Koala Customer Plays of the Month: May 2025

Theme: Making best use of product-related buyer signals
This month’s top Plays showcase creative ways companies are using product signals to unlock enterprise deals, expansion, and competitive wins. Each of these Plays stands out not just for what it does, but how it does it.
Early-Stage PLG (Seed–Series A, <50 employees)
Stack-Aware Upsell During Product Launch
Used by: Checkly
Trigger: Target account is launching or actively using a product that competes with a new feature Checkly has launched.
Action: Koala AI agents research the current stack through docs, blogs, social posts and other publicly available sources—if a competitor is in use, Koala Coach positions Checkly’s status page as a superior alternative based on encoded product differentiators. If no tool is found, messaging pivots to simple awareness.
Why it matters: Most product launches are blasted out to user bases without much thought for context at each account. This Play lets teams route announcements based on the tools already in use.
Technical Growth-Stage (Series A–C, 50–200 employees)
Competitive Stack Detection via Public Content
Used by: Fireworks.ai
Trigger: A target account references a competitive model framework in public documentation.
Action: Koala agents extract model details and AI stack references. If aligned with Fireworks’ competitive edge, Koala Coach creates message copy tied to switching cost, latency, or flexibility.
Why it matters: The strongest growth-stage outbound plays don’t rely on recycled MQLs—they start with technical relevance. This one turns public data into precise entry points.
Mid-Market SaaS (Series C–E, 200–750 employees)
Usage Spike Without a Plan
Used by: Sanity
Trigger: An account hosts over 25K documents but hasn't moved to a paid plan.
Action: Koala flags the account, while Koala Coach generates messaging that positions the Growth plan as a natural next step—without applying a hard gate.
Why it matters: Not all upsells require friction. This Play is subtle, precise, and perfectly timed with obvious value incurred by the user, without requiring the CSM to stay on top of every customer's usage at all times.
Enterprise GTM (750+ employees or high ACV targets)
Gmail Visitor Trigger for Assigned Accounts
Used by: Vercel
Trigger: A known strategic account engages with marketing content or self-service product using a Gmail address.
Action: Koala ties the Gmail user back to the enterprise account, evaluates recent activity, and suggests timely outreach to the individual or look-a-likes based on what they engaged with.
Why it matters: Enterprise buyers (especially engineers, whom Vercel sells to) don’t always use their work emails. This Play gives reps a way to connect Gmail activity to real pipeline—without letting interest go cold.
Stay tuned for the June 2025 edition, where we’ll focus on expansion and upsell plays that don’t feel like a pitch.
Want to build a version of these Plays?

Lauren Craigie
Head of Marketing