# Product-led growth readiness checklist > Assess whether customers can discover value and move toward purchase with an economically workable level of assistance. Work through 10 checks, record evidence and owners, and save an editable copy. Source: https://saas-marketing.net/checklists/plg-readiness/ Topic: SaaS Growth Marketing Type: checklist Published: 2026-09-17 Last updated: 2026-09-17 Publisher: SaaS Marketing (saas-marketing.net) License: CC BY 4.0. Quote or republish with attribution and a link to https://saas-marketing.net/checklists/plg-readiness/ ## Short answer Product-led growth readiness checklist helps a SaaS team assess whether customers can discover value and move toward purchase with an economically workable level of assistance. Mark each check only after reviewing the evidence. Record unresolved items with an owner and next action; a completed checklist records the review, not a guarantee of business results. ## Key takeaways - Assess whether customers can discover value and move toward purchase with an economically workable level of assistance. - Do not adopt a free tier only because competitors have one. Model its operating cost and customer purpose. - Record evidence and an accountable owner for each unresolved check. - The editable download includes status, owner and evidence columns. --- Assess whether customers can discover value and move toward purchase with an economically workable level of assistance. For the wider context, see the [saas growth hub](/saas-growth/). ## Work through the checks **Product-led growth readiness checklist** ## Save the evidence | Check | Status | Owner | Evidence and next action | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | A specific user can start without procurement | Not reviewed | | | | The first useful result is reachable quickly enough | Not reviewed | | | | The free or trial experience reflects the real product | Not reviewed | | | | Serving costs are understood | Not reviewed | | | | Usage can be connected to account fit | Not reviewed | | | | Upgrade limits are clear | Not reviewed | | | | Billing and cancellation paths work | Not reviewed | | | | Sales assistance has a defined trigger | Not reviewed | | | | Abuse and support requirements are planned | Not reviewed | | | | Retention is measured before aggressive acquisition | Not reviewed | | | ## A situation to test A complex implementation product may still use product-led discovery, but a fully self-service purchase path may not fit its buyer constraints. Use this example as a review prompt. Ask the owner to demonstrate the real behavior or show the underlying record. A screenshot of settings can help, but it does not replace testing the outcome the customer experiences. ## When to stop and fix the issue Do not adopt a free tier only because competitors have one. Model its operating cost and customer purpose. Prioritize failures that mislead customers, lose data, break the promised action or make measurement unreliable. Cosmetic improvements can be scheduled separately when they do not prevent the task from being completed. Record the reason for any accepted exception so the next reviewer does not mistake it for an overlooked problem. ## How to close the review Assign every unresolved item to a named person and a date. Keep the evidence close to the checklist, using links with appropriate access rather than copying sensitive records into a public document. After the fix, repeat the relevant check and record what changed. The final review should answer three questions: what passed, what remains uncertain, and what action follows. If a requirement does not apply, state why. A blanket tick against every row provides less value than a shorter list with specific evidence and a clear next step. ## Related resources - [How to Build a SaaS Growth Model](/guides/saas-growth-model/) - [Growth Loops for SaaS](/guides/growth-loops/) - [SaaS Growth Strategies That Actually Compound](/guides/saas-growth-strategies/) - [B2B SaaS Growth](/guides/b2b-saas-growth-growth/) - [Product Led Growth for SaaS](/guides/product-led-growth/) Browse more [checklists](/checklists/) or save the [resource index](/resources/). {/* expanded-practice-2026-09 */} ## Apply product-led growth readiness checklist in a working review Treat each check as a request for evidence, not a box to tick from memory. Inspect the actual behavior or record, note the result and assign an owner to any failure. Distinguish a blocking issue from a deferred improvement. Keep the reason for an exception so a later reviewer can understand why the work proceeded. For this topic, involve the experiment owner and the analyst responsible for design integrity and work from hypothesis, assignment rules, metric definition and decision record. The relevant unit is the prespecified eligible user or account cohort. State the question the review should resolve before choosing a chart, an asset or a tool. If participants disagree about the unit or scope, resolve that disagreement before combining their evidence. ### Evidence to prepare Check the design before interpreting a result. Assignment, exclusions, outcome timing and stopping rules can change the meaning of an apparently precise statistic. Separate practical effect from statistical evidence and keep guardrails beside the primary outcome. | Review field | What to record | | --- | --- | | Topic | Product-led growth readiness checklist | | Decision | The specific action this explanation should help you choose | | Working evidence | hypothesis, assignment rules, metric definition and decision record | | Unit and scope | the prespecified eligible user or account cohort | | Responsible people | experiment owner and the analyst responsible for design integrity | | Remaining uncertainty | The missing fact that could change the decision | ### Two situations that can change the interpretation #### When the growth model assumes unlimited capacity A model can become unrealistic when every new customer requires assisted onboarding but the implementation team never expands. Use this check: List the operating resources required at each projected volume level. Do not present a planning scenario as a prediction or guaranteed trajectory. The [focused diagnostic guide](/guides/growth-forecast-assumes-unlimited-capacity/) provides the correction process and a working evidence sheet. #### When the activation event is too easy to complete A first login may be necessary, but it does not establish that a team created a usable project or resolved a support ticket. Use this check: Compare the event with an observable customer outcome and later appropriate use. Do not select an event solely because it has the strongest correlation in a small sample. The [focused diagnostic guide](/guides/activation-event-is-too-easy/) provides the correction process and a working evidence sheet. ### Record the decision and the limit A higher signup rate is not automatically a better activation path if the removed step helped users reach a useful workflow. Review the complete sequence and the relevant customer outcome. A bundled product change can be evaluated as a bundle without claiming to isolate every component. Keep the conclusion beside the evidence that supports it. Record what the team will do, who owns the next action and which event or date will trigger a review. If the underlying definition, audience or product behavior changes, revisit the conclusion rather than assuming the old result still applies. A clear limit is useful information; it tells the next reader where additional investigation is required. Use the [complete topic collection](/topics/saas-growth/) for related methods and the [category field guides](/industries/) when the product's buying situation or implementation requirements change how the method should be applied. ## Frequently asked questions ### How should I use this checklist? Choose one campaign, page, process or account group. Review each check against actual evidence, record exceptions and assign follow-up work before marking the review complete. ### What should stop the work from proceeding? Do not adopt a free tier only because competitors have one. Model its operating cost and customer purpose. ### Does a completed checklist guarantee success? No. It records a structured review of known risks and requirements. Customer behavior, market conditions and facts outside the review can still change the outcome. ### Can I save the checklist? Use the download form for an editable CSV copy. Browser checkmarks are saved on this device where local storage is available; they are not shared with your team.