Is this customer ready for an expansion or upsell conversation?

{
  "_meta": {
    "schema": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/decision-dag.schema.json",
    "source": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com",
    "description": "DrawDecisionTree.com is a free tool for building, sharing, and embedding interactive decision trees. This file is the machine-readable export of a published decision tree. The `dsl` field contains the original source in the Decision DAG DSL; the `dag` schema is documented at the URL in `schema` above.",
    "links": {
      "interactive": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/t/drawdecisiontree/cs-expansion-signal.html",
      "embed": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/embed/path/drawdecisiontree/cs-expansion-signal",
      "dsl_reference": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/decision-tree-dsl-reference.html",
      "guides": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/guides",
      "schema_docs": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/decision-dag.schema.json",
      "author_trees": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/trees/drawdecisiontree"
    },
    "generated_at": "2026-05-29T12:05:39.263Z"
  },
  "author": {
    "handle": "drawdecisiontree",
    "first_name": "Andrew",
    "last_name": null,
    "avatar_url": "1d32d828-b6ca-40ec-bdd7-771fe7b9c36a/avatar-1778531481027.svg",
    "display_name": "Andrew"
  },
  "file": {
    "id": "3b683a0c-fe4f-465f-9b97-fec0d2caf7c0",
    "name": "Is this customer ready for an expansion or upsell conversation?",
    "public_slug": "cs-expansion-signal",
    "updated_at": "2026-05-12T16:53:43.587978+00:00",
    "url": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/t/drawdecisiontree/cs-expansion-signal.html",
    "json_url": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/t/drawdecisiontree/cs-expansion-signal/tree.json",
    "dsl_url": "https://www.drawdecisiontree.com/t/drawdecisiontree/cs-expansion-signal/tree.dag"
  },
  "meta": {
    "description": "Evaluate whether an existing customer is ready for an upsell or cross-sell conversation and determine the right next action. Acting on expansion signals too early—before a customer has fully adopted the core product—can damage trust and accelerate churn. This tree helps you distinguish genuine expansion readiness from surface-level interest so you invest your time in opportunities with the highest probability of closing.",
    "mode": "decision",
    "entry": "Q1",
    "tags": [
      "customer success",
      "expansion",
      "upsell",
      "revenue growth",
      "account management"
    ],
    "image": "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1460925895917-afdab827c52f?w=1200&q=80"
  },
  "questions": [
    {
      "id": "Q1",
      "text": "Has the customer achieved deep adoption of their current subscription—meaning most licensed seats are active and core features are being used regularly?"
    },
    {
      "id": "Q2",
      "text": "Is the customer's usage approaching the limits or caps of their current plan—such as seat counts, data volume, API calls, or feature tier thresholds?"
    },
    {
      "id": "Q3",
      "text": "Is your primary champion a senior leader—director level or above—with direct budget authority or the ability to influence procurement decisions?"
    },
    {
      "id": "Q4",
      "text": "Has a specific trigger event occurred—such as a significant new hire, a new team adopting the product, a new use case identified, or a strategic initiative that your product directly supports?"
    }
  ],
  "outcomes": [
    {
      "id": "PURSUE_NOW",
      "label": "Pursue Expansion Now"
    },
    {
      "id": "NURTURE",
      "label": "Nurture for Next Quarter"
    },
    {
      "id": "INTRO_SALES",
      "label": "Introduce to Sales Team"
    },
    {
      "id": "ADOPT_FIRST",
      "label": "Focus on Adoption First"
    }
  ],
  "dsl": "dag: Is this customer ready for an expansion or upsell conversation?\nversion: 1.0.0\nimage: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1460925895917-afdab827c52f?w=1200&q=80\ndescription: Evaluate whether an existing customer is ready for an upsell or cross-sell conversation and determine the right next action. Acting on expansion signals too early—before a customer has fully adopted the core product—can damage trust and accelerate churn. This tree helps you distinguish genuine expansion readiness from surface-level interest so you invest your time in opportunities with the highest probability of closing.\ntags: customer success, expansion, upsell, revenue growth, account management\nentry: Q1\n\nQ1: Has the customer achieved deep adoption of their current subscription—meaning most licensed seats are active and core features are being used regularly?\n  hint: Expansion built on a weak adoption foundation nearly always fails and damages the relationship. Before pursuing any upsell conversation, confirm that the customer is genuinely getting value from what they already purchased—check your product analytics for seat utilization, feature adoption breadth, and engagement frequency. A customer who is not fully using their current plan has no compelling reason to pay for more, and pitching expansion to them signals that you are prioritizing revenue over their success. If adoption is below 70% of licensed capacity, route this to an adoption recovery motion before returning to this tree.\n  yes -> Q2\n  no  -> [ADOPT_FIRST]\n\nQ2: Is the customer's usage approaching the limits or caps of their current plan—such as seat counts, data volume, API calls, or feature tier thresholds?