PLG Lead Qualification

A product-led growth motion generates far more signups than any outbound list, and the mistake most PLG companies make is treating every signup as an equally qualified lead — either ignoring sales-assist entirely, or having sales chase every trial the moment it starts, before the user has done anything to indicate real intent. The actual signal worth acting on is usage, not signup.

Usage signals that predict buying intent

Strong signals    inviting teammates, connecting a real data source
                  or integration, hitting a usage limit, using a
                  feature that correlates with paid conversion in
                  your existing customer base, returning multiple
                  days in a row
Weak signals      account created, logged in once, viewed the
                  pricing page without further activity

Look at your own existing paying customers' early usage patterns to define "strong signal," rather than guessing generically — the specific action that predicts conversion varies by product, and the answer is in your own historical data, not a generic PLG playbook. A collaboration tool's signal is teammate invites; a data tool's signal might be connecting a real, non-sample data source.

Building a product-qualified-lead (PQL) score