Your first 100 customers loved your product. They gave feedback, reported bugs, and even told their friends. But now, growth has slowed. Why? You’ve saturated your early adopter base. The real challenge and opportunity starts here; crossing the chasm into the mainstream market. Here are 2 tactics that can help you grow your saas efficiently.

Mainstream saas customers want proof, not hype

As Geoffrey Moore puts it in Crossing the Chasm:

“The only suitable reference for a mainstream customer is another mainstream customer.”

Early adopters are risk-tolerant and excited by novelty. The broader market, however, wants proof, polish, and predictability. They need to know your product is stable, that others like them are using it, and that it solves a clearly defined problem they’re actively trying to fix. This means refining your messaging, updating your onboarding, and doubling down on social proof.

The 2022 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey highlights the growing role of peer reviews and buying committees, with many buyers relying on review sites and recommendations during self guided journeys. As buying groups grow(often spanning 4 to 6 members or more), testimonials, case studies, and user evidence become vital for consensus and confidence.

If you’re not showcasing your best customer stories, you’re asking the mainstream to take a leap of faith, and they won’t.

Simplify the customer experience and watch behavior closely

Product wise, the broader market craves simplicity and reliability. Polish your UX. Remove edge case features that confuse. Invest in customer support that can handle non-technical users effectively.

Equally important is knowing how users actually behave once they’re inside your product. Tools like Mixpanel and Amplitude give you the data to act, not guess.

• Mixpanel’s Retention Report helps you assess how long users continue engaging with your product over time.
• Their Cohort Analysis allows you to group users by behavior and see trends in retention or churn.

These insights let you answer questions like:

• What makes users come back?
• Where are they dropping off?
• Which features correlate with long-term value?

“Customers who are engaged are not only less likely to churn, they’re more likely to become champions.”

If you're not using product analytics to guide your roadmap, you’re scaling without a compass.

Final Thoughts

Crossing the chasm isn’t about throwing more fuel on the fire, it’s about fixing the engine so it can go the distance. What was the biggest mindset shift you had to make when moving from early adopters to mainstream users? Share this post on socials and give your take.