If you use Pendo, it needs a CoE
Product tools are supposed to make us more efficient, but sometimes they create unexpected bottlenecks. This is especially true when organizations rely on a single Pendo administrator to handle everything from in-app guides to data analytics.
Welcome to Beyond The Click by Balboa Solutions. In today's issue we're digging into Centers of Excellence for Pendo, including:
Why you need one
The root problem they solve
How to build one
How they make in-app guides so much better
BTW, this article is inspired by a talk Keith Wagner gave for a recent Pendo Admin User Group - check out the recording here if you want more!
Let's dive in.
An In-App Guide Horror Story 👻
One of the wildest guide mishaps we've seen at Balboa happened at a SaaS company trying to collect overdue payments. An account manager, new to Pendo but armed with admin access, crafted what they thought was a targeted message for one delinquent customer:
"WARNING: Your account is past due. If you do not bring this account current by July 31st, we'll be forced to suspend service."
Expectation: Send this to one organization that hadn't paid in six months. 💸
Reality: Due to a segmentation error, this threatening yellow pop-up hit 60,000 users across multiple organizations. ☠️
The result? Executive escalations, confused customers, and a massive brand crisis that could have been avoided entirely. 💣
How does this sort of thing happen? The root problem is the lone admin trap. 👇
The Lone Admin Trap 🐴
The pattern is painfully familiar:
Organization implements Pendo with one designated admin
Admin starts with guide creation
Admin gradually takes on tagging, integrations, segmentation, surveys, etc.
Admin becomes the "go-to" who everyone else asks to do these things
One person becomes the bottleneck for all product intelligence
The statistics are telling: most organizations report only 2-3 people using Pendo daily, far below the platform's potential impact. The burnout is real for product tool administrators overwhelmed with responsibilities that aren't even their primary job.
So how to escape this trap? The best product orgs have a center of excellence. 👇
The Pendo Center of Excellence (CoE) 🎯
Center of Excellence (noun): a centralized framework within an organization that establishes and promotes best practices, standardized processes, and shared resources around a specific domain.
Yes, this is a corporate buzzword. But no, it isn't completely useless for Product leaders.
Unlike the "lone admin" model, which riskily concentrates all Pendo functions onto a single person, a Center of Excellence distributes Pendo ownership strategically across your org.
Our recommended distribution:
Product managers: Tagging (they know features best)
UX researchers: Surveys (additional feedback methods)
Data analysts: Analytics ownership
Development leads: Integration management
Product Ops: Segmentation
Cross-functional team: Guide approvals (marketing + CX)
When does a CoE become necessary?
Now and always. Don't wait until you reach a certain scale or level of complexity. Even small organizations benefit from documenting processes and distributing responsibilities from day one. Product excellence is about creating a culture within the organization where every member is focused on delivering the best possible product to the customer. A CoE operationalizes this culture by giving teams ownership of the tools that directly impact their work.
One example of CoE power? Preventing guide disasters like our horror story. 👇
Guides in the CoE 🗺️
In-app guide governance is one of the most important functions the CoE fills. Here's your practical implementation roadmap:
Step 1: Create comprehensive documentation
Complete guide creation walkthrough
Do's and don'ts for content
Brand guideline requirements
Clear approval criteria
Step 2: Implement role-based approvals
Creators: Build content, assign segments, test, set to "pending review"
Approvers: Review, check targeting, set throttling, schedule publication
Use Pendo's built-in role management to separate creation from approval
Step 3: Build your approval team
Marketing representative (brand alignment)
Customer experience (user impact)
Product management (technical accuracy)
Step 4: Reap the rewards
Catches errors before users see them
Ensures brand consistency
Prevents targeting disasters
Provides quality control for all guides
Document your process clearly. What's acceptable content? How do you handle urgent requests? What's your conflict resolution process? Having answers prevents delays and ensures consistent decisions.
Chase excellence 🏃
The lone admin trap isn't just operational inefficiency; it's a strategic limitation preventing your org from realizing full product intelligence value.
A Center of Excellence transforms Pendo from one person's burden into a teamwide capability. The goal isn't just preventing disasters (though that's valuable!) but building a product culture where the right people own the right responsibilities, and where tools enable rather than constrain effectiveness.
In today's competitive landscape, that operational excellence isn't optional.
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