\n  hint: Usage approaching a plan limit is the clearest and most defensible expansion signal available—the customer has demonstrated need through their own behavior rather than through your persuasion. Check your billing or usage dashboard for any metrics within 80% of plan limits, and set automated alerts so you catch these signals in real time rather than reactively. A customer who is bumping against a limit is already pre-sold on needing more capacity; your job is to make the upgrade path as simple and obvious as possible. If no limits are being approached, expansion still may be warranted based on other signals—continue through the tree.\n  yes -> Q3\n  no  -> Q3\n\nQ3: Is your primary champion a senior leader—director level or above—with direct budget authority or the ability to influence procurement decisions?\n  hint: Champion seniority and budget authority are the most reliable predictors of whether an expansion conversation will convert to a closed deal in a reasonable timeframe. A champion who is enthusiastic but lacks budget authority will create a slow, frustrating process that consumes your time without a clear path to closure. Verify authority by asking your champion directly: \"Would you be the primary approver for this investment, or does this need to go through a separate budget process?\" A director or above with a stated budget is a fundamentally different expansion opportunity than an enthusiastic individual contributor with no spending authority.\n  yes -> Q4\n  no  -> [NURTURE]\n\nQ4: Has a specific trigger event occurred—such as a significant new hire, a new team adopting the product, a new use case identified, or a strategic initiative that your product directly supports?\n  hint: Trigger events are the most powerful expansion accelerators because they create a natural, time-bound business justification that does not feel like a sales pitch. Examples include: a customer hiring a new VP who wants their team on the platform, a merger or acquisition requiring integration of additional users, a new compliance requirement the customer needs to address, or a customer launching a new product line that maps to an additional module you offer. If a trigger event exists, document it carefully and use it as the opening frame of your expansion conversation—it turns a vendor-initiated ask into a customer-initiated need. Without a trigger event, expansion is still possible but requires more education and relationship investment.\n  yes -> [PURSUE_NOW]\n  no  -> [INTRO_SALES]\n\n[PURSUE_NOW]: Pursue Expansion Now\n  color: #22c55e\n  description: All signals align for an immediate expansion conversation—adoption is deep, usage signals are strong, your champion has authority, and a compelling trigger event provides a natural business justification. Schedule an expansion-focused meeting within the next two weeks, framed around the trigger event and the customer's stated goals rather than your revenue targets. Prepare a specific expansion proposal that quantifies the value of the additional investment using the customer's own success metrics as the baseline. Coordinate with your AE to determine the commercial structure and whether this is a CSM-led expansion or requires a formal sales-assisted motion.\n  code: CS_EXP_PURSUE_NOW\n\n[NURTURE]: Nurture for Next Quarter\n  color: #3b82f6\n  description: The expansion opportunity is real but the timing or champion authority is not yet right—invest in relationship building and value demonstration now to position for a stronger conversation next quarter. Introduce your champion to peer customers or community resources that expand their vision of what is possible with your product, planting seeds for future use cases without applying premature commercial pressure. Set a CRM reminder to reassess expansion readiness in 60–90 days and establish what specific milestone—a promotion, a new team, a renewed budget cycle—would trigger the conversation. Use this period to identify and build relationships with additional stakeholders who may have budget authority or a complementary use case.\n  code: CS_EXP_NURTURE\n\n[INTRO_SALES]: Introduce to Sales Team\n  color: #f59e0b\n  description: This customer has genuine expansion potential and the right signals, but the opportunity requires a formal sales motion that goes beyond the typical CSM-led expansion conversation. Make a warm introduction between your champion and the appropriate AE within five business days, providing the AE with a comprehensive account brief covering the customer's current use, the identified expansion opportunity, the champion's seniority and authority, and any relevant trigger events or business context. Stay closely involved as the trusted relationship layer during the sales process to ensure the customer experience remains cohesive and the expansion conversation reinforces rather than undermines your ongoing CSM relationship. Monitor the opportunity in your CRM and check in with the AE weekly to ensure the handoff leads to a closed deal.\n  code: CS_EXP_INTRO_SALES\n\n[ADOPT_FIRST]: Focus on Adoption First\n  color: #f97316\n  description: This customer is not yet ready for an expansion conversation—pursuing upsell now would undermine trust and signal that you are prioritizing revenue over their success. Immediately build or refresh a 30-day adoption acceleration plan with specific feature adoption milestones, targeted enablement sessions, and a clear definition of what \"fully adopted\" looks like for this customer's use case. Schedule a dedicated enablement call within the next week to understand what is blocking deeper usage and remove any friction points with product, documentation, or training resources. Return to this expansion evaluation tree once the customer reaches at least 70% seat utilization and has demonstrated regular engagement with the product's core value-driving features.\n  code: CS_EXP_ADOPT_FIRST\n"
}