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Company playbook / 06 / Adoption & expansion

Datadog

Land one workload, then earn the next

Datadog describes a land-and-expand approach in its public filing. An initial team adopts a useful product; over time, more teams, workloads and products can follow.

ExpansionSales

01 / What they actually did

Product adoption across accounts

As of December 31, 2025, Datadog reported 84% of customers using at least two products and 55% using at least four. This is a mature-company outcome, not an early-stage target. [D1]

Expansion designed into the business

Datadog says it builds products for fast adoption and expands through greater product use, additional products and customers adopting them more broadly. [D1]

02 / What you can learn

Lesson to keep: The next sale can be inside an account that already trusts you. But expansion has to follow delivered value; don’t push a second workload before the first one works.

Don’t over-copy: Datadog’s 2025 product adoption percentages don’t mean all infrastructure products can expand at the same rate.

03 / How to do something similar

  1. 01Map each account: use case, teams, environments, usage, value delivered and unused adjacent needs.
  2. 02Identify the next natural workload that benefits from the same tool.
  3. 03Run an outcome review: what improved, what did not, what else can we solve?
  4. 04Offer a limited technical workshop for the adjacent use case.
  5. 05Track expansion alongside gross retention and customer health.

Examples you could publish or run

“Quarterly value review: what changed since implementation?”“Adding the next [team/workload] without restarting the evaluation”

What to measure
Expansion ARR, adoption of second workload and net retention.

04 / Copy the framework

Inspired by Datadog

Account expansion review

A customer conversation that earns the next workload.

ACCOUNT / OWNER / RENEWAL DATE:
CURRENT USE CASE AND USERS:
VALUE DELIVERED: [measurable result]
ADOPTION HEALTH: [usage, blockers, support issues]
NEXT ADJACENT WORKLOAD:
WHY IT MAKES SENSE: [connection to existing success]
NEW TEAM / CHAMPION / BUYER:
SMALL WORKSHOP OR EVALUATION:
SUCCESS CRITERIA:
RISK TO CURRENT CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE:

OUTCOME: Continue / test / not right yet
MEASURE: Expansion ARR, gross retention and adoption.

05 / Original sources

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