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GitHub activity

Why it matters

GitHub actions—from stars to forks to pull requests—are signs of interest in your product. The key is turning interest in your open-source technology into interest in your paid offering.

When people are poking around your repository, you should follow up to see if they’re the right fit for your managed services.

What to do

Once you separate the signal from the noise and spotlight a potential sales opportunity, it’s important to move fast. It’s not uncommon for teams to build around the free version of a technology, which complicates buying conversations.

Search for signals of intent (such as activity from multiple team members from the same organization), clarify fit (such as industry, size, annual revenue, and tech stack configuration), and make sure you’re reaching out to the right person (you want to talk to a decision-maker if possible, not just an end user).

Questions to inform outreach
  • What actions is the person taking in your repository?
  • Is the person in a role with budget authority?
  • Who does the person report to at their organization?
  • Are other people from the same organization involved?
  • How is their organization’s tech stack configured?
  • What information can you share to show the value of your paid offering?

How to do it

Here are some outbound templates to help you get the creative juices flowing:

Outbound template for active GitHub contacts

Hey [first name],

It looks like you've been pretty active in [list GitHub repo].

Have you considered using [benefit that product unlocks that's differentiated from open-source version]?

Dropping in a resource that goes into detail about [feature with link].

Hope that's helpful.

[Your name]

Outbound template for economic buyers

Hi [first name],

Looks like a lot of the [company name] team is using [GitHub repo].

If they’re anything like our other customers, I’m sure they’re running into [example of common open-source issue].

We can help with that. In fact, we've helped [customer name] do just that and get [result from product].

Any interest in exploring further?

[Your name]

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