Land and Expand questions/tactics

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Anthony Gaspardi
Anthony Gaspardi Member Posts: 5 Navigator
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in Strategy & Planning

Hey All,

I'm looking for some resources to help build a framework of questions and tactics to help our CSMs expand within their portfolio. I'm hoping for a little more beyond "Who else would your organization would benefit from this product?". Every industry is different, so having some general guidance as to how to build our own strategy around expansion would be really helpful.

Thanks!

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  • Michelle Wideman
    Michelle Wideman Member Posts: 54 Navigator
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    Hi @Anthony Gaspardi, a few things I've had Success with: if you understand what your triggers are for expansion: M&A, IPO, etc being able to set these triggers in a tool like ZoomInfo so you are notified when those action take place or Google alerts it shows you're paying attention to your customers needs and outlining how you can add value. Similar to this would be reviewing customer Annual Reports/Investor calls and mapping out how your product/solution can help them meet their goals/objectives.

  • Chris Menard
    Chris Menard Member Posts: 1 Navigator
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    Hello @Anthony Gaspardi. At its core, customer expansion is about understanding other areas your solution can add value. I would start with an understanding of where your customers are vs. where they could be. Do you have customer journeys built? CSM messaging can be focused on showing how you have helped other companies that look similar find additional value with you. Happy to chat if that is helpful.

  • Bob London
    Bob London Member Posts: 53 Expert
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    UBR Session with Bob London.pdf

    Here's what I use/teach as part of an overall framework for discovery.

    Hope you find it useful.

    - Bob

  • ashley_martin
    ashley_martin Member Posts: 30 Navigator
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    If you know the pain that your product is trying to solve for the customer, you can ask "who else is impacted by (challenge)?" "What effect does that have on...." "What does that result in...."

    This can be done as part of your QBR or UBR that Bob suggests. It is a perfect time to understand their current state and what challenges they are still facing. As they open up about their challenges that allows you to dive deeper and find out who else it is impacting.

  • JP
    JP Member Posts: 2 Navigator
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    To expand existing business units, identify and demonstrate additional needs. Those may be quantitative or qualitative (i.e., same offering in additional places or additional offering). That comes from understanding their needs and acting as a trusted advisor and industry expert to make them aware of solutions that could help their business.

    Expansion to additional business units usually starts with marketing success stories of a first business unit at the customer coupled with a clear value definition for the other business units that you're pitching.

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