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How should a CSM prepare customers for renewal?

2 live renewal cycles · 16 tasks tracked · 90-day timeline

Renewal isn't a moment, it's the output of everything that happened in the 90 days before it. Start the process at day -90, not day -15. Companies that begin renewal conversations 30 days out have usually already lost the customer, since the decision to leave was made weeks earlier.

The 90-day renewal timeline

Day What happens
-90 Health check. Confirm the account is on track, flag anything at risk now while there's time to fix it
-60 Build the ROI case. Pull usage data, adoption wins, and outcomes tied to what they originally bought the product to do
-45 Send the renewal proposal with pricing, scope, and the business case attached
-30 Follow up, handle objections, negotiate terms
-15 Finalize. Get verbal commitment, process the contract
0 Contract renews, next 90-day cycle begins

The QBR is the engine, not the renewal call

A QBR isn't a status update, it's a business review anchored in the health score and ROI against the original business case. Customers with regular, well-run QBRs are roughly twice as likely to renew. The renewal negotiation is just the final output of a relationship that was actually managed all year.

Common objections and how to handle them

Objection Response
"We're not using it enough to justify the cost" This is an adoption failure, not a pricing problem. Address usage before touching price
"We're evaluating alternatives" Ask what's driving the evaluation. Usually it's an unmet need you can still solve
"Budget's been cut" Explore scope flexibility before assuming the deal is lost
"We haven't seen the ROI we expected" This should have surfaced at day -90, not day -15. Treat it as a signal your health check missed something

Interactive: renewal readiness checklist

A real checklist database below, linked to actual accounts with real due dates and a timeline view. Currently tracking two live cycles: Fairmont Retail Group 🟠 AT RISK (needs a proactive save) and Northwind Logistics 🔵 THRIVING (renewal bundled with a seat expansion pitch), to show the same 90-day process working for very different account situations.

Renewal Readiness Checklist

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