- Make sure your tiers make sense: The features each tier unlock should be logical, with the goal being to build a "value ladder". Give your customer just enough value to be successful and show them how the higher tiers will make them even more successful
- Charge money ASAP: I've talked to a lot of SaaS startups which are in "beta" and don't want to charge money until they've built up a user base or "finish" the product to be "sellable". What they don't realize is that the quality of potential customer goes down because people don't take free things seriously. Another thing is there is valuable data around how to price your SaaS. Free trials will give you all the "beta users" you want, with a potential to convert if they find value in what you are providing.
- Get Onboarding right: The process of a customer seeing the pricing, subscribing, getting started, to the eventual goal of the customer finding value in the product and converting should have a very clear path. When a customer signs up for a free trial you need to be able to show them that your product provides the value they were looking for quickly or they will most likely wont convert. Step-by-step forms as well as actual meetings with customers can go a long way to improving conversions. A/B test this process for best results.
(I started a SaaS which makes it easier to manage a SaaS, https://servicebot.io )