Revenue Expansion is when a seller is able to locate different pockets of budget in different divisions of an existing customer organization and capture those budgets. Many times those budgets have completely different goals and decision-makers.
Improving revenue expansion within an existing customer organization, especially when it involves working across different divisions with separate budgets, goals, and decision-makers, requires a strategic and nuanced approach.
Here are several strategies to achieve successful revenue expansion beyond upselling and cross-selling:
1. Map the Organizational Structure and Decision-Making Units
Strategy: Conduct thorough research to understand the customer's organizational structure, identifying key divisions, departments, business units, and their decision-makers. Develop an "account map" that outlines the various budget holders, their specific goals, pain points, and purchasing processes.
Implementation:
Use CRM tools and account-based marketing (ABM) platforms to gather information on different departments and stakeholders within the customer's organization.
Regularly meet with current contacts to understand their internal networks and identify potential points of contact in other divisions.
Create customer “org charts” in your CRM that highlight relationships, budget cycles, and potential advocates within different divisions.
Why It Works: By mapping out the customer’s organizational landscape, you can identify new decision-makers and departments that may have separate budgets and needs that your products or services can address.
2. Develop Customized, Multi-Unit Value Propositions
Strategy: Tailor unique value propositions for each division based on their specific goals, challenges, and success metrics. Highlight how your products or services can deliver results aligned with their distinct objectives.
Implementation:
Collaborate with your customer’s existing contacts to gain insights into the priorities and pain points of other divisions.
Create targeted marketing collateral, case studies, and ROI calculators that showcase how your offerings solve problems specific to each division.
When approaching a new division, leverage success stories and metrics from the existing department as proof points while customizing your messaging to the new unit’s focus.
Why It Works: Different divisions often have unique goals and performance indicators. By addressing these specific needs, you demonstrate an understanding of their challenges and how your solution can help them achieve their objectives.
3. Leverage Internal Champions and Advocates
Strategy: Engage and empower your primary contacts within the existing division to act as internal champions, facilitating introductions to other departments and advocating for your solutions internally.
Implementation:
Develop strong relationships with key contacts and earn their trust by consistently delivering value and achieving measurable results for their division.
Provide these champions with tailored talking points, case studies, and internal presentation materials to help them introduce your offerings to other departments.
Offer to host joint meetings with your champion and other potential stakeholders to discuss cross-divisional benefits of your solutions.
Why It Works: Internal champions can bridge the gap between divisions, providing credibility and helping to manage internal politics and budget discussions.
4. Offer Pilot Programs or Bundled Solutions for New Divisions
Strategy: Introduce low-risk pilot programs or bundled offerings tailored for different divisions to allow them to experience the benefits of your products or services without a full-scale commitment.
Implementation:
Propose a pilot program that addresses a specific problem faced by the new division, offering it at a discounted rate or with flexible terms.
Develop cross-functional bundles that combine elements of your products or services that could be valuable across multiple divisions (e.g., a combination of content marketing, research reports, and targeted advertising).
Position the pilot or bundle as a solution to a pressing issue or as a way to test the waters before scaling up.
Why It Works: Pilot programs lower the barrier to entry for new divisions and provide a concrete way to demonstrate the impact of your offerings. Successful pilots often lead to larger, long-term engagements.
5. Conduct Cross-Departmental Business Reviews
Strategy: Schedule strategic business review meetings with senior leadership, including stakeholders from multiple divisions, to discuss the broader impact and opportunities of your partnership.
Implementation:
Work with your primary contacts to organize cross-departmental quarterly or annual business reviews. Use these meetings to present data, case studies, and success stories demonstrating the value you have already delivered.
Discuss how your products or services can align with the wider organizational goals and address challenges faced by different departments.
Proactively suggest areas for expansion based on insights gathered from the existing partnership and feedback from other divisions.
Why It Works: Cross-departmental business reviews create opportunities to engage with multiple decision-makers at once, facilitating discussions about new ways to collaborate and address broader business objectives.
6. Explore Organizational Goals and Strategic Initiatives
Strategy: Align your solutions with the customer’s overarching business strategies and corporate initiatives that span across divisions (e.g., digital transformation, cost reduction, or revenue growth).
Implementation:
Stay informed about the customer’s strategic initiatives through press releases, earnings calls, and ongoing conversations with your contacts.
Identify how your products or services can support these initiatives in various departments and craft tailored proposals.
Approach new divisions with the narrative that your solution is already contributing to corporate-wide initiatives, highlighting potential synergies and additional benefits for their specific area.
Why It Works: By aligning with the company’s strategic goals, you position your solutions as integral to the success of multiple departments, making it easier to access new budgets.
7. Offer Multi-Division Discounts and Enterprise Licensing
Strategy: Provide incentives for organization-wide adoption by offering multi-division discounts, enterprise licenses, or bundled pricing that becomes more cost-effective as additional divisions join.
Implementation:
Propose tiered pricing models where the cost per division decreases as more divisions come on board.
Introduce enterprise licensing that grants company-wide access to your products or services, making it easier for divisions to utilize your offerings without separate purchasing processes.
Highlight the overall cost savings and efficiency benefits of adopting an enterprise-wide solution compared to multiple smaller contracts.
Why It Works: Financial incentives and simplified purchasing processes can make it more appealing for other divisions to adopt your solutions, leveraging the existing relationship.
8. Tailor Marketing and Sales Enablement for Each Division
Strategy: Create targeted marketing materials and sales enablement content that speak directly to the unique goals, challenges, and KPIs of each division within the customer organization.
Implementation:
Develop case studies, white papers, and presentations that demonstrate how your solutions have solved similar challenges for other companies in each respective division’s field.
Equip your sales team with division-specific playbooks, FAQs, and objection-handling scripts tailored to the interests and concerns of different budget holders.
Why It Works: Tailored content helps to build credibility and resonance with decision-makers in various divisions, making them more receptive to discussing potential collaborations.
By using these strategies, a media company can effectively work across different divisions within existing customer organizations, uncovering new budgets and decision-makers to expand revenue streams beyond traditional upsell and cross-sell efforts.
Ready to take your expansion revenue strategies further?
RevvedUP 2026 is designed for revenue leaders who want to move beyond traditional selling and fully activate their customer accounts. Join industry experts on March 23-24, 2026 at The Vinoy, St. Petersburg, Florida. Gain actionable insights and learn how to identify untapped budgets across divisions to accelerate growth in the year ahead. Don’t miss the opportunity to elevate your revenue playbook and connect with peers facing the same challenges. Register now 
