The Hidden Revenue Gap: 7 Expansion Opportunities CS Teams Miss Every Quarter

Something I’ve seen everywhere I’ve ever worked… Most companies “feel” that their expansion is organic. 

“Wow, look at that, an upsell appeared! Our product really does rock, doesn’t it?” (said to no one in particular).

No. The truth no one in product likes to admit is that a lot went into that upsell. And because most of it isn’t tracked in a CRM because the activities are seemingly benign, it’s largely overlooked.

But someone noticed a signal. 

Someone did the work.

Someone had the right conversation at the right time. 

Someone, very likely, was in the right place at the right time to execute.

And here’s the real kicker: ignoring expansion activity isn’t just a missed opportunity, it’s an expensive hobby.

Right now, acquiring $1 of new ARR might cost you $1.20–$1.50 in CAC.

Expanding $1 of ARR from an existing customer? More like $0.20–$0.30. (insert eye emoji)

You’re paying 5x more to generate the same dollar because the team is “too reactive” to uncover the opportunities already sitting in their portfolio.

Expansion isn’t a bonus. It’s the efficient growth engine.

And most teams are flying past it like it’s optional. Or have given up on trying to make it happen because it feels impossible.

But, let’s talk about the seven expansion opportunities post-sale teams miss every quarter, quietly, consistently, and painfully.

These are all from previous experiences.

I’m willing to bet you’ve seen them too.

Sorry if you feel triggered.

Here we go.

1. The Silent Power User Who Wants More

Every product has that person who quietly uses your tool 4x more than the rest of the company.

This is your expansion champion.

And yet most teams never ask the simplest question:

“What else are you trying to do that we don’t support yet?”

One simple question.

But we often don’t get around to asking it because we assume usage = happiness = no work needed. So we move on to the riskier customers instead. 

2. The Team Using a Feature They Never Bought

This one hurts. 

A customer casually wanders into a premium feature, uses it every day, and the CSM thinks, “Nice, they’re engaged!”

Of course they think that! Post-Sale teams rarely memorize contracts… 

But this customer is out of scope.

And they’re telling you, loudly, what they’d happily pay for.

It’s the easiest upsell in SaaS, yet most teams treat it like a compliance problem instead of an expansion gift.

NOTE: You don’t have to lean on “compliance” to win this upsell. Just talk to the person using it like a human. I promise it will work more often than not.

3. The Department That Doesn’t Know You Exist

Your champion is in Marketing, but your future ARR is also in Sales, Finance, Ops, and half a dozen sub-teams no one talks to.

Expansion is cross-functional.

But most CS motions stay stuck in a single department.

If your product delivers value to one team, assume it can deliver value to three! Hold court and ask your champion to invite a member from the other department to sit in! 

60% of the time, it works every time.

4. The Renewal That Could’ve Been a Bigger Renewal

Some renewals are small because the team was in survival mode.

“Let’s just get this across the line.”

Totally understandable. I get it.

Also expensive. Have you seen inflation lately?! Flat renewals are actually erosion…

For many companies, expansion inside renewals represents 30–40% of the total growth target. 

But if you’re not proactively mapping whitespace, it’s just another auto-renew with hidden ARR left on the table.

NOTE: Simple tactic. Present a price increase. When this is brought up by the customer, offer to remove the price increase completely in exchange for purchasing an additional product at a steep discount. Customer gets more value, and you get a larger renewal. NR-ARE you kidding me?! (see what I did there).

5. The Customer Who’s Doing Manual Work You Could Automate

You have a product hat solves for pains A & B. Your customer has only purchased for A, but is also dying from pain B.

That’s an upsell.

But if your rep never asks about the broader workflow, if they stay confined to the product’s local value, you’ll never hear it.

Expansion is often hiding behind customer statements like:

“We export your reports into a spreadsheet every week and do B.”

Every exported spreadsheet is a signal.

6. The Executive Sponsor Who Has Bigger Problems Than Your Champion

The champion loves your product.

Great.

Executives? They barely know your logo. 

Executives approve spend and own outcomes.

If your team isn’t pairing product value with business value, the upsell never gets oxygen.

Don’t sell more features.

Sell bigger outcomes.

NOTE: The number of executives who have bought more stuff from my teams because we just said “We’ll do it all for you” is remarkable. Don’t underestimate the power of time.

7. The “We’ll Look at This Next Quarter” Black Hole

The deadliest phrase in Customer Success.

Not because the customer isn’t interested, but because the CSM didn’t set next steps, quantify value, or create urgency.

“No problem, let’s revisit this next quarter” = “We both agree this will never happen.”

Every expansion opportunity needs a plan, a date, and a documented reason to act.

NOTE: Teach your sales methodologies to your CS team. You may not think it matters, but they listen and WANT to learn.

The Gap Is Real

And It’s Fixable!

You have noticed that none of these seven opportunities require brilliant CSMs, complicated playbooks, or a new 50-page dashboard.

But, they require time. Time your team doesn’t have.

They’re drowning in prep work, reporting, research, follow-ups, and everything except hunting expansion. It’s truly making them reactive. 

So the opportunities sit there. Collecting apathetic dust…

Lonely.

Underloved.

Until someone builds a system that automatically hunts for them.

I ain’t ever seen a dashboard send an email…

Never seen a new custom field make a phone call…

Maybe visibility isn’t the only problem. 

Execution is tough too.

Signals → action → revenue.

Because expansion revenue isn’t organic, it can be predictable and repeatable.

And it’s hiding in your existing customer base right now, waiting for someone to notice.

—

P.S.

If this hits a nerve, it should.

This is the growth engine everyone wants, but few teams have the bandwidth to run. Making that bandwidth for your team will be what separates you from a manager of employees to a leader of professionals.

-Zach