> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Renewal marketing **Last reviewed:** 2026-08-30 · **Reading edit:** 2026-09-12 A renewal is easier to discuss when the customer can see what they have achieved. Start before the contract deadline, gather a short record of value and unresolved issues, and make the commercial steps clear. Work with the account owner rather than sending a generic reminder. Review delivered value; Resolve open issues; Agree on the renewal path *Reading guide: review delivered value → resolve open issues → agree on the renewal path.* ## Use this when * Renewals surface as a surprise in the last month. * Marketing’s only customer email is a promo code. * CS can see risk and has no written value packet a champion can forward upstairs. * Finance asks why logos churn after “green” health scores. ## Do not use this when * There are no customers or no terms. Stay in [first ten](../01-strategy-and-buyers/first-ten-customers.md) or write the contract fields first. * Launch never happened. That is [customer onboarding](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/customer-onboarding). * You need expansion of a second job. That is [expansion marketing](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/expansion-marketing). * You need the churn math. That is [revenue churn](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/revenue-churn). ## A few useful terms | Word | Meaning here | | ---------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Horizon** | How many days before end-of-term the commercial path starts (and who is notified) | | **Value packet** | What they achieved in *their* units—dated, not a product changelog | | **Risk** | Leading evidence they will not renew (dark, champion left, unrealized) | | **Save** | An exception path. It is not the default campaign | ## Keep this in mind **Start the renewal when value can still be shown, not when legal can still be threatened.** If the first marketing artifact is a price or a notice, you already lost the champion. The packet must be something they could send to finance without you in the room. ## How to do it ### Step 1: Share the renewal timeline [CS workspace](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/cs-workspace) creates the renewal record N days out. Write N. Write who is notified. Write what “on track / at risk / save” means in one line each. If marketing cannot see the date, they will invent a newsletter. ### Step 2: Review value before commercial terms Default order: 1. **Realization recap** — the job they bought, the result they can date (or the honest gap) 2. **Risk conversation** — if dark or champion-left, a human, not a drip 3. **Commercial** — term, price change if any, next-year scope — owned by the role paid for renewal 4. **Save** — only if they said no or went dark after a real look Do not skip to (3). Do not run (4) as a quarterly “win-back style” blast on still-active accounts. ### Step 3: Make the summary easy to share One page or one note: before / after in their metric, what they still use, what they asked us not to do. A [case study](../03-brand-story-and-content/case-study.md) *shape* about **them**, for **them**. If you cannot write it, you do not have realization—do not pretend the health score is the packet. ### Step 4: Explain price changes early If the renewal includes a price move, it was decided on [pricing and packaging](../02-product-marketing/pricing-and-packaging.md) and told early. A last-week hike or a last-week discount is the same failure: no value conversation. ### Step 5: Record and learn from a lost renewal Cancel goes into [revenue churn](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/revenue-churn) as gross. Use [win-back](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/win-back) when a relevant change justifies re-engagement. Do not relabel a lost renewal as “nurture.” ## Worked example (illustrative) Annual term. CSM owns renewal. AM owns expansion only. | Field | Fill | | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Horizon | 90 days: record created, CSM + champion recap. 60: commercial outline. 30: paper if needed. | | Packet | Their missed-SLA count, dated; what stayed in email; one constraint they still own | | At-risk | Dark 21 days or champion job-change → human this week, drip off | | Will not do | 15% coupon at day −10. Changelog as the recap. | ## Copy: renewal card (fill) * Horizon (days) and who is notified: * On track / at risk / save (one line each): * Packet fields (their units, dates): * Price-change rule (early / none / exception): * What marketing is *not* allowed to send: * Where a no is recorded ([revenue churn](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/revenue-churn)): Working file: [renewal-marketing.md](../../templates/renewal-marketing.md). ## Before you start * [ ] Renewal owner and pay are written on [customer success](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/customer-success). * [ ] Date and risk are visible in [CS workspace](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/cs-workspace). * [ ] Packet uses their metric, not our changelog. * [ ] At-risk is a human path. * [ ] Discount/hike is not the first artifact. * [ ] Expansion asks do not hitchhike on a shaky renewal. ## Metrics | Metric | Diagnostic use | | -------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | On-time start | Renewals whose horizon motion began by day N | | Packet sent | Champions who received a recap they could forward | | Late rescue | Renewals whose first touch was inside 21 days (process fail) | | Gross from non-renew | Cancels that expansion did not hide | Do not treat “renewal email open rate” or last-week save rate as the motion. ## Common mistakes * Starting at the notice. * Health score as the story. * Coupon as the program. * CS and sales surprising each other on the date. * Expanding in the same week as a shaky renew. ## What to read next The book is [customer success](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/customer-success). The record is [CS workspace](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/cs-workspace). The leak is [revenue churn](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/revenue-churn). A second job is [expansion marketing](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/expansion-marketing). First value still missing is [customer onboarding](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/customer-onboarding). Named large renewals may need [account planning](../06-account-field-and-partner/account-planning.md). ## Sources and evidence boundary This is an owner-maintained operating synthesis. Horizon, value-before-commercial, and risk-as-human-path follow the four jobs already on [CS workspace](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/cs-workspace) (realization, relationship, renewal, risk). Kellblog-shaped honesty about the book sits on [revenue churn](https://b2-b-playbook.mintlify.app/playbooks/08-lifecycle-and-customer-marketing/revenue-churn). Vendor “renewal playbooks” and auto-renew legal tactics are not this method. This page is not contract counsel. *** Copyright © 2026 Ivan Xu. All rights reserved. See the [copyright and reuse terms](https://github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook/blob/main/LICENSE). Canonical source: [github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook](https://github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook)