the “Professional” plan which they “recommended,” and provided me with all the features under that plan to try to get me “hooked.”
It’s like going into a car dealership looking for an entry-level vehicle, but first test-driving the luxury model. This makes it harder to go down in quality and amenities after having a premium experience.
I liked that they let me play with the product and didn’t force me to add a credit card.
They also feature the estimated total price after the trial ends at the bottom of the page.
This total is based on a per seat model and whether I select a monthly or annual billing cadence.
If I select the annual billing option they give me a 15% discount.
Shortly after signing up, I received an email from a “Pipedrive Consultant” offering to help me get set up. As a user, I obviously loved to get help like this.
As a business person, I wonder how they figured out how to make the unit economics work around CAC, in order to offer an SMB like my cousin’s law firm such hands-on support.
In conclusion, the trial experience was awesome. It felt as product-led and self-service as I wanted. I could swipe a credit card and be done – no talking to a human. However, they also gave me a helping hand from a consultant as an opt-in option.
Well done, Pipedrive.
