Renewals are not won at renewal time
By the month the contract expires, the decision has already been made. If the customer is happy, they sign. If not, they negotiate the price or leave. At that point there is very little you can do.
The work happens in the six months before. And it starts with something basic: knowing the date exists.
The five signs, from most to least reliable
1. Activity drops. It is the most reliable sign and the most ignored. A customer who opened 20 tickets a month and now opens 3 is not happier. They are solving things another way, or have already hired someone else for part of the service.
2. Problems keep coming back. Three reopens of the same case in a quarter weigh more than twenty cases solved well.
3. They stop rating you. A customer who used to answer surveys and stops usually has checked out.
4. Your contact changes. The new manager does not know you, owes you nothing and wants to show they can cut costs. It is the riskiest moment of the whole cycle.
5. Usage well below the contract. They are paying for something they do not use. At the next budget review, someone will notice.
The calendar that keeps renewals safe
Before the calendar, one requirement: the contract has to be data, not a PDF. With its service level, its dates, its annual price and the equipment it covers. That is where deadlines and reminders come from.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 6 months before | Internal review: profitability, usage, tickets and satisfaction. Do you want to renew, and on what terms? |
| 4 months before | A meeting with the customer with no sales agenda. Just the year in review: what was done, what went well and what did not. |
| 3 months before | Renewal proposal, with the adjustments that came out of that meeting. |
| 2 months before | Close. If it is not closed by now, there is a problem to escalate. |
The four-month meeting is the most useful one of the year, and it is the one that gets skipped most.
And once a month, review what expires in 30, 60 and 90 days. It is the cheapest way to make sure no date takes you by surprise.
The year-in-review meeting
Three things, on one page:
- What was done: tickets handled, inspections completed and uptime.
- What was solved well, with a specific case.
- What did not go well, said by you before they say it. Few things build as much trust.
If usage has drifted a lot, up or down, this is the meeting to say so. Not the renewal meeting.
The three mistakes
- Not knowing the date. It sounds absurd, and it is the most common cause. If expiry dates are not in a system that sends alerts, they depend on someone remembering.
- Renewing in silence. Silence is not satisfaction: it is distance.
- Only showing up when it is time to renew. The customer notices, and reads it exactly for what it is.
Why it matters so much
In a business built on recurring contracts, churn eats growth without anyone noticing. You can sign ten new customers a year and not grow if you lose nine.
Start with the easiest step: pull today the list of contracts that expire in the next six months. If you cannot get it in two minutes, that is the first problem to solve.
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