> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.zigpoll.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.zigpoll.com/guides/how-to-measure-product-market-fit.md). # How to Measure Product-Market Fit Product-market fit is usually discussed as a feeling. It doesn't have to be. The **Sean Ellis test** turns it into a single number you can track over time, and the follow-up questions tell you exactly which customers to build for next. The core question is deceptively simple: **"How would you feel if you could no longer use \[product]?"** If **40% or more** of your users answer "Very disappointed," you have product-market fit. Below that, you don't yet — and the survey itself tells you why. *** ## Building the survey ### Question 1 — The benchmark question Add a **Single Choice** question: > How would you feel if you could no longer use \[product]? * Very disappointed * Somewhat disappointed * Not disappointed * N/A — I no longer use it This is the only question that produces your score. Don't reword it. The 40% threshold comes from benchmarking across hundreds of companies that asked it in exactly this form, and a "creative" rewrite makes your number incomparable. ### Question 2 — The "why" Add a **Long Answer** question: > What is the main benefit you get from \[product]? Answers from your "Very disappointed" group are the most valuable text you will collect all year. This is your positioning, written by the people who already love you. ### Question 3 — The improvement question Add another **Long Answer** question: > How can we improve \[product] for you? Use [Question Logic](/questions/question-logic.md) to branch on the answer to Question 1: * **"Very disappointed"** → ask what would make it even better. These are refinements — ship them. * **"Somewhat disappointed"** → ask what's missing. This group is the closest to conversion into the "very disappointed" bucket, and their answers are your roadmap. * **"Not disappointed"** → end the survey. Building for this group pulls you away from the customers who actually want you. {% hint style="info" %} This branching is the whole point of the exercise. The score tells you *whether* you have fit; the segmented open-ends tell you *how to get there*. {% endhint %} ### Question 4 — Who they are Add a **Single Choice** question asking for role, company size, or use case — whatever distinguishes your segments. You'll use this to find out which segment is driving the score. *** ## Where to run it * **On-site, targeted to logged-in users** — Use [Targeting Settings](/polls/targeting-settings.md) to reach people who have used the product enough to have an opinion. Someone who signed up yesterday can't answer honestly. * **Email to active users** — Reach people in their own time rather than interrupting a session. See [Email Zigpoll Surveys](/email-zigpoll-surveys.md). * **Triggered at a usage milestone** — Fire the survey after a customer's third order or their tenth session with a [Custom Survey Trigger](/tutorials/custom-trigger.md). {% hint style="warning" %} Only survey people who have genuinely experienced the product. Including trialists who never activated will drag your score down and tell you nothing actionable. {% endhint %} *** ## Reading your score Your PMF score is the percentage of respondents who answered **"Very disappointed."** | Score | What it means | What to do | | ------------- | --------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **40%+** | You have product-market fit | Shift focus to growth and distribution | | **25–40%** | Close | Double down on the segment that scores highest; cut the rest | | **Under 25%** | Not yet | The product or the target customer is wrong — read the "somewhat disappointed" answers | The score in aggregate is less useful than the score **by segment**. It's common to see a blended 30% that hides a 55% among one customer type and 10% among another. That 55% segment is your business; the rest is noise. Filter by your Question 4 answers in the dashboard, or ask Z-GPT Chat in the **Insights** tab to break the score down by segment for you. *** ## Making it a habit PMF is not a one-time measurement. Leave the survey running and check the score quarterly: * **Rising** — your recent work is landing with the right people. * **Flat despite shipping a lot** — you're building for the "not disappointed" crowd. * **Falling** — you're acquiring the wrong customers, which is usually a marketing problem, not a product one. Sync responses to [Google Sheets](/tutorials/sync-survey-responses-to-google-sheets.md) to chart the score over time, and use [Question Logic](/questions/question-logic.md) to post every "Very disappointed" response straight into [Slack](/integrations/slack.md) so the team sees them as they arrive. *** ## Related {% content-ref url="/pages/hMalfN8WS1TbLwlzAixD" %} [How to Prioritize Your Product Roadmap](/guides/how-to-prioritize-your-product-roadmap.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/7ah7NOivpQ5byvqk41c2" %} [How to Build Your Ideal Customer Profile](/guides/how-to-build-your-ideal-customer-profile.md) {% endcontent-ref %} {% content-ref url="/pages/YFzREtUZcgu9ROgx8E6b" %} [How to Reduce Churn and Cancellations](/guides/how-to-reduce-churn-and-cancellations.md) {% endcontent-ref %} --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.zigpoll.com/guides/how-to-measure-product-market-fit.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.