{"id":13018,"date":"2022-06-30T14:18:16","date_gmt":"2022-06-30T14:18:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/"},"modified":"2025-05-22T15:43:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T15:43:45","slug":"customer-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>While everyone talks about product-market fit, finding product-customer fit is equally important when it comes to <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/product\/engagement-layer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">engaging the right customers and driving success<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Without it, you\u2019d find yourself implementing features for the wrong customers, distorting your value proposition, and leading your customer support (CS) team to burnout from dealing with bad-fit users.<\/p>\n<p>So, how can you determine customer fit and get the right user feedback to ensure customer success?<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s go over the concepts.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Summary of c<\/strong>ustomer fit<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>You&#8217;ve achieved product customer fit when your product and its functionality help the user get their job done in the easiest and fastest way.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-market-fit-expert-advice-joanna-drabent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Product-market fit<\/a> is about meeting the market\u2019s demand by iterating the product, while customer fit is about attracting the right customers.<\/li>\n<li>Customer fit is not the same as <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-persona-template-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user persona <\/a>or ideal customer profile. Product customer fit is about the match in offering vs need, and persona is a more in-depth representation of the specific user type that has that need.<\/li>\n<li>75% of companies will break up with poor-fit customers, according to Gartner. Because retaining poor customer fit is expensive and can lead to a product death cycle, degrade your value proposition, and prevent <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-success-strategies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer success<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>There are six types of customer fit according to Lincoln Murphy, which include: technical fit, functional fit, resource fit, competence fit, experience fit, and cultural fit.<\/li>\n<li>You can leverage customer fit to bring success by:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>Creating <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-persona-template-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user personas<\/a> based on successful customers.<\/li>\n<li>Communicating a relevant value proposition with accurate <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-positioning-examples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">product positioning<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Designing your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-pricing-models\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pricing plans<\/a> to attract good-fit customers.<\/li>\n<li>Implement an <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-engagement-model\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">engagement model<\/a> that fits your perfect customer.<\/li>\n<li>Use <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/product\/engagement-layer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app messaging<\/a> to make customers part of your product storytelling while creating public roadmaps, release notes, or press releases for the big picture.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2 id=\"3vq3q\"><strong>What is customer fit?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Customer fit means there\u2019s high potential for your customer to achieve success with your product\u2014basically when your customer\u2019s needs and your offer are perfectly aligned to make success possible.<\/p>\n<p>Finding customer fit is essential to enhance customer loyalty, extend <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-retention-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer retention<\/a>, and ultimately achieve customer success.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"554ef\"><strong>Product-customer fit vs. product-market fit<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Although easily confused, product-market fit and customer fit have opposite perspectives.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-market-fit-expert-advice-joanna-drabent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Product-market fit<\/a> is a business development term for building a product that satisfies a market\u2019s demand. Its framework consists in creating a minimum viable product (MVP) to validate that there\u2019re users willing to pay for it.<\/p>\n<p>And then iterate and improve based on customer feedback.<\/p>\n<p>Product-market fit can be measured with the Sean Ellis test through <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/mobile-surveys\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mobile surveys<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/pmf-survey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app PMF surveys<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/pmf-survey-customer-fit-userpilot_2b3b4f21c7a6b9ecff40c09effba9785_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/pmf-survey-customer-fit-userpilot_2b3b4f21c7a6b9ecff40c09effba9785_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/pmf-survey-customer-fit-userpilot_2b3b4f21c7a6b9ecff40c09effba9785_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/pmf-survey-customer-fit-userpilot_2b3b4f21c7a6b9ecff40c09effba9785_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/pmf-survey-customer-fit-userpilot_2b3b4f21c7a6b9ecff40c09effba9785_800.png\" alt=\"pmf survey customer fit\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Sean Ellis test with a PMF survey<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In comparison, product customer fit is about attracting the right customer for your product. The focus on this usually comes after you&#8217;ve achieved product-market fit as you have a better understanding of what your product does best and who your perfect customer is.