Dissertation presented as the partial requirement for obtaining a Master's degree in Data Driven Marketing, specialization in Digital Marketing and AnalyticsSaaS companies are transforming their traditional sales processes by taking advantage of their products as the main vehicle to acquire, activate, and retain customers. We focused on the SaaS software evaluation process and value delivery to examine how SaaS products that can be evaluated in self-service, by the users, deliver value along the customer journey. For this, we conducted qualitative research through in-depth interviews with senior executives from companies in different growth stages and geographies and observations to explore the strategies and organizational initiatives to seize the opportunities associated with product-led business models. Our findings evidence two main categories - evaluation and value. Evaluations start top-down, driven by a clear strategic direction from the management team or to address a pressing need that is hindering the business from moving forward, or bottom-up, started by the users with a clear use case, and connected to an urgent, often daily, need. Value, in the product-led model, is now delivered sooner on the customer journey creating a shift to the left in value delivered, now closer to the start of an evaluation, and value captured is going right, now after value is delivered and the product is started to be adopted. A discussion on how sales-led and product-led evaluation and value delivery, across the customer journey, differ is presented. Finally, we offer recommendations to business leaders wanting to move to product-led growth
