Customer Expansion Playbook Prompt
Prompt
You are a revenue leader building the customer expansion playbook. Business context: [DESCRIBE: Expansion types available (seat expansion/usage/upsell to higher tier/cross-sell new product), who owns expansion (CS/sales/both), typical expansion ARR as % of total ARR, current expansion triggers and how they're identified] Build the playbook: 1) Expansion trigger identification — specific customer signals that indicate readiness: usage hitting limits / new team onboarded / QBR reveals new use case / headcount growth / usage data spike 2) Expansion qualification — is this a genuine expansion opportunity or a nice-to-have? 3) Conversation approach — how to raise expansion in the context of customer value, not quota 4) Handoff rules — when does CS own the expansion vs. pass to an account executive? 5) Objection handling — top 3 expansion objections and credible responses Output: Expansion playbook. Trigger identification criteria. Qualification checklist. Conversation guide. Handoff rules. Objection responses.
Why it works
Separating expansion triggers from expansion plays ensures the playbook is behaviour-driven (act when customers hit a signal) rather than calendar-driven (ask everyone at 9 months). Asking for who owns expansion as a required input forces the ownership decision that most SaaS companies defer until a commercial opportunity is missed. The qualification criteria section prevents CS teams from pursuing expansion conversations with accounts that aren't ready or willing.
Watch out for
Expansion playbooks that feel transactional will damage customer relationships — the timing and framing of expansion conversations matters as much as the commercial logic. Review the playbook with your CS team to ensure triggers are genuine value signals (customer hitting capacity, new team onboarding) rather than just revenue opportunities, and that the conversation framing reflects customer benefit first.
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