(Part 2 of 3 – Building SaaS from the Inside Out)
After we launched Fideltour, people kept asking:
“What’s your growth strategy?”
The truth? We didn’t have one.
At least not one that fits in a pitch deck.
We had something slower, harder to explain, but much more powerful:
a pattern.
Hotels didn’t buy the whole thing.
They bought one solution for one real problem.
And if it worked, they came back.
They came back with new questions, new needs, and more trust.
That’s how our approach emerged: don’t grow through features.
Grow in layers.
What we learned about forced growth
Too many SaaS companies design for upgrade pressure.
Few design for voluntary progression.
We didn’t sell more.
We sold better.
Because each module we activated solved something specific.
And when that happens, the client doesn’t want to lose it.
What it means to grow in layers
It means you don’t need to sell everything on day one.
You just need to solve the first thing well.
Each module is a new layer of value:
Not just a feature
Not just another pricing item
A promise delivered
The client doesn’t buy a suite.
They adopt a solution.
And if it works, they let you go further.
Our journey, layer by layer
This is how we built up value:
Start with campaigns
Add reputation
Introduce loyalty
Automate post-stay flows
Unify customer data in a hospitality CDP
No one started with everything.
But many ended up with it all.
The real shift: from suite to platform
One day we realized:
Reviews were triggering campaigns
Automations responded to real booking data
Loyalty adapted to stay history
We weren’t selling tools anymore.
We were building operational infrastructure.
That doesn’t scale with discounts.
It scales with coherence.
The lever: real sampling
No demos.
No generic trial periods.
We activated real modules, in real environments, with full support and clear goals.
If it worked, it stayed.
And the client didn’t want to turn it off.
68% of hotels that test a module end up adding it at renewal.
Customer Success doesn’t implement. It scales.
In this model, CS is not post-sale.
It’s expansion.
Their job is to:
Spot the next logical layer
Validate real impact
Turn product usage into renewal
Turn renewal into growth
What I learned as a founder
Growth isn’t pushing product. It’s designing logical paths
If you have to force the upsell, the previous layer didn’t deliver
The best upsell is the one the client initiates
Modularity is not a tech choice. It’s a go-to-market strategy
TL;DR
Growing in layers means designing a product that unfolds step by step.
Each module tells its own story.
Each layer reinforces the relationship.
Eventually, the product stops feeling like software.
It becomes part of the business.
Thank you for reading
This was part 2 of Building SaaS from the Inside Out.
If it resonated with you, I’d love to hear it.
And if you’re building something that scales through trust — not pressure — we’re moving in the same direction.
Next up:
“Value isn’t explained. It’s felt.”
How we built a product our clients don’t want to turn off.
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And thanks again for being here. 🙌