Renewal Playbook Skill

This skill produces a complete renewal playbook for a specific customer account, covering health assessment, commercial strategy, negotiation preparation, expansion opportunity mapping, and a step-by-step timeline. Output is ready for the CSM or account team to execute 90–180 days before renewal.

Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:

• Account name
• Renewal date
• Current ARR and proposed renewal ARR (if different)
• Account health — RAG status and main reasons (or describe the account situation)
• Key stakeholders — economic buyer, champion, and any detractors
• Renewal risk factors — budget pressure, low adoption, competitive threat, champion departure, etc.
• Expansion opportunity — any upsell or cross-sell potential?
• Contract terms — current plan, duration, and any terms up for renegotiation

Output Structure

Renewal Playbook: [Account Name]

Renewal date: [Date] Current ARR: [£/$/€ X] Target renewal ARR: [£/$/€ X — flat / +X% expansion / contraction risk] Health status: [Green / Amber / Red] CSM: [Name] Account executive: [Name] Days to renewal: [X days]

1. Account Health Snapshot

Renewal thesis: [One sentence: why this account will renew — or what must change for it to renew.]

2. Stakeholder Map

Champion risk: [Is our champion secure in their role? Any signals of departure or reorganisation?]

Multi-thread plan: [Who else do we need relationships with before renewal? How do we get there?]

3. Risk Register

4. Value Story

Build the ROI narrative for the renewal conversation:

Headline result: [e.g. "[Account] saved X hours/week or reduced [metric] by X% using [product]"]

Evidence sources:

• Product usage data (logins, features used, seat utilisation)
• Business metric improvement (pull from QBR deck or success plan)
• Support resolution time improvement
• Customer-provided testimonial or case study quotes

Value gaps to close before renewal: [Are there outcomes the customer expected but hasn't seen yet? What's the plan to close these?]

5. Expansion Opportunity

Map upside beyond flat renewal:

Expansion play: [Which opportunity to lead with, and the sequence for raising it in the renewal conversation]

6. Commercial Strategy

Renewal scenario planning:

Discount guardrails:

• Floor discount: [X% — do not go below without VP approval]
• Triggers for discount: [Multi-year / volume / reference customer commitment]
• What to ask for in return: [Reference case study / G2 review / executive intro / case study participation]

Pricing flexibility:

• [e.g. Can offer monthly billing in exchange for 24-month commit]
• [e.g. Can offer X seats free in exchange for expansion commitment]

7. Objection Responses

Prepare for the most likely objections:

"The price is too high"

Anchor on value delivered: "[Customer] achieved [X outcome] — at [£X ARR], that's [£Y per outcome / hour saved / user]. What would it cost to deliver that outcome without us?" If budget is genuinely constrained, explore: phased payment, reduction in scope rather than full churn, multi-year pricing.

"We're not seeing enough adoption"

Acknowledge, then commit: "You're right — [X seats] are actively using [core feature] out of [Y]. We want to fix this. Here's our 60-day plan: [exec sponsor on enablement call / training session / in-product nudge campaign]."

"We're evaluating [Competitor]"

Don't panic. Ask: "What's driving the evaluation — is it specific features, pricing, or something else?" Then map gaps honestly. Offer a feature roadmap preview if relevant. Get clarity on their criteria and timeline before responding defensively.

"We need to reduce spend this quarter"

Separate the commercial conversation from the value conversation. Offer to protect the relationship with a reduced scope today with a committed expansion trigger at a business milestone. Avoid discounting without a reason.

8. Renewal Timeline

9. Success Criteria

• Renewal signed before deadline
• ARR outcome within target range
• Champion relationship maintained or improved
• At least one expansion conversation started
• ROI evidence documented and accepted by customer

Quality Checks

• Stakeholder map includes the economic buyer — not just the champion
• Risk register has a mitigation for every H/H risk
• Value story uses product data and business outcomes, not just feature lists
• Commercial strategy includes a floor discount and a reason-to-discount framework
• Timeline starts at least 90 days before renewal date
• Objection responses are specific to this account, not generic

Anti-Patterns

• Do not start renewal conversations less than 90 days before the renewal date for accounts over $50K ARR
• Do not build a renewal strategy without first honestly assessing account health — wishful thinking leads to last-minute churn
• Do not treat all renewal objections as negotiating tactics — some objections signal genuine dissatisfaction that requires resolution first
• Do not offer discounts as the first response to price objections — explore value gaps before reducing price
• Do not close the renewal without confirming the expansion opportunity — every renewal is also an expansion conversation

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Build a renewal playbook for [Account Name] renewing in [Month]"
• "Help me plan the renewal strategy for an at-risk customer"
• "Prepare a renewal brief for my QBR with [Company]"
• "What's my renewal strategy for a Red account coming up in 60 days?"
• "Create a renewal and expansion plan for [Account]"