Find ex-employees of your closed customers

Overview#

Every customer in your CRM can offer a dozen new opportunities through ex-employees of those company who are likely aware of your product and can smoothen the entry in their new employer.

This template explains a Play that automatically identifies ex-employees (alumni) of a newly closed customer, enriches their current details, and allocates the opportunity to the right sales representative for targeted outreach.

Activate the Alumni Play for New Wins#

Step 1 - Set variables#

Define your inputs

The workflow starts with a Variables node that receives the following required inputs:

• companyDomain – The domain of the company you just closed (e.g., ramp.com)
• titleKeywords – Title/keywords to filter for relevant alumni (e.g., "revenue operations", "sales operations", "head of growth")

These variables are passed downstream through the rest of the workflow.

Step 2 - Enrich company & search for alumni#

Identify the right company and find ex-employees

Use Cargo's LinkedIn Enrich action to convert the company domain into a LinkedIn company ID. This ensures you are searching for alumni from the correct organization, even if there are naming ambiguities. Then, use the Search node to find all ex-employees of the company who match your ICP criteria (using the title/keywords filter). This step builds a list of potential prospects who have moved on to new companies and are likely to be receptive to outreach referencing their shared background.

Step 3 - Enrich alumni contacts#

Get fresh data for each alumni

For each alumni contact found, use the LinkedIn Enrich action to pull their current company, title, and contact details. This ensures your outreach is accurate and up-to-date.

Step 4 - Check if alumni's current company exists in CRM#

Avoid duplicates and route correctly

Use a Search node of a CRM integration to check if the alumni's current company already exists in your CRM. This helps determine whether to upsert a new company/contact or update an existing record.

Step 5 - Branch: Was an existing company found?#

Route based on CRM presence

• YES → Use a Write action of a CRM integrationto upsert the company and alumni contact, then ping the owner on Slack.
• NO → Use an Allocate action to assign the new company/contact to the appropriate owner (using round-robin or territory rules), update the contact, and ping the new owner on Slack.

Step 6 - Write / update CRM records#

Keep your CRM tidy

Depending on the branch above:

• Write → Upsert the alumni contact and link to their new company. Mark the relationship as "alumni of [closed-won company]" for context.
• Update Contact → Update the alumni's details if already present, ensuring the alumni connection is noted.

Step 7 - Ping the owner in Slack#

Rally your rep to act fast

Use a Slack node to notify the owner that an alumni, {{alumni.firstName}} {{alumni.lastName}}, formerly of {{ companyDomain }}, is now at {{ alumni.currentCompany }} and matches your ICP. Include a suggested opening line referencing the alumni connection and a specific GTM win, process, or unique strength from their former company for maximum relevance.

Pro move: Don't just mention the alumni connection—reference a specific GTM win, process, or unique strength from their former company and use it as context for your outreach. For example: "Most ex- folks I meet have a super advanced vision of the revenue engine. Curious if you're seeing similar playbooks work."

Putting it on autopilot

Schedule the play to run automatically after every new closed-won deal. Cargo will surface warm alumni opportunities straight into Slack—letting your team focus on closing, not building lists.