# Expansion signals on existing customers

Source: https://mcpforgtm.com/recipes/expansion-signals (StackMCP, independent directory of official MCP servers)

## Goal

CSMs and account managers who want to spot growing customers before the renewal call, from hiring, funding and technology changes. HubSpot can be swapped for Salesforce, Attio or Pipedrive, and PredictLeads for ZoomInfo or Crunchbase.

## Connected tools

- HubSpot: https://mcp.hubspot.com (setup: https://mcpforgtm.com/tools/hubspot)
- PredictLeads: see vendor docs (setup: https://mcpforgtm.com/tools/predictleads)

## Guardrails

- Read only. Don't create, edit or log anything in HubSpot.
- Only check companies that are current customers in HubSpot.
- Tell me how many PredictLeads requests a step will use, and run it only after I approve.
- Every signal needs a date and a source.
- Label anything that could be a churn risk as a risk, not an expansion.

## Steps

1. Find my current customers in HubSpot: companies with lifecycle stage Customer {owned by me / in segment}. Show a table with company, domain, owner, open deals and renewal date if we track one. Don't change anything.
2. Tell me how many PredictLeads requests it will take to check these customers for job openings, financing and new technologies over the last {60} days, and run it only after I approve. Show each signal with its date and source.
3. For the top account, check PredictLeads for similar companies only after I approve it, and list up to 5 that aren't already in HubSpot.
4. Rank the customers by expansion signal and suggest one next action for each, such as a question for the champion or a flag to the AE. Label any churn-risk signals as risks. Keep it as a list for me, and don't create tasks or notes in HubSpot.

## Expected output

Customers ranked by expansion signal, with a next action each (read only). Example (all names fictional):

```
30 customers checked. 5 show expansion signals from the last 60 days. Nothing was written to HubSpot.

1. Quarry Lane Analytics (fictional), 40 seats, renews Feb 12
   - 9 open roles in sales and RevOps, up from 2 last quarter (jobs, Oct 3)
   Next action: ask Sam Whitlock in your next check-in which new teams will need seats.

2. Larkspur Freightworks (fictional), 15 seats, renews Jan 30
   - Series C financing (Sep 24)
   Next action: flag to Alex Rivera (AE) for an expansion conversation before renewal.

3. Fernhill Software (fictional), 25 seats, renews Mar 5
   - Started using a competing tool in the same category (technologies, first seen Sep 18)
   Next action: this is a risk, not an expansion. Ask Priya Raman how the teams are splitting work.

...2 more

Similar companies to Quarry Lane not in HubSpot: Tidewell Metrics (fictional), Oxbow Ledger (fictional).
PredictLeads requests used: 90, plus 5 similar-company results.
```

## Watch for

- Replacement hiring read as growth: Open roles can mean people left, not that the team is growing. Ask for the count compared with the previous period, and only call it growth if roles in that team went up.
- A risk scored as an expansion: A newly detected technology can be a competitor to your product. List new technologies by category, and flag any that overlap with what you sell as a risk.
- Wrong domain for the customer: Customers with a parent company or a rebrand may be on a different domain than the one in HubSpot. Have it show the domain it checked, and spot-check the top 5 by hand.
- Pushing expansion on an unhappy customer: Signals say nothing about how the account feels about you. Before acting, check HubSpot for open tickets on the top accounts and skip any with an open escalation.