Why Isn't My Customer Using the Features They Paid For?
When a customer isn't using features they paid for, some of those features came in the bundle and nobody on their side needs them, and some were bought for a task the product hasn't taken over yet. Sort the features into the ones bought for a reason and the ones that came in the bundle. Then find the task and the person behind each unused feature that was bought for a reason.
They renewed last year. They come to the QBR. They use a handful of the features they bought, and everyone in the meeting is polite about it.
What Does Low Feature Usage Tell Me?
The usage slide goes up and nobody comments on it. The number tells you which parts of the product replaced something the customer already had to do, and which parts never entered anyone's routine.
That pattern is normal across software. Pendo's 2019 Feature Adoption Report, built from usage data across hundreds of products, found daily use concentrated in a small core of features, with many features rarely or never used. In your account, check whether the features in daily use are the ones that took over a task, such as a spreadsheet, a manual step, or an older tool.
Andrew Burton-Jones and Detmar Straub, in a 2006 study in Information Systems Research, had accounting students build a financial model in Excel. Time spent in the software was linked to worse results on the task. Use of the features built for that kind of analysis was linked to better results. They concluded that the choice of usage measure can reverse the conclusion a study reaches.
On your usage slide, give time in the product little weight and look for use of the features tied to the task each one was bought for.
Which Features Did the Customer Buy the Product For?
Some features were the reason for the purchase. Someone had a specific problem, the feature addressed it, and the business case was built on it. Others arrived as part of the package, and nobody inside the account has ever needed them.
Go back to the deal. The business case, the demo recording, the notes from the last renewal. List the two or three capabilities the buyer asked about by name. Put everything else on a second list.
Now compare the lists with the usage report. If the on-purpose features are in use, the account is getting what it bought, and the low overall number is mostly bundle. If an on-purpose feature is sitting unused, you've found the gap that matters, and it is narrow enough to work on.
Who Was the Unused Feature Supposed to Help?
Each unused on-purpose feature was supposed to change a specific task for a specific person. Someone was going to stop building a report by hand, stop emailing approvals, or stop keeping a list in a spreadsheet. That person is still doing it the old way.
Write the task and the person's name next to each unused on-purpose feature. If you can't name the person, that is the first thing to find out.
Why Don't Webinars and In-App Tips Fix Low Usage?
A webinar, an in-app tip, and a "did you know" email all add information about the feature. The person whose task was supposed to change may already know the feature exists, and more information about it doesn't change how they do that task.
ChurnZero's guide to low- and mid-touch feature adoption, by Emily Nesterick, starts from the customer's goal. It groups accounts by which usage pattern puts their stated goal at risk and keeps the customer focused on the smallest set of features that reaches it.
When Is Low Feature Usage Fine?
If the features the customer bought on purpose are in daily use, and the outcome they bought them for is showing up, the unused bundle can wait. A customer who uses three features to run a process that used to take a week has gotten what they paid for.
It stops being fine at renewal if someone on their side adds up the unused seats or modules and asks what they are paying for. Know the answer before they ask. The on-purpose list, with the outcome next to each feature, is that answer.
Should I Tell the Customer Their Usage Is Low?
Yes, and early, framed around the task. A customer who hears about unused features for the first time from their own finance team at renewal may trust the rest of your numbers less.
Laura Arpan and David Roskos-Ewoldsen tested the order of disclosure in a 2005 experiment in Public Relations Review. Participants read about an organization's crisis. When the organization broke the news about itself before another party did, participants rated it as more credible. A path analysis also linked breaking the news first, along with prior involvement with the organization, to judging the crisis less severe.
Their scenario was a corporate crisis, far larger than a usage gap, so the finding speaks to who raises a problem first. Raise the gap before the customer's finance team does.
Show them the on-purpose features first, used or not. Then say which task each one was meant to take over and ask whether that task still matters to them. Some won't, because priorities changed after the purchase. That is useful to know, and it tells you which features to stop pushing.
What Should I Ask at the QBR?
Back in the QBR, skip the feature tour. Ask about tasks. Which task has the product fully taken over, with the old way switched off, and which task should it take over next?
Listen for the second half of the answer.
If the customer names the next task, agree on who owns it and when it starts. Follow up on that one task until it moves.
If they can name the first task and not the next, bring out your on-purpose list and propose one.
If they can't name any task the product has fully taken over, the account is drifting, whatever the login count says. It needs attention before the renewal conversation starts.
Bring the on-purpose list, with the task and person beside each feature, to the next QBR you run.
References & Related Reading
- The 2019 Feature Adoption Report, Pendo, 2019.
- Reconceptualizing System Usage: An Approach and Empirical Test, Andrew Burton-Jones and Detmar W. Straub, Information Systems Research, 2006.
- Stealing Thunder: Analysis of the Effects of Proactive Disclosure of Crisis Information, Laura M. Arpan and David R. Roskos-Ewoldsen, Public Relations Review, 2005.
- Shackled to the Status Quo: The Inhibiting Effects of Incumbent System Habit, Switching Costs, and Inertia on New System Acceptance, Greta L. Polites and Elena Karahanna, MIS Quarterly, 2012.
- A Quick-Start Guide To Low- and Mid-Touch Feature Adoption, Emily Nesterick, ChurnZero, 2020 (updated 2026).
- The What, Why, and How of Customer Adoption, Gainsight, 2026.
