The Expansion Signals You’re Also Missing

Last week I wrote about how most CS teams are flying blind to the signals that actually drive revenue.

I covered the trends and signals that Customer Success Leaders can look towards which can help drive retention. In this week’s article we will cover key signals that can help you drive expansion. 

💸 The Expansion Signals You’re Also Missing

Not every signal is a red flag, many are green lights for revenue growth. Here are some key signals that can indicate there is growth opportunities within your account base. 

1. Cross-Team Logins

• Suddenly there are new users from a different department or region.

• Why it matters: This is often how land-and-expand motions start.

• Tip: Make sure to track the team names or departments which are using your application in your CRM or CSP.  Your data hygiene and depth is key to tracking expansion opportunities. 

2. Time-Based Expansion Triggers

• Think anniversaries, contract milestones, feature unlock windows.

• Why it matters: These are the natural points where accounts are primed for more value. Know when your customers budget planning cycle is. Get ahead of that conversation to see how additional budget can be procured in order to expand the value you are creating into additional use cases. 

3. High Response Rate to Enablement

• Teams that attend your webinars, reply to your walkthroughs, or complete trainings are leaning in.

• Why it matters: These customers are investing in the relationship, they’re open to more. Always track these signals and make sure you are aligned with marketing. 

4. Know your TAM 

• For each customer you should know what the TAM (Total Addressable Market) is within that company. For example, if you are selling a Conversational Intelligence tool that should be used for any customer facing team and one of your customers bought 30 seats just for the North America Sales team. But the total customer facing team worldwide that could use your product is 180 - you still have 150 people to sell into!!!

• TIP: Track how many seats they purchased and the TAM available in your CRM. The difference between these fields gives you a quick way to find the largest potential expansion opportunities. 

CS isn’t just about relationships. It’s about reading the revenue room.

And revenue rooms speak in signals, not shouts.

Train your team to spot the subtle shifts, before they turn into surprises.

The best CS orgs don’t react to expansion. They seek them. They anticipate them. They use data to feed into their expansion playbooks.