If you’re trying to pick a product led sales platform for your B2B team, you’ve probably noticed: every vendor swears they’re “purpose-built for PLG” and “the answer to all your go-to-market struggles.” Reality check—most teams only need a handful of features, and the rest is just noise.
This guide is for folks who care less about vendor buzzwords and more about what’ll actually help their sales teams hit quota. Whether you’re considering Pocus or eyeing alternatives like Endgame, Correlated, or Breadcrumbs, here’s how to cut through the fluff and make a call you won’t regret.
1. Get Real About Why You Need a Product Led Sales Platform
Before you start comparing demos, nail down what you actually need. Not every B2B company is ready—or suited—for product led sales (PLS). Ask yourself:
- Do you have a self-serve product that generates usage data? If not, PLS tools won’t have much to work with.
- Are reps struggling to spot high-potential users in a sea of accounts? These tools shine when you’ve got tons of product signups and want to surface the best leads.
- Is your sales motion ready for change? If your team isn’t used to acting on product data, even the best PLS platform will flop.
Pro tip: Don’t get suckered into “everyone’s doing it” thinking. If your pipeline is small or you’re selling big-ticket enterprise deals with long cycles, PLS platforms might be overkill.
2. List Out Your Must-Have Features (And Ignore the Rest)
Vendors love to tout laundry lists of features. Most of it’s irrelevant to your day-to-day. Focus on what matters:
Core Features You’ll Actually Use
- Lead Scoring & Prioritization: Can the platform reliably flag users or accounts worth outreach?
- Product Usage Insights: Does it visualize meaningful product actions, or just dump raw event logs?
- Workflow Automation: Can reps take action (send emails, assign tasks) without bouncing between tools?
- CRM Sync: Will it reliably update Salesforce, HubSpot, or whatever CRM you use—without breaking?
- Access Controls: Can you keep sensitive usage data away from the wrong eyes?
Nice-to-Haves (But Not Dealbreakers)
- Custom Playbooks or Templates: Handy, but you can build your own workflows if you have to.
- Flexible Reporting: Useful if you’re deep into analytics, but not everyone needs it.
Hype to Ignore
- “AI-powered everything.” Most of it’s just rules-based logic with a fancier label.
- “360-degree views.” If data’s scattered and slow, it doesn’t matter how pretty the dashboard looks.
- “No-code for everyone.” Someone still needs to know what metrics matter.
3. Compare Pocus and Leading Alternatives: Honest Takes
Let’s get specific. Here’s what you actually get with the main platforms in this space, and where each one stumbles.
Pocus
Strengths:
- Fast, clean user interface. Sales reps can find and act on product-qualified leads without a PhD in data science.
- Flexible playbooks and scoring—lets you define what “good” looks like for your business, not just what the vendor thinks.
- Strong CRM integrations (especially Salesforce).
Weak Spots:
- Some advanced workflows require setup help (expect a few onboarding calls).
- Reporting is solid, but not as customizable as a full BI tool—don’t expect Tableau-level slicing and dicing.
Endgame
Strengths:
- Slick for teams that want to operationalize usage data fast.
- Good at surfacing “next best actions” for reps.
Weak Spots:
- Can be opinionated—if your sales process is unusual, you’ll hit limits faster.
- Integrations can lag behind Pocus, especially for anything beyond Salesforce.
Correlated
Strengths:
- Strong at connecting product signals to messaging tools (Slack, email).
- Decent for marketing/sales handoff use cases.
Weak Spots:
- UI can feel clunky, especially for larger teams.
- Scoring models are less flexible—tough if you want to tweak everything.
Breadcrumbs
Strengths:
- Great for lead scoring if you want to blend product and marketing signals.
- Simple setup for smaller teams.
Weak Spots:
- Less depth on in-app product usage.
- More of a scoring add-on than a true PLS platform.
Bottom line: If you want a sales-first experience with flexible playbooks, Pocus is tough to beat. If your needs are more marketing-driven, Breadcrumbs or Correlated might be enough. Endgame’s a solid runner-up if you want something out-of-the-box.
4. Test Drive: Things to Try Before You Buy
Don’t trust any vendor’s sales deck—ask for a real trial or proof-of-concept. Here’s what to test:
- Can your reps find a high-potential user in under 60 seconds? If not, move on.
- Does the lead scoring align with your gut instinct and historical data? Or is it surfacing junk?
- How quickly can you change scoring rules or playbooks? If you need an engineer for every tweak, that’s a red flag.
- Is the CRM sync seamless and fast? Test for lag and duplicate records—common pain points.
- Do you get reliable support and documentation? Or is everything locked behind “Talk to Sales”?
Pro tip: Bring in one of your most skeptical reps for the trial. If they find it useful, everyone else probably will too.
5. Don’t Forget the Boring Stuff: Pricing, Security, and Vendor Stability
It’s easy to get distracted by shiny features, but the unsexy details matter:
- Pricing: Is it seat-based, usage-based, or “call us for a quote”? Watch for hidden costs—like extra charges for integrations or admin seats.
- Security & Compliance: Especially if you’re in a regulated industry. Ask about SOC 2, GDPR, and what happens if you need to delete data.
- Vendor Stability: Are they a scrappy startup that might disappear? Not a dealbreaker, but don’t bet the farm on a year-old company if your team’s risk-averse.
Red flag: Any vendor that won’t give you a straight answer about roadmap, outages, or data retention.
6. Roll Out and Iterate (Don’t Overthink It)
You’ve picked a platform—now what?
- Start with a single sales pod or vertical, not the whole org.
- Set up basic scoring and alerting for clear, easy-to-action events (e.g., “trial account hits usage threshold”).
- Train your reps to actually use the signals—don’t just toss dashboards at them.
- Review after 2-4 weeks: What’s working? What’s ignored? Tweak, don’t rebuild.
Pro tip: Most value comes from just a few signals. Don’t drown your team in notifications.
Keep It Simple—and Stay Skeptical
You don’t need the flashiest product led sales platform. You need something your team will actually use. Focus on real problems (finding and closing high-potential users), ignore the hype, and start small. Iterate based on what your reps and data tell you—not what the vendor’s glossy PDF says.
You can always add more bells and whistles later. For now, pick something that gets out of your team’s way and helps them sell. That’s what matters.