t0ddc3by/claude-for-customer-success/expansion-signal

/renewals:expansion-signal [VALIDATED]

Surface and qualify expansion signals in a renewal account. Every signal found here is a lead until proven otherwise.

Use when

• You are researching an account for expansion opportunities before a renewal or QBR
• You need to identify and qualify seat growth, usage expansion, product tier upsell, or cross-sell signals in a specific account
• An adoption milestone has occurred and you want to evaluate whether it unlocks an expansion conversation
• You need to map each expansion signal to a qualification tier and a recommended TARO play before engaging the account or routing to the AE
• You want to confirm whether an account is at Pipeline-ready or Qualified tier before involving an AE in a commercial conversation

Downstream dependency: After this skill produces qualified expansion signals, use the CSM plugin's expansion-business-case skill to build the formal business case document for AE engagement (if the csm plugin is installed, run /csm:expansion-business-case).

Do NOT use for

• Accounts with active churn risk signals — run /renewals:risk-assessment first; expansion pursuit on at-risk accounts damages trust and is counterproductive
• GRR or renewal-rate forecasting — expansion ARR is never included in GRR calculations
• Moving an expansion opportunity into NRR pipeline without a qualifying economic buyer conversation — this skill identifies and qualifies signals; formal pipeline entry requires AE involvement
• Post-churn expansion analysis — use /renewals:churn-rca
• Quick renewal status checks without an expansion research goal — use /renewals:executive-summary

Typical Activation

/renewals:expansion-signal Acme Corp — full expansion signal audit across all six signal types with qualification tier and TARO play recommendations

/renewals:expansion-signal Acme Corp --quick — targeted pass for highest-probability signal before a renewal call

/renewals:expansion-signal --catalog — list all detectable signal types for your configured pricing model

Pre-flight

Read both configuration files before analyzing any account:

1. ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-customer-success/renewals/CLAUDE.md
2. ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-customer-success/company-profile.md

If either file is missing or contains [PLACEHOLDER] markers in the pricing, renewal book, or methodology sections, stop and route to /renewals:cold-start-interview. Without pricing model, product structure, and configured NRR target, expansion signal outputs will be untethered from your actual commercial posture.

Fields read from config:

• Pricing model (per seat / usage-based / flat fee / tiered / hybrid)
• Product line or tier structure (from company profile)
• NRR target
• Customer segments and average deal size
• AE partner (for expansion handoff routing)
• Configured TARO playbook sources / SuccessCOACHING methodology flag

G-code dependency: All G-code guardrails referenced in this skill (G1–G9) are defined in the CLAUDE.md config loaded above. If Pre-flight halts or config is missing, G-codes are undefined — do not proceed with partial config.

Reasoning Protocol

Before generating output, apply these primers:

1. CLASSIFY: What type of expansion signal request is this?

• Seat/Usage Capacity: Quantitative signal — active users near licensed seats or usage approaching contracted volume. Data-driven, often auto-surfaced by CS Platform.
• Feature/Tier Upsell: Qualitative signal — customer requesting higher-tier features, expressing feature gaps in tickets or calls, or fully adopting current tier.
• Cross-Sell / Multi-Product: Adjacent product opportunity — customer solving a problem manually or with a competitor tool that your product line addresses.
• Geographic/Organizational Expansion: Structural signal — new offices, M&A activity, separate business units, or teams evaluating independently.
• At-Risk Account with Expansion Signals: Mixed signal — expansion indicators coexist with churn risk. Requires triage: renewal risk addressed before expansion pursuit.

1. CONSTRAINTS: What limits the solution space?

• G2: Expansion ARR is not counted until an economic buyer has been qualified — every signal is tagged [early signal — not yet qualified] until formal pipeline entry. Non-negotiable.
• G4: AE routing is mandatory for any signal reaching Qualified tier — the CSM owns signal identification and qualification handoff; the AE owns commercial conversion.
• G5: ARR potential estimates, contract terms, and qualification tiers are internal-only. Confidentiality check required before any output leaves the CSM's view.
• G7: Flag stale data with source date — CRM >7 days, CS Platform >3 days. Never silently omit a data gap.
• Pricing model from config constrains which signal types apply (usage-based expansion is irrelevant for flat-fee accounts).

1. EXPERT CHECK: What would a veteran renewals manager verify first?

• Is there active churn risk on this account? If yes, expansion signals are deferred until the account is stabilized — run /renewals:risk-assessment first.
• Is the signal coming from a champion or an economic buyer? Champion enthusiasm alone never upgrades qualification tier — apply the Champion vs. Buyer Test.
• Does the 90-day trend support the signal, or is this a point-in-time anomaly? A single data point is anecdotal; three consecutive months of directional signal is a pattern.