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"5duj5\"><strong>Customer fit vs. ideal customer profile or user persona<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Short story: they\u2019re not the same.<\/p>\n<p>Customer fit is about a customer&#8217;s potential to achieve success using your product.<\/p>\n<p>The ideal customer profile is a term used in sales to define the characteristics of a potential customer that would be a fit for a product. It looks more into things such as company size, budgets, and needs, and builds a profile that is used to qualify leads.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes this is used interchangeably with user persona, but they are not the same.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-persona-template-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">User persona<\/a> refers to building a representation of the person actually using the product and it focused mostly on their job to be done and how the product helps them achieve it.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s a user persona example of a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-customer-success-guide\/\">customer success manager<\/a> looking for a product growth platform.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Userpilot-_Customer-success-manager-_persona-customer-fit_ecc11115ebd4453a81adb711b700d9c2_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Userpilot-_Customer-success-manager-_persona-customer-fit_ecc11115ebd4453a81adb711b700d9c2_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Userpilot-_Customer-success-manager-_persona-customer-fit_ecc11115ebd4453a81adb711b700d9c2_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Userpilot-_Customer-success-manager-_persona-customer-fit_ecc11115ebd4453a81adb711b700d9c2_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Userpilot-_Customer-success-manager-_persona-customer-fit_ecc11115ebd4453a81adb711b700d9c2_800.png\" alt=\"user persona example customer fit\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Customer success manager persona example.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"ano76\"><strong>Why should you care about customer fit?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Good-fit customers are way cheaper to retain than bad-fit customers.<\/p>\n<p>Gartner predicts that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gartner.com\/en\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2022-02-23-gartner-predicts-by-2025-75-of-companies-will-break-up-with-poor-fit-customers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">75% of companies<\/a> will \u201cbreak up\u201d with poor-fit customers by 2025. Or, as Gartner\u2019s director and team manager, Neha Ahuja, says:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cBusiness leaders are starting to recognize how costly keeping a poor-fit customer can be for business, such as over customization, custom-made solutions and outsize time spent on servicing\u201d Neha Ahuja<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>However, this problem doesn\u2019t affect your budget only. It also affects your team member&#8217;s health and long-term profitability, as Neha expands:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cCombine that with costs associated with emotional damage that leads to attrition among customer service reps and sellers, which are two talent pools already under pressure. Long-term profit erosion must also be kept top-of-mind, as investments in poor-fit customers may boost revenue in the short run, but compromise profitability in the long run\u201d Neha Ahuja.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>For SaaS companies, these problems arise because retaining bad-fit customers lead you to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Spending budget on developing the wrong features and entering the product death cycle<\/li>\n<li>Reducing your capability to ensure <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-success-strategies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer success<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Misleading your brand positioning and value proposition<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let\u2019s go over each:<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"2uqcv\"><strong>Bad-fit customers lead to a product death cycle<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-success-best-practices-to-reduce-churn\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">churn rates<\/a> increase and <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-adoption-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">product usage<\/a> shrink, all the feedback you can collect is from bad-fit users that will lead you to build unnecessary features.<\/p>\n<p>Without customer fit, you&#8217;ll keep trying to add functionality to the product to make it fit the customer.<\/p>\n<p>As a result, you fall into a feature fallacy trap called the product death cycle where you keep building features no one uses.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/product-death-cycle-customer-fit_270bbd1e0b378e9f4bd2a834d0f7a0c7_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/product-death-cycle-customer-fit_270bbd1e0b378e9f4bd2a834d0f7a0c7_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/product-death-cycle-customer-fit_270bbd1e0b378e9f4bd2a834d0f7a0c7_800.png\" alt=\"product death cycle customer fit\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Product death cycle concept by @Davidjbland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The only way to get out of the cycle is by listening to the successful customers\u2014not the ones who are churning.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"7ngld\"><strong>You can&#8217;t drive success when there&#8217;s a bad fit<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Bad-fit users also want to succeed with your product, so they\u2019ll ask for unrealistic solutions, unnecessary features, too much <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/proactive-support-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">support<\/a>, and more collaboration\u2014then you\u2019ll waste too many resources trying to make them happy.<\/p>\n<p>In the end, your account managers get burned out, and the customer will churn because the product wasn\u2019t a fit in the first place.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"47k89\"><strong>Bad-fit customers erode your value proposition<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Poor customer fit plants the seeds for bad word of mouth, negative reviews, and more <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/nps-saas-complete-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPS<\/a> detractors\u2014degrading your value proposition.<\/p>\n<p>Even if your product is pretty good, bad-fit customers would complain and leave bad reviews when, in reality, the product wasn\u2019t made for them.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-positioning-examples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Great product positioning<\/a> reinforces your value proposition and gives prospects more clarity on how your product can help them before signing up.<\/p>\n<p>This helps you in attracting the right fit customer in the first place.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Product-Positioning-Benefits-Userpilot-customer-fit_80d89955cb0823b45fa8408f8e05fcc9_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Product-Positioning-Benefits-Userpilot-customer-fit_80d89955cb0823b45fa8408f8e05fcc9_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Product-Positioning-Benefits-Userpilot-customer-fit_80d89955cb0823b45fa8408f8e05fcc9_800.png\" alt=\"product positioning customer fit\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Product positioning benefits.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"1jjrr\"><strong>6 Types of customer fit<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Now, how can you tell that a customer is a fit?<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/sixteenventures.com\/success-potential\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Lincoln Murphy<\/a>, there are six success potential inputs that define if a customer is a fit, and they include:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Lincoln-murphy-success-potential_97080efd9a9d1d1840188b3e02a8be24_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Lincoln-murphy-success-potential_97080efd9a9d1d1840188b3e02a8be24_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/Lincoln-murphy-success-potential_97080efd9a9d1d1840188b3e02a8be24_800.png\" alt=\"customer fit types\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Lincoln Murphy\u2019s customer fit types.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"72jo7\"><strong>1. Technical customer fit<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Is your customer\u2019s tech stack compatible with your product?<\/p>\n<p>Technical fit (also referred to as toolkit fit) is when the customer has the required working methods and technology available to make 100% use of your product.<\/p>\n<p>If your software requires integration with a website platform or CRM, make sure that your customers have the required tech stack in place.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if your product provides more value when you integrate it with Hubspot, your target audience must be a Hubspot user, otherwise, you will not achieve customer fit.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"3ivs7\"><strong>2. Functional customer fit<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes, your offer isn\u2019t enough for a customer to be successful. Maybe they require more support than you can afford, or your customer needs a pair of features you can\u2019t develop.<\/p>\n<p>So functional fit is more about offering a product that <strong>can <\/strong>bring success to your customer.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if your product is built on top of Salesforce, your business can\u2019t have a functional fit if:<\/p>\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>Your user uses another CRM<\/li>\n<li>Their sales team requires a more <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/personalize-user-onboarding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">personalized solution<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3 id=\"b79ig\"><strong>3. Resource customer fit<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Resource fit is about users having the needed resources available to reach success.<\/p>\n<p>Ask yourself: What budget, time, and capacity is needed to succeed with your product?<\/p>\n<p>Success requires investment, and if the customer is unwilling or unable to invest the necessary resources to achieve goals, then there can\u2019t be a fit.<\/p>\n<p>For example, if your pricing starts at $4,000\/mo a small team without the budget won\u2019t be a fit even if they\u2019d benefit from the product. There might be better alternatives for them.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"759ud\"><strong>4. Competence customer fit<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>No matter how user-friendly, some products will require a level of competence to be used successfully\u2014and that\u2019s where competence fit should be evaluated.<\/p>\n<p>If a customer doesn\u2019t have the required internal expertise (or willingness to hire it), it simply can\u2019t fit your product.<\/p>\n<p>For example, almost any company would benefit from a data analytics tool. However, without proper visualization or <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-analytics-improve-saas-metrics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">data analysis<\/a> skills, you won\u2019t have access to the most valuable insights complex tools could offer.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"4f05g\"><strong>5. Experience customer fit<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>No SaaS can retain customers without offering a frictionless experience across the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-journey-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">buyer journey<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe your product isn\u2019t too complex and has a healthy learning curve so you offer a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/free-trial-vs-paid-trial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">free trial<\/a> and low-touch signup and onboarding experience.<\/p>\n<p>But if an enterprise lead comes in and asks for a custom plan with a high-touch onboarding experience, then they can\u2019t be a good fit because you can\u2019t offer the required support without making changes to your product or business model.<\/p>\n<p>Experience customer fit is all about the alignment between the experience the user is looking for and what your product and business model can support.<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"7kf46\"><strong>6. Cultural customer fit<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>What are the core values guiding your product strategy and business model?<\/p>\n<p>Cultural fit is when your customer\u2019s work ethic aligns with your brand values.<\/p>\n<p>Even when you don\u2019t have direct contact with your customers, if a user is constantly demanding services in an unrealistic or inappropriate way, there will constantly be a clash between your teams and your users.<\/p>\n<p>And in the end, your reputation, brand, and employees are the ones that will suffer.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"1vnj\"><strong>How to use customer fit to drive success<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>What steps can you take to leverage customer fit?<\/p>\n<p>To avoid the costs Neha mentioned\u2014such as over customization and wasted time spent on <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/proactive-support-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">support<\/a>\u2014you need to start by understanding what a successful customer is and define a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/user-persona-template-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">user persona<\/a> that genuinely represents users with high success potential fit.<\/p>\n<p>Only then, you can start following these practices to drive success:<\/p>\n<h3 id=\"argm1\"><strong>Attract the right customer with a relevant value proposition<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>With the <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-positioning-examples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">proper positioning<\/a> and a targeted value proposition, your marketing and <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/product-led-sales\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sales strategies<\/a> can provide enough context to attract customers with a high success potential.<\/p>\n<p>The goal is to clarify:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>What your product can and cannot do<\/li>\n<li>Who should use the product and who shouldn\u2019t<\/li>\n<li>The unique mechanism to get the desired outcome<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Miro\u2019s homepage is an excellent example of a clear value proposition. As it instantly communicates what their product is &#8211; an online collaboration whiteboard platform- and who it was built for-hybrid teams.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/miro-customer-fit_1526ee27d3f44fbf49b86c153468559b_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/miro-customer-fit_1526ee27d3f44fbf49b86c153468559b_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/miro-customer-fit_1526ee27d3f44fbf49b86c153468559b_800.png\" alt=\"Miro customer fit example\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Miro\u2019s value proposition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"4o7eg\"><strong>Use product-customer fit when deciding on product&#8217;s pricing<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Leverage your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/saas-pricing-models\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pricing model<\/a> and keep bad-fit customers away.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/freemium-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">freemium model<\/a> for a product with a steeper learning curve would attract too many bad apples, so you\u2019d have to hand hold them, and even then, they might not get to experience the value.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe a trial or demo only will help qualify the leads and attract the right customer.<\/p>\n<p>Also, think about what value are you delivering? You can ask for a high price if your product only adds an enhancement to an existing product they are already using.<\/p>\n<p>But price it too low, and you&#8217;ll best customers will have doubts your product will deliver value.<\/p>\n<p>If you start with your user persona and really look into understanding their needs, you can build pricing tiers and bundle features that address specific personas&#8217; needs at a specific point during their lifecycle.<\/p>\n<p>This is exactly what Userpilot is aiming for. The right price for the right customer for the right value.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/userpilot-pricing_83be610c347c4cd3b6db8697886cd1ba_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/userpilot-pricing_83be610c347c4cd3b6db8697886cd1ba_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/userpilot-pricing_83be610c347c4cd3b6db8697886cd1ba_800.png 1x, https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/userpilot-pricing_83be610c347c4cd3b6db8697886cd1ba_1600.png 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/userpilot-pricing_83be610c347c4cd3b6db8697886cd1ba_800.png\" alt=\"Userpilot pricing customer fit\" \/><\/picture><figcaption><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/pricing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Userpilot\u2019s pricing model<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3 id=\"369a2\"><strong>Use the right engagement model<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When you know which customer will be a fit for your product you&#8217;ll also know how much support and the type of experience they are expecting.