expansion-playbook

name	expansion-playbook
description	Expansion and upsell playbook: identify expansion signals, craft upsell narrative, handle pricing and upgrade conversations for CS-led revenue growth

Expansion Playbook Skill

When to activate

• You've spotted signals that a customer is ready to expand (usage growth, new use cases, team growth)
• Preparing for an expansion conversation in a QBR or renewal call
• Building a playbook for your CS team to consistently identify and capture upsell opportunities
• Handling a customer who asks "can we do more?" without knowing how to structure the response
• Designing an expansion motion for your CS team — who identifies, who sells, how to hand off

When NOT to use

• Cold prospects — this is a retention-to-revenue skill, not a prospecting skill
• Accounts that are RED health — fix health before expanding
• Customers with less than 3 months tenure — too early; let them get value first
• Expansion conversations where the customer has explicitly said they have no budget

Instructions

Expansion signal identification

Identify expansion signals in this customer account.

Customer: [Company]
Current ARR: $[X]
Expansion potential: [additional seats / add-ons / tier upgrade / new teams / new geographies]
Tenure: [X months]
Health: [GREEN / YELLOW]

Usage signals that indicate readiness to expand:
(Check which apply to this customer)

SEAT EXPANSION SIGNALS:
□ Seat utilisation > 85% (approaching license limit)
□ Multiple users sharing one login (visible in audit logs)
□ Customer has asked "can we add more users?"
□ New hires joining team that uses your product
□ Customer's headcount is growing (check LinkedIn, job posts)

USE CASE EXPANSION SIGNALS:
□ Customer is using product for a use case you didn't sell them on
□ They've asked about features in a different product tier
□ Support tickets reveal a workflow you don't yet support — they're working around it
□ They've asked if product can integrate with a new tool (signals new workflow)
□ Customer is asking about permissions, roles, or teams — signals org expansion

ORGANISATIONAL EXPANSION SIGNALS:
□ Champion's team has grown or reorganised
□ New department mentioned as a future user: "our [finance / marketing / ops] team might use this"
□ Acquisition or merger — new teams and entities to onboard
□ New geographic market — international expansion

COMMERCIAL SIGNALS:
□ Customer has increased their own revenue or headcount significantly
□ They've invested in adjacent tools (signals budget is available)
□ End-of-quarter or end-of-year budget to spend
□ They said "we wish we had [feature] in our package"

Identify which signals are present for [customer] and rank them by strength.
Produce: expansion opportunity summary with estimated ARR potential and timing.

Expansion narrative builder

Build the upsell narrative for this customer.

Customer: [Company]
Current contract: [describe — plan, seats, features they have]
Expansion opportunity: [what you want to sell them — seats / tier / add-on]
Additional ARR target: $[X]
Health: GREEN (required before this conversation)

Customer context:
- Their stated priorities this quarter: [from last QBR or check-in]
- What business outcome are they trying to achieve? [X]
- What is the expansion product or tier? [describe features they don't have]
- Why now? [what signal or moment makes this the right time?]

Build the expansion narrative using this framework:

1. ANCHOR TO THEIR SUCCESS (do not open with your product)
"Based on what you've accomplished with [current use case] — [specific result] — I want to show you what the next step looks like for teams at your stage."

2. IDENTIFY THE GAP (make them feel the problem)
"The teams I work with who are where you're heading [next stage] typically run into [specific problem] — which is something your current setup doesn't cover. Does that resonate?"

3. BRIDGE TO THE SOLUTION (your expansion offering)
"That's exactly what [expansion product / tier / seats] is designed for — [specific capability that solves the gap]."

4. QUANTIFY THE VALUE (ROI, not features)
"For a team your size, this typically [saves X hours / generates $Y / reduces Z errors]. Given your volume of [specific metric], the payback is usually inside [X months]."

5. MAKE THE ASK (clear, not vague)
"I'd like to propose adding [X seats / upgrade to X tier / add X capability] before [renewal / end of quarter / before you launch Y]. Can we walk through the details in our next call?"

Craft the specific narrative for [customer] based on their context.
Include: 3 objection responses for [price / timing / internal approval].

Pricing conversation framework

Prepare me for the pricing and negotiation portion of an expansion conversation.

Expansion ask: [seats / tier / add-on]
Quoted price: $[X] additional ARR
Customer context: [their ARR, tenure, relationship strength, budget signals]
Likely objection: [too expensive / not in budget / need approval / "what discount can you give me"]

Pricing conversation principles:
- Never lead with a discount — anchor high and give ground strategically
- Frame pricing in terms of ROI, not cost
- Defend list price with value, not stubbornness
- Discount has to be earned by something: commit to annual, pay upfront, increase seats further

Objection scripts:

"It's too expensive."
Response: "I hear you. Let me flip the framing — at [list price], the ROI calculation based on [their use case] is [X:1]. At what price point does this become an obvious yes? That tells me if we're talking about a value gap or a budget gap, and I can address each differently."
Do not: immediately drop the price.

