Customer Expansion Playbook Builder
Audience: Customer Success and Account Management teams responsible for net revenue retention and expansion revenue.
Goal: Create expansion roadmaps, QBR templates with upsell hooks, and conversation frameworks that surface upgrade opportunities naturally.
Conversation Starter
Use AskUserQuestion to gather initial context. Begin by asking:
"I'll help you create an expansion playbook to grow revenue from existing customers.
Please provide:
- Product/Service: What do you sell? What are your upsell/expansion tiers?
- Current Customers: How many? What's average contract value?
- Expansion Opportunities: Additional seats? Higher tiers? Add-on products?
- Success Metrics: How do you measure customer health/success?
- Current Process: Do you have QBRs? Who owns expansion?
I'll create expansion roadmaps and playbooks tailored to your model."
Required Deliverables
1. Expansion Roadmap Template
| Month | Phase | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Foundation | Complete onboarding, establish metrics, identify champions |
| 3-4 | Value Realization | First QBR with ROI data, introduce expansion options |
| 5-6 | Expansion Close | Formal proposal, negotiate, close |
Roadmap Components:
- Current state snapshot (contract value, tier, seats, health score)
- Expansion opportunities with triggers, value, timeline, owner
- Monthly milestones with specific deliverables
2. QBR Template with Expansion Hooks
See assets/qbr-conversations.yaml for complete template.
QBR Agenda (45-60 min):
| Section | Duration | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Success Metrics | 15 min | Goals vs results, usage stats, ROI summary |
| Roadmap & New | 10 min | New features with expansion hooks |
| Challenges | 15 min | Questions to surface expansion opportunities |
| Next Quarter | 10 min | Action items + expansion discussion |
3. Expansion Conversation Framework
See assets/qbr-conversations.yaml for email templates and objection handling.
Trigger Types:
| Trigger | Signal | Outreach |
|---|---|---|
| Usage | At seat limit | Add seats email |
| Behavior | Power user identified | Upgrade email |
| Time | Mid-contract | Check-in email |
Common Objections:
- "No budget" - Plan for budget cycle, pro-rate option
- "Not using what we have" - Solve adoption first
- "Discuss at renewal" - Document for later, send proposal anyway
4. Account Health Scoring
| Factor | Weight | Green (3) | Yellow (2) | Red (1) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Usage | 25% | >80% DAU | 50-80% DAU | <50% DAU |
| Engagement | 20% | <24h response | <72h response | Ghosting |
| NPS/CSAT | 15% | 9-10 | 7-8 | <7 |
| Support tickets | 15% | <2/month | 2-5/month | >5/month |
| Champion status | 15% | Active advocate | Passive | None |
| Expansion signals | 10% | Asking for more | Open to discuss | Not interested |
Expansion Readiness:
- Green Light: Usage at capacity, champion engaged, ROI documented, team growing
- Yellow Light: Usage growing, satisfied not enthusiastic, ROI unclear
- Red Light: Declining usage, unresolved issues, champion left
5. Expansion Proposal Template
## EXPANSION PROPOSAL: [Customer Name]
### Executive Summary
Based on [trigger], we recommend [expansion type].
- **Current:** [Tier/Seats/Value]
- **Proposed:** [New Tier/Seats/Value]
- **Additional Investment:** $[X]/year
### Why Now
- [Trigger: usage at capacity, new team, mentioned need]
- [ROI achieved: $X saved, Y hours recovered]
- [Timeline benefit before renewal]
### What You Get
| Current | Proposed | Benefit |
|---------|----------|---------|
| [Feature] | [Upgrade] | [Outcome] |
### Investment Options
| Option | Monthly | Annual | Savings |
|--------|---------|--------|---------|
| Month-to-month | $[X] | $[Y] | — |
| Annual prepay | $[X-10%] | $[Y-10%] | 10% |
### Next Steps
1. Review proposal
2. 15-min call: [Calendar link]
3. Sign amendment
4. Implementation in [X] daysOutput Format
# CUSTOMER EXPANSION PLAYBOOK: [Company Name]
## SECTION 1: Expansion Roadmap Template
[6-month milestone plan]
## SECTION 2: QBR Template
[Quarterly review with expansion hooks]
## SECTION 3: Expansion Conversations
[Trigger emails and objection handling]
## SECTION 4: Health Scoring
[Account health indicators]
## SECTION 5: Expansion Proposal Template
[Ready-to-customize proposal]
## IMPLEMENTATION CHECKLIST
[ ] Set up usage alerts for expansion triggers
[ ] Schedule QBRs with top 20% of accounts
[ ] Identify expansion-ready accounts this quarter
[ ] Train CSMs on expansion conversationsQuality Standards
- Trigger-based: Every outreach tied to specific data point
- Template-ready: Copy/paste emails with variables
- ROI-focused: Tie expansion to documented value
- Non-pushy: Expansion as natural next step, not hard sell