<\/p>\n<p>This means you can determine the best <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-engagement-model\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">customer engagement model<\/a> for achieving success.<\/p>\n<p>Implementing the right engagement model won\u2019t only improve onboarding and <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/good-retention-rates-in-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">retention<\/a>, but also keep the good-fit customers in. For example:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Low-touch models can focus on creating <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/product\/engagement-layer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app experiences<\/a> designed for an automated hand-holding experience across the entire customer journey, for products that are easy to use.<\/li>\n<li>High-touch models can customize the onboarding process and the product according to the customer\u2019s needs for more complex products.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3 id=\"3ijek\"><strong>Drive customer success with product storytelling<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Product storytelling is about continuing what you started with the right value proposition and positions inside the product too.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s about constantly setting the right expectations and confirming to customers that they are using the right product for their needs, using different means of communication.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s about validating the relationship in a continuous manner, through messaging consistency.<\/p>\n<p>You can tell your product story through <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/product\/engagement-layer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in-app messaging<\/a>, for example.<\/p>\n<p>Loom uses the same style, language, and short messages to make guidance part of the experience and give their product a voice.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/loom-tooltip-customer-fit-storytelling_23e983ef81bcdbba5952b46b25e5bac4_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/loom-tooltip-customer-fit-storytelling_23e983ef81bcdbba5952b46b25e5bac4_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/loom-tooltip-customer-fit-storytelling_23e983ef81bcdbba5952b46b25e5bac4_800.png\" alt=\"tooltip customer fit example\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>Loom tooltip customer fit example.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/onboarding-tooltips-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tooltips<\/a> work for them because they know their good-fit users don\u2019t need to read a whole patch note to understand their tools. And by keeping them consistent, it&#8217;s easier for the user to recognize them and understand what the product is trying to communicate.<\/p>\n<p>Look at how all their <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/new-feature-announcement-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new feature announcement<\/a> tooltips have the same style.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"image strchf-type-image regular strchf-size-regular strchf-align-center\"><picture><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/loom-extension-tooltip-customer-fit_0aaa7cfd8a4e7a5b2ab9b444b02b03f1_800.png 1x\" media=\"(max-width: 768px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/loom-extension-tooltip-customer-fit_0aaa7cfd8a4e7a5b2ab9b444b02b03f1_800.png 1x\" media=\"(min-width: 769px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.storychief.com\/account_6827\/loom-extension-tooltip-customer-fit_0aaa7cfd8a4e7a5b2ab9b444b02b03f1_800.png\" alt=\"new feature customer fit example\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>New feature tooltip for customer fit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In Loom\u2019s case, product storytelling is about <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/proactive-support-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">providing support right when the user needs it<\/a>. But in the bigger picture, it also means communicating that they are building and scaling the product in the direction the user expects.<\/p>\n<p>While continuously communicating this to users through release notes, having a <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/public-roadmap\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">public roadmap<\/a>, blogs, and in-app. These together tell the story about your product.<\/p>\n<p>And more than inviting your customers to play a role in your story\u2014it also brings cultural-fit customers and repels those who don\u2019t share your vision.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"f30ra\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Working with bad-fit customers is expensive in both budget and energy.<\/p>\n<p>Start by understanding what is the right customer fit for your product and leverage it to drive success.<\/p>\n<p>Tell your product&#8217;s story with in-app messaging and retain customers that are a good fit. <span class=\"ng-star-inserted\">Create mobile-optimized announcements customized to your brand to reach users directly within your <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/product\/mobile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">mobile app<\/a> with Userpilot.<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/userpilot-demo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Book a Userpilot demo<\/a> with our team to get started.