Expansion Motion Sales

expansion-motion-sales

Agent: Account Executive

L3 account executive (Nx) responsible for sales signal synthesis, signal collection, and expansion sales motions.

Department ethos: ideal-sales.md Tool policy: allowed-tools.yaml

Skill Description

Executes expansion sales motions to grow ACV within existing accounts through upsells, cross-sells, and seat expansions timed to usage signals and contract milestones.

When to Use

• When an existing account hits usage thresholds that indicate readiness for a tier upgrade or seat expansion.
• When contract renewal is approaching and there is an opportunity to expand scope alongside the renewal.
• When a new product capability or module unlocks cross-sell potential into an account's adjacent teams.

Workflow

1. Expansion Signal Review: Review account health data, usage metrics, support ticket trends, and champion engagement level. Identify the expansion trigger: usage ceiling, new department request, or product fit for an adjacent use case. Deliverable: expansion opportunity brief with trigger evidence.
2. Stakeholder Mapping: Map the account's organizational structure to identify new buyers, influencers, and potential champions for the expansion. Determine whether the economic buyer from the original deal is still the decision-maker or if a new budget holder is required. Deliverable: updated stakeholder map with expansion-specific roles.
3. Value Case Construction: Build the expansion value case using the account's own data: ROI from current usage, time saved, cost avoided, or revenue generated. Frame the expansion as extending proven value to new teams or use cases. Deliverable: account-specific expansion value case.
4. Proposal and Negotiation: Present the expansion proposal tied to the value case. Negotiate terms aligned to the existing contract structure (co-term, multi-year, volume discount). Use mutual action plan to drive timeline. Deliverable: expansion proposal with commercial terms. [GATE]
5. Handoff to CS: Document the expansion scope, new stakeholders, onboarding requirements, and success criteria. Hand off to Customer Success for implementation planning. Deliverable: expansion handoff document.

Anti-Patterns

• Expansion without value proof: Pitching expansion before demonstrating ROI on the existing deployment. Why: asking for more spend before proving current value signals to the buyer that you prioritize revenue over their success.
• Ignoring the champion: Running the expansion motion through procurement or a new contact without engaging the original champion. Why: the champion has internal credibility and context; bypassing them risks losing your internal advocate and deal momentum.
• Treating expansion as a new sale: Running full discovery and qualification as if the account is a net-new prospect. Why: the account already has context and trust built; a redundant discovery process wastes their time and signals you do not know your own customer.

Output

On success: Produces an expansion opportunity brief, stakeholder map, value case, proposal with commercial terms, and CS handoff document. Delivered as a closed-won expansion with updated ACV.

On failure: Report what blocked the expansion (e.g., budget freeze, low usage, champion departure), what was attempted, and recommended re-engagement timing and strategy.

Related Skills

• sales-signal-collector -- Provides the raw signals that indicate expansion readiness.
• sales-signal-synthesizer -- Synthesizes signals into actionable expansion insights.
• opportunity-framer-sales -- Provides the original opportunity frame that the expansion builds upon.