If you’re in SaaS sales, customer success, or growth, you already know the best revenue is the kind that comes from people who already trust you. Upsell and expansion are where the real margins live. But finding the right upsell targets isn’t always obvious—especially if your data is messy or you’re relying on hunches. This guide is for anyone who wants to stop guessing and start using real data to spot upsell opportunities hiding in their customer base, using integration data from Similartech.
Let’s break down what actually works—and what doesn’t—when you try to use technology adoption data to grow your accounts.
Why Integration Data Beats Gut Feel
Before diving into the how-to, let’s get one thing straight: if you’re still relying on sales reps’ notes or a spreadsheet of “potential upsells,” you’re missing a ton. Integration data from tools like Similartech shows you what your customers are actually using—not just what they say they use.
- No more guesswork: You see the tech stack, plugins, and add-ons actually running on their sites.
- Find hidden patterns: Maybe your high-value customers all use a certain analytics tool. That’s a signal.
- Spot expansion triggers: If a customer adds a new integration you support, that’s your window to upsell.
But don’t expect magic. This isn’t about buying a list and printing money. Data is only as good as what you do with it.
Step 1: Connect Similartech and Collect the Right Data
First, get your setup in order. Similartech tracks which technologies websites are using, from chat widgets to CRMs and e-commerce platforms. To use this data for upselling, you need three things:
- A clean customer list: Names, website URLs, and—if possible—unique IDs.
- Access to Similartech’s API or export tools: Don’t just eyeball their web interface. Get structured data.
- Somewhere to join the data: Usually a CRM or a basic spreadsheet to match up your customers with their detected technologies.
Pro tip: Don’t bother with data on tech you don’t integrate with or care about. More columns aren’t better; they’re just distracting.
Step 2: Identify Integration Gaps and Expansion Triggers
Now comes the detective work. What you’re looking for are “gaps”—places where your customer could be getting more value from you, but isn’t (yet).
Integration Gaps
- You support X, but they use Y instead: If you have an integration with, say, Salesforce, but a segment of your customers is using HubSpot (and you integrate there too), that’s a cross-sell opportunity.
- They use a tool you integrate with, but not the integration: Maybe you can see they’re running Zendesk, but haven’t connected it to your platform yet.
Expansion Triggers
- They just added a new tool: If a customer recently started using something new that you support (think Shopify, Intercom, etc.), reach out with a relevant case study or integration pitch.
- Their stack is getting more complex: More tools usually means more pain—and more upsell opportunities if you can help them tie things together.
What doesn’t work: Don’t pitch integrations they’ll never use. If a customer hasn’t touched email marketing in three years, they won’t care about your Mailchimp integration.
Step 3: Prioritize Accounts with Real Revenue Potential
Not every integration gap is worth chasing. Focus your efforts.
- Look for high-usage customers: These are people who are already getting value and are more likely to expand.
- Check for company size and industry fit: Some integrations only make sense for certain segments.
- Score based on effort vs. potential: Rolling out a new integration can be a pain for the customer. The payoff has to justify the ask.
Honest take: Don’t get sidetracked by “shiny object” accounts just because their tech stack looks interesting. Stick with customers who have budget, need, and a history of buying.
Step 4: Craft a Targeted (Non-Spammy) Outreach
Here’s where most teams blow it: they spam their customer list with generic “Did you know we integrate with X?” emails. That just trains people to ignore you.
Instead: - Reference the data: “I noticed you’re using Intercom but haven’t connected it to your account—teams like yours see X% faster support response times when they do.” - Make it about their workflow, not your feature: Show how the integration solves a pain point, not just that it exists. - Keep it short and relevant: No one wants a three-paragraph sales pitch.
What to ignore: Don’t over-automate. Personalization beats scale every time when it comes to expansion.
Step 5: Track What Works—And Kill What Doesn’t
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. After you run a few campaigns:
- Measure response and conversion rates: For each type of integration or trigger, see what actually led to expansion revenue.
- Don’t be afraid to drop low-performing plays: If no one bites on a particular integration upsell, move on.
- Share learnings with your team: Even simple feedback like “customers hate switching CRMs” saves a lot of wasted effort.
Honest take: Most teams try to do too much, too soon. Start with one or two integration plays, get them right, then expand.
What Actually Works (And What’s Just Hype)
Let’s cut through it:
- Works: Using actual tech usage data to inform outreach. Customers appreciate when you’ve done your homework.
- Works: Timing your upsell pitch to when a customer’s stack changes.
- Doesn’t work: Blindly pushing every integration to every customer.
- Doesn’t work: Hoping that more data magically equals more upsells—it’s about focus, not volume.
- Ignore: Any vendor promising “automated upsell playbooks” that don’t involve real customer context.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Most of this is common sense, but it’s easy to get lost in dashboards and data dumps. Start with one or two integration signals, test your messaging, and only scale what actually moves the needle. Upsells aren’t about clever hacks—they’re about making life easier for your best customers, using real evidence instead of wishful thinking.
If you keep your approach focused, honest, and grounded in what your customers actually use, you’ll spot better upsell opportunities—and close more of them. And if something’s not working? Change it and move on. That’s the real secret.