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Without customer fit, you\u2019d find yourself implementing features for the wrong customers. Learn how you can use customer fit to drive customer success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":13020,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[488],"tags":[332,363,480,771,247,201,998],"class_list":["post-13018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-user-engagement","tag-customer-engagement","tag-customer-success","tag-customer-success-strategies","tag-product-market-fit","tag-retention-marketing","tag-user-experience","tag-user-success"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Without customer fit you\u2019d find yourself implementing features for the wrong users. Learn how you can use customer fit to drive user success.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Without customer fit you\u2019d find yourself implementing features for the wrong users. Learn how you can use customer fit to drive user success.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Thoughts about Product Adoption, User Onboarding and Good UX | Userpilot Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-06-30T14:18:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-22T15:43:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"419\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sophie Grigoryan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sophie Grigoryan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Sophie Grigoryan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de37c23746f7aa52492f6c97b1f222cf\"},\"headline\":\"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-30T14:18:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-22T15:43:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/\"},\"wordCount\":2467,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png\",\"keywords\":[\"customer engagement\",\"customer success\",\"customer success strategies\",\"product market fit\",\"retention marketing\",\"User Experience\",\"user success\"],\"articleSection\":[\"User Engagement\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/\",\"name\":\"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-06-30T14:18:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-22T15:43:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de37c23746f7aa52492f6c97b1f222cf\"},\"description\":\"Without customer fit you\u2019d find yourself implementing features for the wrong users. Learn how you can use customer fit to drive user success.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png\",\"width\":640,\"height\":419,\"caption\":\"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success cover\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Thoughts about Product Adoption, User Onboarding and Good UX | Userpilot Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de37c23746f7aa52492f6c97b1f222cf\",\"name\":\"Sophie Grigoryan\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/author\/sofi\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success","description":"Without customer fit you\u2019d find yourself implementing features for the wrong users. Learn how you can use customer fit to drive user success.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success","og_description":"Without customer fit you\u2019d find yourself implementing features for the wrong users. Learn how you can use customer fit to drive user success.","og_url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/","og_site_name":"Thoughts about Product Adoption, User Onboarding and Good UX | Userpilot Blog","article_published_time":"2022-06-30T14:18:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-22T15:43:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":419,"url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Sophie Grigoryan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Sophie Grigoryan","Est. reading time":"13 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/"},"author":{"name":"Sophie Grigoryan","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de37c23746f7aa52492f6c97b1f222cf"},"headline":"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success","datePublished":"2022-06-30T14:18:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-22T15:43:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/"},"wordCount":2467,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png","keywords":["customer engagement","customer success","customer success strategies","product market fit","retention marketing","User Experience","user success"],"articleSection":["User Engagement"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/","url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/","name":"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png","datePublished":"2022-06-30T14:18:16+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-22T15:43:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de37c23746f7aa52492f6c97b1f222cf"},"description":"Without customer fit you\u2019d find yourself implementing features for the wrong users. Learn how you can use customer fit to drive user success.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/customer-fit\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blog-static.userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/1202524511773609_OZaYkPli7TaNnzcRDCSt_height640_486db8fadca16c37247ae2d0e1a30ff6_2000.png","width":640,"height":419,"caption":"6 Customer Fit Types and How to Use Them To Drive Customer Success cover"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/","name":"Thoughts about Product Adoption, User Onboarding and Good UX | Userpilot Blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de37c23746f7aa52492f6c97b1f222cf","name":"Sophie Grigoryan","url":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/author\/sofi\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13018"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":273543,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13018\/revisions\/273543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/userpilot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}