1. ANTI-PATTERNS: Common mistakes to avoid:

• Treating a seasonal usage spike as sustained growth — require 90-day trend confirmation before qualifying as pipeline-ready.
• Conflating feature frustration with purchase intent — a customer saying "why can't you do X?" is a support issue first, expansion signal second.
• Pursuing expansion on a Red account — expansion conversations on accounts with active churn risk feel tone-deaf and damage trust.
• Presenting ARR potential estimates as committed pipeline — all pre-proposal estimates are [Low Confidence] and must be labeled as such.
• Routing to AE at early signal stage — premature AE involvement wastes AE time and pressures the customer relationship. Route at pipeline-ready, not before.
• Assuming M&A or org expansion equals product expansion — the new entity may have existing vendor relationships or independent budget authority.

After execution, verify:

• Does each signal have a qualification tier with explicit justification for the tier assignment?
• Are all ARR potential figures tagged [Low Confidence] unless a formal proposal exists?
• Is the output mode (--deep / --quick / --catalog) matched to the actual need?
• Confidence: [High] if 2+ live sources corroborate signals / [Medium] if single-source or partially stale / [Low] if user-provided context only — state which.

Mode

--deep (default): Full signal audit across all expansion domains with qualification tier assignment, TARO play mapping, and recommended next actions. Pulls live data when connectors are available.

--quick: Targeted pass — asks 4–5 focused questions to surface the highest- probability expansion signal in the account and recommend one immediate action. Use when you have limited prep time before a renewal call.

--catalog: List all expansion signal types the skill can detect for the configured pricing model, with descriptions and qualifying questions for each. Use to educate the team or build a pre-call checklist.

Account identification and data pull

Ask: "Which account are you researching for expansion signals? Provide the account name, and tell me ARR, renewal date, and current product tier/license count if you have them."

If a CRM connector is available, pull:

• Current ARR and product tier
• Contract seat count or usage limit
• Contract start date and renewal date
• Expansion history (prior upsell or cross-sell events and dates)
• Open expansion opportunities in pipeline

If a CS Platform connector is available, pull:

• Active user count vs. licensed seat count
• Product feature adoption breadth (which modules are in use)
• Team or department breakdown of active users
• Usage trend (growing / flat / declining) over last 90 days
• Any usage-based overage or approaching limit signals

Confirm data pull before proceeding:

"[CRM + CS Platform]: [account name] · $[ARR] ARR · [N] licensed seats / [N]

active users · [module adoption] · data as of [timestamp]"

Signal catalog — six expansion types

Evaluate each signal type based on data pulled or user input.

1. Seat expansion

• Active users approaching or exceeding licensed seat count
• New team members onboarded since last renewal not yet on license
• Departments using product via shared credentials (workaround for unlicensed seats)
• Recent hiring activity in teams using the product

Qualifying question to surface: "Are there users at this account accessing the product outside of licensed seats, or departments that would benefit from access but aren't currently licensed?"

2. Usage-based expansion (usage-model accounts only)

• Usage approaching or exceeding contracted volume limit
• Recent consumption spike vs. prior period
• Seasonal usage pattern suggesting coming overage
• Usage growing faster than contracted tier covers

Qualifying question: "Their usage is at [N]% of contracted volume — have you discussed an upgrade conversation or are they managing to stay under the cap?"

3. Product tier or feature upsell

• Core tier features fully adopted; advanced tier features not unlocked
• Customer requesting features that exist in a higher tier
• Feature gap expressed in support tickets or CSM notes
• Recent product release unlocking new tier features customer has expressed interest in

Qualifying question: "Which features are they asking about that they don't currently have access to?"

4. Multi-product or cross-sell

• Adjacent product line that addresses a problem mentioned in calls or QBRs
• Integration between current product and a new product line customer could benefit from
• Customer currently solving a problem with a competitor product or manual process

that your product line addresses

Qualifying question: "Is there a workflow they're handling manually or with a point solution that [product] could replace?"

5. Geographic or team expansion

• New office, region, or subsidiary not yet on the product
• M&A activity — acquisition target not yet onboarded
• Separate team or business unit at the same company evaluating independently

Qualifying question: "Are there other teams or offices at this account that aren't currently on the product?"

6. Professional services or implementation

• Complex use case mentioned that requires configuration or integration support
• Customer building internal workarounds that a services engagement could replace
• Expansion of use case scope that warrants a new implementation project

Qualifying question: "Are they building something internally that your PS team would normally handle?"

Qualification tier assignment

For each signal identified, assign a qualification tier: