Build an Account Expansion Plan

Customer Success, Sales Leader, Sales Representative.

• Quarterly account planning for top accounts.
• When an account is healthy but flat.

• What the account owns today and what they pay
• Org structure or teams you do and do not touch
• Their stated goals for the year, if known

Best for one task. Copy it, add your information, and run it in your AI assistant.

You are an account strategist. Here is an existing customer: [paste what they own, usage, teams touched, goals]. Build an expansion plan: the two most credible expansion paths and why, the roles we need to reach for each, the trigger event that would make each path timely, the first three plays with owners, and the honest reason each path might fail. Base it on what they already get value from. Do not propose selling them everything.

Best for repeatable work. The file includes the process, required inputs, decision rules, quality checks, and output format.

---
name: build-account-expansion-plan
description: A plan for growing one existing account: where the whitespace is, who to reach, and the first three plays.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: The Revenue AI Report
  version: 1.0.0
  last-reviewed: 2026-09-04
  source: https://www.therevenueaireport.com/skills/build-account-expansion-plan
---

# Build an Account Expansion Plan

A plan for growing one existing account: where the whitespace is, who to reach, and the first three plays.

## When to use this skill

- Quarterly account planning for top accounts.
- When an account is healthy but flat.

## Inputs to collect

- What the account owns today and what they pay
- Org structure or teams you do and do not touch
- Their stated goals for the year, if known

## Process

1. Map what they own, use, and get value from today.
2. Generate paths. Keep only those that extend current value.
3. Assign an owner and a first step to each play.
4. Tie each path to a trigger so timing is defensible.
5. Review at the next QBR and update.

## Decision rules

- A path that does not extend existing value is a new sale, not expansion. Treat it as one.
- No trigger, no play. Wait for the timing.
- If the current deployment has open value problems, fix those before any expansion ask.

## Output requirements

- Two expansion paths with roles, triggers, and plays.
- The failure risk for each path, stated plainly.

## Quality checks

- Each path builds on proven value.
- Each play has an owner and a first step.
- Failure risks are written down, not implied.

## Limitations

- Whitespace analysis is only as good as your org knowledge. Guessy org charts produce guessy plans.
- The AI cannot know procurement constraints or internal politics at the account.

## Example input

Owns sales-cloud seats for 60 reps in North America. High usage. EMEA team of 40 uses spreadsheets. Goal stated at kickoff: one forecast process globally by year end.

## Example output

Path one: EMEA rollout tied to their stated global-forecast goal; reach the EMEA sales director; trigger is their Q4 planning cycle. Path two: add the forecasting module to NA tied to the same goal. Failure risk for path one: EMEA leadership was never part of the original decision and may see this as a NA project imposed on them.

## Review checklist

- Does each path extend current value?
- Is a trigger attached to each?
- Were failure risks said out loud?

## Works with

- Playbook: Make conversation data do work (L3) (sales, L3) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/playbooks/conversation-data-to-work-l3
- Playbook: AI first-draft renewal briefs (L1) (cs, L1) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/playbooks/cs-renewal-brief-drafts-l1
- Playbook: Score your ICP on stack density (L4) (revops, L4) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/playbooks/score-icp-on-stack-density-l4
- Tool: Totango (Customer Support & Success) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/totango
- Tool: Demandbase One (Sales & Revenue Intelligence) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/demandbase-one
- Tool: Gainsight CS (Sales & Revenue Intelligence) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/gainsight-cs
- Tool: PROS (Sales & Revenue Intelligence) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/pros
- Tool: Correlated (Sales & Revenue Intelligence) https://www.therevenueaireport.com/tools/correlated

## Rules of conduct

- Write for a Director, VP, or operator. Short sentences. Explain uncommon terms.
- Separate facts from assumptions. Never hide uncertainty.
- Do not invent numbers, benchmarks, quotes, or customer names.
- Do not send messages, change CRM records, or publish anything unless the user explicitly asks.
- Flag when a decision needs human review.

## Evidence

This skill is grounded in The Revenue AI Report research:
- https://www.therevenueaireport.com/research/trust





Source and updates: https://www.therevenueaireport.com/skills/build-account-expansion-plan

1. 1.Map what they own, use, and get value from today.
2. 2.Generate paths. Keep only those that extend current value.
3. 3.Assign an owner and a first step to each play.
4. 4.Tie each path to a trigger so timing is defensible.
5. 5.Review at the next QBR and update.

• A path that does not extend existing value is a new sale, not expansion. Treat it as one.
• No trigger, no play. Wait for the timing.
• If the current deployment has open value problems, fix those before any expansion ask.

• Two expansion paths with roles, triggers, and plays.
• The failure risk for each path, stated plainly.

Owns sales-cloud seats for 60 reps in North America. High usage. EMEA team of 40 uses spreadsheets. Goal stated at kickoff: one forecast process globally by year end.

Path one: EMEA rollout tied to their stated global-forecast goal; reach the EMEA sales director; trigger is their Q4 planning cycle. Path two: add the forecasting module to NA tied to the same goal. Failure risk for path one: EMEA leadership was never part of the original decision and may see this as a NA project imposed on them.

• Does each path extend current value?
• Is a trigger attached to each?
• Were failure risks said out loud?

What does the Build an Account Expansion Plan skill do?

A plan for growing one existing account: where the whitespace is, who to reach, and the first three plays.

Who is the Build an Account Expansion Plan skill for?

Customer Success, Sales Leader, Sales Representative. It sits at the intermediate level and takes about 30 minutes.

What do I need before I start?

Collect these first: What the account owns today and what they pay; Org structure or teams you do and do not touch; Their stated goals for the year, if known.

What is the difference between the quick prompt and the SKILL.md file?

The quick prompt is for one task. Copy it, add your information, run it. The SKILL.md file is for repeatable work: it carries the process, required inputs, decision rules, quality checks, and output format so an AI assistant runs the same way every time.

What should I check before trusting the output?

Does each path extend current value? Is a trigger attached to each? Were failure risks said out loud?

Is it free to use?

Yes. Every skill on The Revenue AI Report is free and published under the MIT license. Attribution is welcome, not required.

• Whitespace analysis is only as good as your org knowledge. Guessy org charts produce guessy plans.
• The AI cannot know procurement constraints or internal politics at the account.

Run the skill, then roll it out with a playbook. Vendor links are supporting context, not a recommendation.

• Playbook: Make conversation data do work (L3) (sales, L3 L3 Integrated)
• Playbook: AI first-draft renewal briefs (L1) (cs, L1 L1 Starter)
• Playbook: Score your ICP on stack density (L4) (revops, L4 L4 Orchestrated)
• Tool: Totango (Customer Support & Success)
• Tool: Demandbase One (Sales & Revenue Intelligence)
• Tool: Gainsight CS (Sales & Revenue Intelligence)
• Tool: PROS (Sales & Revenue Intelligence)
• Tool: Correlated (Sales & Revenue Intelligence)

• Research: trust