#16 Expansion Fit Signals
Recognizing When a Different Motion Is Required
Recognizing When a Different Motion Is Required
In #15 Adjacent Growth Markets, we explored Adjacent Growth Targets and a simple observation: many growth opportunities are already sitting inside or alongside the ICP.
Once an adjacent market is identified, the challenge becomes how to capitalize on this new hunting ground.
It is time to undergo another reframe. After reframing the message (#13 The Strategic Reframe) and reframing the market (#15 Adjacent Growth Markets), the next step is to reframe how the sales team qualifies and operates inside this new frame.
A company rarely succeeds by taking the usual playbook into an adjacent market.
The buyers look similar. The conditions that create movement are not.
Buyers in these adjacent markets arrived there for different reasons. Some have been overlooked. Some have been underserved. Some have been pushed to the edge of the market by changing economics, changing technology, or changing operating realities.
The opportunity is real. The path to value is different.
That is why Expansion Fit Signals were created.
Expansion Fit Signals highlight prospects that require a different motion. They help sales teams recognize when a different buying condition is present, when a different conversation is required, and when a different playbook should be used.
Reframing a mobile device security platform:
Before the reframe, customer conversations at this mobile device security platform often centered on secure access across phones, tablets, laptops, and other endpoints. The discussion focused on mobility, security, supported platforms, and business continuity.
Those points still matter, but the adjacent market revealed a different source of value.
Organizations with large contractor populations were spending significant time and money provisioning and replacing devices, managing warranties, recovering assets, and onboarding workers who might remain on a project for only a short period.
The conversation shifted from platform support to workforce turnover, device logistics, operational continuity, and asset management costs.
The audience changed. The questions changed.
What happens if you change contracting vendors mid-project?
How many contractors cycle through a project each year?
How long does it take to provision access for a new worker?
How many devices are purchased, replaced, repaired, shipped, or recovered/lost every year?
What is your policy for lost, stolen, or destroyed equipment?
The product remained the same.
The motion changed.
The adjacent market was discovered because these buyers were carrying a different operational burden.
Expansion Fit Signals help identify those moments.
They reveal when a prospect is experiencing the condition that created the adjacent opportunity in the first place. They help determine where specialized motions should be deployed and where the standard playbook remains the better fit.
An adjacent market creates opportunity.
Expansion Fit Signals help determine when that opportunity is sitting in front of you.