Introducing the Product-led Certification Course by Pendo and Mind the Product

At Pendo, we talk a lot about being product led. But what does that really mean? For starters, we believe being product led is a company-wide initiative and one that can enable any company to outlast the competition and emerge quicker from any downturn. That’s because they use their product to control costs, grow efficiently, and retain more customers. 

But becoming product led isn’t just an abstract theory or concept—it takes real practice, experimentation, and iteration. It also takes subject-matter expertise within the product management community to gain alignment and push product-led strategies forward. 

To help product managers build deeper knowledge of and experience with product-led tactics, we worked with Mind the Product to create the Product-led Certification Course: a three-hour, self-paced course that teaches you the fundamentals of being a product-led organization and specific tactics you can start implementing at your own company. Check out the full course curriculum and panel of instructors to dive deeper into the lessons the course has to offer. Once you take the course and pass the exam, you’ll earn a “Product-led Certified” badge for your professional profile.

Why get product-led certified?

Research shows that product-led companies gain a range of benefits compared to their non-product-led peers. Product-led organizations see a 28% increase in total active users, as well as 30% more qualified leads. They are also able to reduce user onboarding time by 27%, and see a 15% increase in net revenue retention.

Although becoming product led and realizing these benefits doesn’t happen overnight, the Product-led Certification Course is the perfect first step. Think of it as an opportunity to deepen your understanding of product-led methodologies and learn specific tactics and strategies you can bring back to your organization.

Whether you’re preparing to launch a new product or your company is transitioning from a sales-led business model, this course is designed to empower product professionals to truly impact how their company operates and how it serves customers.

Going beyond product-led growth

Being product led is about more than product-led growth, which is a business strategy that puts the product at the center of the buying journey. A product-led organization, however, goes beyond merely the growth dimension, and believes that everything their company does should lead back to (or be fueled by) the product.

The Product-led Certification Course aims to help product leaders of all levels better understand what it means to put the product at the center of their organization—with no shortage of real-world examples, proven best practices, and insights from industry leaders.

While this course is most relevant for product managers, it also provides deep insights and examples about how other departments and roles can leverage a company’s product to retain customers, control costs, and grow more efficiently. 

For example: 

• • A customer success manager (CSM) looks at their account’s product usage and identifies places where users are getting stuck and dropping out of workflows. Rather than waiting for their next live check-in, the CSM uses in-app guides to deliver support directly within the product—creating tooltips that add context to specific features and walkthroughs that guide users through important tasks.

• • A sales rep leverages usage data from the company’s freemium product to identify users who are the most engaged and likely to be interested in the paid platform. From there, they create in-app guides that speak to the value of paid features and direct users to where they can go to upgrade.

• • A product marketing manager uses in-app messages to announce the launch of a new feature, rather than relying on email and social media alone. With this in-app approach, the marketer can personalize the announcement for different types of users (e.g. by role or admin level) and ensure communications reach customers when they are already actively engaged with the product.

• • A UX designer needs to recruit customers to participate in a beta for a new feature and utilizes in-app guides to ask users to participate, targeting those who will find the new functionality most relevant and useful. The designer also makes it easy for users to provide feedback on the beta directly within the product, which helps their team iterate for the next release phase.

Throughout the course, you’ll dive into use cases like these and many others to help illustrate how you and your colleagues can use your product to do and achieve more, efficiently.

Course details and how to get started

Ready to get product-led certified? Here’s what you can expect from the course:

• • 7 educational modules covering essential product-led strategies and tactics
  • 3 hours of engaging, instructor-led videos that you can view at your own pace
  • Curriculum developed by industry leaders and product-led experts
  • An optional exam to check your knowledge and earn a certification badge

Becoming product led is a journey, but it can all begin here, with you. Sign up for the Product-led Certification Course here to get started.