You find an expansion opportunity when a named person at the customer describes a problem your current contract does not cover, and someone there can approve spending money on it.
Where expansion opportunities turn up
Data narrows the search. Usage, seat counts, plan limits, a health score, NPS and hiring news all tell an account manager which accounts deserve a closer look. None of those numbers is an opportunity yet, because none of them says who has the problem or what solving it would be worth. Our account expansion guide puts it as three conditions that must all hold: the customer gets value now, someone has a new need, and someone can pay for it.
- The QBRAsk about the customer's next 90 days
- Support queue and CSM notesRequests for things the product doesn't do
- People around the sponsorA new leader, a colleague who keeps joining calls
- The QBRAsk about the customer's next 90 days
- Support queue and CSM notesRequests for things the product doesn't do
- People around the sponsorA new leader, a colleague who keeps joining calls
The opportunity itself turns up in conversation, usually in one of three places:
- The QBR. Once value is confirmed in the customer's measures, ask about their next 90 days and listen for a problem outside the current scope. The question: "What does your team need to get right next quarter, and who else is involved in that?"
- The support queue and the customer success manager's notes. Requests for things the product "doesn't do" often describe a second team's job. The question, put to whoever raised the ticket: "Who runs into this, and what do they do about it today?"
- The people around the sponsor. A new leader in the function, a colleague who keeps joining calls, a team the sponsor mentions in passing. The question, to the sponsor: "You mentioned the planning team. What are they struggling with this year?"
In each place the follow-up is the same: what does the problem cost them, and would the sponsor introduce you to the person who owns it?
Once a named person has described the problem, the opportunity becomes a deal. It gets staged by what the customer has said and done, like any other, and the account manager prepares each conversation with the same care as a new-business call. That preparation is a deal review, and on Replicate Labs it is a call: the account manager talks the account through with Caty, who names what is missing and plans the next conversation.
A QBR prompt card
Copy this into the QBR prep doc. Each row is one of the three conditions from the account expansion guide. The account is ready to grow only when all three answers are on file, in the customer's words.
| Condition | Ask | A real answer names | Does not count yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | "What result have you had from what you own today, and how do you measure it?" | A result from the current product, from the sponsor, with a number if they have one | A green health score |
| Need | "What does your team need to get right next quarter, and who else is involved in that?" | A problem the current contract does not cover, and the person who owns it | "They might like the analytics module" |
| Approval | "If that got solved, who would approve the spend, and is it on their list this year?" | A person who can approve, and a reason to act this year | "It goes through procurement" |
In the Arrowmere example below, Dana's answer fills the Need row and names Lee. The Approval row is still blank, which is why Sam's next ask is for the person who approves warehouse spend.
An example
This example is illustrative. Arrowmere, a fictional 600-person logistics company, has 80 seats of dispatch software. Usage data says the dispatch team is near its seat limit, so the obvious opportunity is more dispatch seats. Sam, the account manager, asks Dana, the VP of Operations, in the QBR what her team needs to get right before peak season. She says order errors, and adds that most of them start in the warehouse, where staff re-key orders by hand. That is a second team with a named problem, and a bigger opportunity than ten more seats.
Sam asks Dana for an introduction to Lee, the warehouse lead, and plans that first conversation before having it. On the call, Sam opens with what Dana said and asks Lee one question: how many hours a week does the warehouse spend re-keying orders, and what happens when one is keyed wrong? Lee estimates two people's time on re-keying, plus the cost of returns from wrong shipments. Now the deal has a need named by the person who owns it. Its next stage is a number Lee will stand behind and a conversation with whoever approves warehouse spend, which Sam asks Lee to set up.
The guide to spotting an account ready to expand covers the four groups of data signals and what confirms each one. To have every account manager prepare these conversations with Caty, see drive deal execution, or talk to us.
FAQ
Which signal shows a customer is ready to expand? In our view, the clearest signal is a person at the customer describing a new problem in their own words, with someone able to approve the spend. Data signals such as hitting a plan limit, a promoted champion or a new leader in the function point to where that conversation is most likely.
Who should find expansion opportunities, the account manager or customer success? Both, with different jobs. Customer success usually hears the early signs in adoption and support conversations. The account manager turns a named need into a deal and runs the commercial conversation. The handoff works when the CSM passes on who said what, and when.
Where should you ask about expansion in a QBR? Ask in the section on the customer's next 90 days, after value has been confirmed in their measures. Ask what they need to get right next quarter and who else is involved. A problem outside your current scope is the start of an expansion conversation. See how to run a customer QBR.
How many expansion opportunities should an account manager work at once? Only as many as have a named person and a described problem behind them. For most account managers that is one or two per strategic account at a time. The rest stay on the account plan until someone in that team raises a problem.