"We don't have budget right now."
Response: "That's completely fair — when does your budget cycle reset? And is this something that would need to go through [finance / procurement] or can you move on it within your existing discretion?"
The goal: understand if it's a timing issue or a no. "Not now" is different from "not ever."

"I need to get approval."
Response: "Of course — who else needs to be part of this decision? I'd love to join you for that conversation or put together a business case document you can use internally."
Then: offer to write the internal justification for them. It removes friction and keeps you in control of the narrative.

"Can you give me a discount?"
Response: "I can look at what's possible — a few things typically create flexibility for us: committing to annual billing, adding more seats than the minimum, or signing before end of quarter. Which of those work for you?"
This turns a discount request into a negotiation that gives you something in return.

"We want to wait until renewal."
Response: "Totally understand. One thing worth knowing: if you add [seats / tier] before renewal, you lock in current pricing and start getting [benefit] immediately. At renewal, pricing may adjust. Not a pressure tactic — just want you to have the full picture."

Prepare the pricing conversation for my specific situation.

CS-to-sales handoff for large expansions

Prepare the expansion handoff from CS to the sales team.

Customer: [Company]
Current ARR: $[X]
Expansion ARR target: $[X] (threshold for sales involvement: $[X])
Relationship owner: [CSM name]
AE to hand off to: [AE name]
Expansion opportunity: [describe the use case / expansion]
Timeline: [customer's decision timeframe]
Risk: [is there any churn risk that could complicate the expansion conversation?]

Handoff package for AE:

CUSTOMER CONTEXT
- Health score: [X] — [GREEN/YELLOW]
- Champion: [name, title, tenure at company]
- Economic buyer: [name, title]
- Key stakeholders: [who else is involved]
- History: [tenure with us, original deal context, key moments — positive and negative]

EXPANSION OPPORTUNITY
- What they want: [specific product, seats, tier]
- Why they want it: [business use case and driver]
- What triggered this: [the signal — usage, conversation, request]
- Their timeline: [when they want to move]
- Their budget process: [annual / quarterly / discretionary]

WHAT NOT TO DO
- Do not re-sell what they already have — they're a customer, not a prospect
- Do not ignore the CS relationship — the CSM stays involved through the expansion close
- Do not offer a discount without involving the CSM — it affects renewal context

SUGGESTED APPROACH
- First call: joint call with CSM + AE — warm introduction
- Frame: "I wanted to bring in [AE] because this expansion is larger than the typical CS conversation — [AE] specialises in [use case / enterprise / this tier]"
- AE leads pricing and commercial terms; CSM maintains relationship and product context
- CSM stays on the account post-close — this is not a handoff to sales permanently

INTERNAL NOTES (not shared with customer)
- Bottom line on expansion: $[X] at list; can flex to $[X] with [condition]
- Churn risk if expansion doesn't proceed: [low / medium / high]
- Case study / reference potential: [yes / no]

Produce the handoff brief and joint call agenda.

Example

User: My customer Meridian Group ($72K ARR) just told me their marketing team wants to start using our platform. We only sold to their product team originally. How do I turn this into an expansion?

Claude's expansion plan:

Signal identified: Organisational expansion — new department

This is a strong expansion signal. Marketing asking means the product team's success created internal word of mouth — that's exactly the proof point you need for the expansion conversation.

Expansion narrative for your next call:

Open with their success: "I was really glad to hear from [champion] that the marketing team has been asking about the platform. That tells me the work your product team has done is visible internally — that's exactly what we hope happens."

Identify the gap: "Marketing typically has a different workflow — they're running [campaigns / content / analytics] while your product team is doing [X]. The good news is our platform handles both, but the setup and permissions look different. Have you given marketing a preview of what you're doing yet?"

Bridge to solution: "What I'd suggest is a joint session — your product champion, two or three people from the marketing side, and me — where we walk through how the platform looks for marketing use cases specifically. From there we can figure out what the right seat count and configuration looks like for them."

Before that session:

• Find out: how many people in the marketing team? What's their primary use case? Who owns the budget — same exec sponsor or different?
• Get the champion to make an internal introduction to the marketing lead — this keeps you out of cold-outreach territory

Pricing framing: If marketing adds 8-12 seats at your standard rate, that's $18-27K additional ARR. Frame it as: "This is essentially a new team starting fresh — same rate your product team is on, which I can hold if you move before [date]."

Do not: send a pricing proposal before the joint session. The session is the discovery call for the expansion.

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