SaaStock Paris - How do you acquire 50k+ outbound customers in 8 years?

Inside Planity — Lessons from Antoine Puymirat, Founder & CEO

At SaaStock Paris, Antoine Puymirat, CEO of Planity, reflected on fifteen years of SaaS entrepreneurship.
From ClicRDV, his first company acquired by PagesJaunes, to Planity, now used by more than 50,000 beauty and wellness businesses, he shared the practical lessons learned in product strategy, distribution, and large-scale sales execution.

1. ClicRDV — The First Cycle of Learning

Founded in 2008, ClicRDV offered a white-label online booking module for multiple verticals (hairdressers, garages, doctors).
The company was acquired by PagesJaunes in 2011 after three years of development.

The experience exposed several key weaknesses:

• A horizontal product with no clear focus — “We were doing everything — garages, doctors, hairdressers — it was unmanageable.”
• No recognizable brand — “I had 3,500 clients, Doctolib had 300, but everyone knew Doctolib and no one knew ClicRDV.”
• No field sales force — “Everyone told me that field sales were too expensive.”
• And even a poor name choice — “No one knew how to spell ClicRDV.”

“I realized that a software product without a brand or a sales force ends up competing only on price.”

These lessons directly shaped the foundations of Planity.

2. Planity — Vertical Focus and Brand as a Barrier

Launched in 2016, Planity targeted one vertical only: beauty and wellness.
It combines a B2B software suite (calendar, POS, payment, loyalty, statistics) and a B2C booking platform.

The business model is based on a pure SaaS subscription, not commissions — a decisive choice in a recurring-relationship market:

“In beauty, clients are loyal. No salon owner wants to pay a commission every 38 days for a returning customer.”

Planity’s neutrality toward all salons has become an asset:

“Professionals don’t fear Planity because we don’t promote some partners over others.”

This alignment of interests fuels a self-reinforcing network effect: more professionals → more consumers → more visibility.

3. Sales Execution — Choosing the Field

Unlike most SaaS companies, Planity built a large field sales organization.
Today it counts about 250 sales reps, including 200 in the field daily.

“We hired people used to door-to-door sales. For them, walking into a salon is easy — it’s warm and someone greets you.”

The process is highly structured:

• Two-week training at the Planity Academy.
• Prospecting phase followed by progressive product training.
• Physical contract signing to reinforce commitment.
• Post-installation follow-up to ensure usage.

“Our real competitor is the paper agenda.”

This hands-on model has been key to winning over non-digital users and gathering first-hand market feedback.

4. Product Strategy — Pragmatism and Relevance

Product development follows a clear method:
identify features that increase sales or reduce churn.

Priorities come from two sources:

• Sales teams (“what helps close deals”),
• Customer support (“what reduces cancellations”).

“Customers often suggest solutions, but you must first understand their real problem.”

Some features exist mainly to reassure clients during sales talks.
Antoine still personally owns the product roadmap:

“I had a CPO once — he didn’t last long.”

Planity prioritizes usability and stability over feature inflation.

“We only solve problems that actually exist.”

5. International Expansion — Controlled Deployment

Planity expanded from France to Belgium and Germany.
Country selection is based on market size, digital maturity, and average salon size.

“Germany was an obvious choice — a wealthy market with very low digital penetration and larger salons.”

Expansion occurs city by city, starting with ambassador salons that use the software for free and serve as local references.

“When you show a salon owner that his competitor 200 meters away already gets 70 % of bookings online, it creates immediate momentum.”

6. External Growth — Caution Before Consolidation

Although Planity regularly reviews acquisition targets, it has not pursued any so far.
Post-2021 valuations remain inflated, and integration risks are high.

“Some companies with €2 million in ARR still ask for €30 million valuations.”

“Only 8 % of European beauty businesses are digitalized. For a fifth of the acquisition cost, we can achieve the same growth organically.”

Planity thus focuses on organic expansion as long as the market remains open.

7. Company Culture — Execution and Simplicity

The organizational culture favors practical thinking and speed of execution over formal processes.

“I don’t like people who make things complicated just to look smart.”

Planity looks for resourceful profiles who can navigate obstacles and simplify problems rather than add layers of complexity.

“I prefer people who are a bit lazy — they find the fastest way to solve a problem.”

This philosophy was forged after seeing how bureaucracy slowed innovation at PagesJaunes:

“Complexity spreads when you don’t actively fight it.”

8. Key Takeaways

1. Brand is a long-term moat.‍

“There’s no value in technology alone. What matters is brand and traffic.”

2. Field sales still work.

“Field sales are expensive — but not having them costs even more.”

3. Keep the product simple and useful.

“Not everything we build is used by everyone, but everything used must work perfectly.”

4. Grow organically before consolidating.