Case Study: Salesforce achieves improved trial conversions and self-guided onboarding with Pendo

How Salesforce reimagined the trial experience with Pendo

Salesforce, after acquiring and rebranding Desk, faced a trial experience where too many features were left for users to discover on their own. Director of Product Management Jonathan Pappas initially implemented a guide framework to highlight key "setup moments"—signals that correlated with paid conversions—but still felt the experience didn’t truly teach users how to use the product.

Salesforce rebuilt the trial with Pendo’s guide solution, creating interactive walkthroughs that let users learn by doing and complete core tasks during onboarding. As a result, trial users come away having experienced the product’s full value in practice, increasing their readiness to convert to paid plans.

Salesforce

Jonathan Pappas

Director of Product