Qualify a Customer Expansion Opportunity

Steps

1. 1

   Verify the expansion signal and current account fitness

   Read authorized usage trends, current contracted entitlements, adoption barriers, outcomes, recent contacts and customer priorities. If expansion-whitespace exists, use it to surface evidence-backed options, not as permission to upsell automatically. Distinguish a genuine new workload or buyer request from underutilization of current licenses. Note unresolved health issues that could make a pitch premature. Gate: there is a grounded customer trigger and no ignored condition making expansion irresponsible.

   V2 practical protocol:
   Signal taxonomy: capacity saturation (usage nearing contractual entitlements), new team/location, newly validated business workflow, sponsor initiative, or unmet outcome requiring a genuinely additional capability. For each record trigger, observed baseline, date, source and alternative explanation. Check current entitlement and whether fixing low adoption would serve the need at no extra purchase. Use expansion-whitespace for idea generation if accessible, but reject signals derived solely from a vendor's sales target. Health risk is a gate, not a reason to pressure the customer.

   Skills anthropics/knowledge-work-plugins · sales/skills/expansion-whitespace · github

   Expected outputs
2. 2

   Discover the new workflow and buying context

   Identify proposed users, new business process, current workaround, consequence of inaction, potential sponsor, decision maker, budget source, and deployment constraints. Test assumptions with source materials or permitted customer conversations. Check whether requested capabilities are already included in the customer's current package. Capture willingness to change the workflow, not merely theoretical interest. Gate: the proposed use case names a specific unmet problem and actual decision path.

   V2 practical protocol:
   Discovery qualification card: new user group, decision-making job, consequence of inaction, current workaround, customer-voiced urgency, value-owner and implementation owner. Distinguish explicit customer quote, indirect usage observation and seller hypothesis. Map the current decision process and whether an economic buyer agrees the pain merits budget. One positive meeting does not establish an enterprise opportunity. If discovery lacks confirmed need, classify as research rather than sales-qualified.

   Expected outputs
3. 3

   Model customer value and solution feasibility

   Estimate the incremental outcome against current baseline, not generic platform ROI. Consider affected headcount/volume, adoption costs, integration effort, support burden, data/privacy constraints and time to value. Offer conservative and upside ranges only where assumptions can be stated. Compare additional license/service sale, better current-package adoption, and doing nothing. Review technical feasibility with an FDE when relevant. Gate: the proposal does not rely on double-counted benefits or undisclosed delivery obligations.

   V2 practical protocol:
   Incremental value model: count only newly affected users, transactions or processes beyond existing entitlements. For time savings: incremental annual hours = incremental eligible events × minutes saved/event ÷ 60 × realistic adoption; convert to cash only if expenditures are genuinely avoided. For revenue: use contribution after incremental variable costs and customer-side operating burden. Compare (a) reallocation of current licensed capacity, (b) add-on licenses/services, (c) partner/workaround and (d) no change. Identify integration, migration, training, support and security costs plus time-to-value. Label modeled figures and sensitivity assumptions instead of claiming proven ROI.

   Expected outputs
4. 4

   Qualify commercial readiness honestly

   Assess buyer access, sponsorship, budget timing, urgency, priority versus alternatives, decision process, procurement/legal needs and expansion scope. Rate each dimension as confirmed, suspected or unknown rather than forcing an arbitrary numerical score. Identify disqualifiers, including low customer health or an unaddressed product deficiency. Distinguish next discovery needed from a sales-ready conversation. Gate: opportunity classification is supportable by customer evidence and decision-maker feedback.

   V2 practical protocol:
   Qualification rubric: Need (customer-confirmed pain and impact), Sponsor (access to buyer or path), Budget (funding and procurement route), Timing (real trigger/date), Feasibility (technical and change capacity), Account readiness (existing value/health). Mark Confirmed, Partial, Unknown or Contradicted for each, citing evidence. Disqualifiers include current contract already covering requested use, severe unresolved adoption/service issue, no owner for the new workflow, unacceptable security or integration constraint and no credible customer buying process. Do not average an explicit disqualifier into a flattering numeric score.

   Expected outputs
5. 5

   Prepare a precise expansion recommendation

   Create a one-page opportunity brief with problem, target users, measurable outcome, evidence, proposed scope, current entitlement gap, feasibility constraints, stakeholders, buying triggers and suggested next discussion. Recommend Qualify, Nurture, Fix Existing Value First, or Drop. Create or edit a CRM opportunity only with permission and verify accepted changes; do not treat the brief as a booked deal. Gate: the recommendation prevents a weak upsell from being passed as qualified demand.

   V2 practical protocol:
   Decision rule: Qualified only if need and sponsor are confirmed, viable implementation is supported, and budget/timing is confirmed or has a short credible validation path; Nurture if need is real but timing or authority is premature; Fix Existing Value First if unmet commitments or underadoption dominate; Drop when customer demand or economic rationale fails. Final brief: observed trigger, incremental business outcome, buyer map, entitlement gap, principal risks, evidence/confidence and one precise next customer question. CRM creation or outreach requires authorization.

   Expected outputs