Renewal Prep Skill
Use this skill when a renewal is 60–90 days out, you are reviewing your renewal pipeline, or you are preparing for a renewal negotiation. It produces a renewal brief with a risk assessment, a conversation guide, and a pricing approach.
---name: renewal-prep-skilldescription: Prepare renewal strategy — identify expansion or churn risk factors, draft a renewal conversation guide with recommended pricing approach. Use when a renewal is 60-90 days out, reviewing renewal pipeline, or preparing for a renewal negotiation. Trigger with "prep renewal for", "renewal strategy for [account]", "renewal risk assessment".---
# Renewal Prep Skill
Prepare renewal briefs that combine a risk assessment, a conversation guide, and a recommended pricing approach. Account data comes from you, a connected MCP source, or companyRAG collections.
## Where the Data Comes From
| Source | What It Adds || --- | --- || **CRM via MCP** (e.g. HubSpot, Salesforce) | Contract terms, ARR, renewal date, expansion history, stakeholder contacts || **Billing via MCP** (e.g. Stripe, Chargebee) | Payment history, current pricing, usage-based billing data || **companyRAG / file upload** | QBR notes, success-plan metrics, support summaries, prior renewal records |
> **No connected source?** Provide the data in chat or upload the relevant files — the skill works the same way.
## Renewal Preparation Workflow
Begin this workflow 60–90 days before the renewal date. Earlier for strategic accounts; later is acceptable for auto-renewing contracts with low risk.
### Step 1: Review Account Health
Pull or generate a current health score using the **customer-health-skill**. If a recent score exists, review it. If not, run a fresh assessment.
Key health dimensions for renewal context:
| Dimension | Renewal Relevance || --- | --- || **Product Engagement** | Declining usage is the strongest predictor of non-renewal || **Support** | Unresolved escalations create negotiation leverage for the customer || **Relationship** | Champion departure or executive disengagement signals risk || **Sentiment** | NPS trend indicates willingness to renew and expand || **Outcomes** | Documented ROI is the strongest argument for renewal and expansion |
### Step 2: Assess Risk Factors
Evaluate each risk category and classify as High / Medium / Low.
| Risk Category | High Risk Indicators | Medium Risk Indicators | Low Risk Indicators || --- | --- | --- | --- || **Usage** | Declining usage, low adoption vs. licence, key features unused | Stable but flat usage, moderate adoption | Growing usage, high adoption, expanding use cases || **Relationship** | Champion left, executive disengaged, stakeholder map thin | Champion stable but not expanding, limited multi-threading | Strong multi-threading, executive sponsor engaged || **Support** | Open escalations, high ticket volume, declining CSAT | Moderate ticket volume, resolved escalations | Low ticket volume, high CSAT, self-service adoption || **Commercial** | Payment delays, budget constraints communicated, competitive evaluation | Flat budget, no expansion signals, price sensitivity mentioned | On-time payments, expansion interest, budget confirmed || **Value** | No documented ROI, customer cannot articulate value | Some ROI evidence but not quantified, partial goal achievement | Strong ROI documented, goals exceeded, internal case study || **Market** | Customer undergoing M&A, leadership change, industry downturn | Some organisational change, budget reviews underway | Stable organisation, growing business, strategic alignment |
**Overall renewal risk** = highest individual risk category. Any single High Risk factor can derail a renewal regardless of other dimensions.
### Step 3: Identify Expansion Opportunities
Look for signals that indicate the customer may be ready to expand.
| Expansion Signal | Evidence Required | Expansion Type || --- | --- | --- || Usage approaching or exceeding licence limits | Usage data vs. contract capacity | Licence uplift || New departments or teams expressing interest | Customer request, CSM observation | Seat expansion || Customer requesting features in higher tiers | Support tickets, feature requests | Tier upgrade || New use cases emerging beyond original scope | Usage patterns, customer conversations | Product cross-sell || Customer's business growing (headcount, revenue) | Public data, customer communication | Organic expansion || Positive ROI enabling budget justification | QBR data, success plan metrics | Value-based upsell |
### Step 4: Draft Renewal Strategy
Based on risk and opportunity assessment, select a strategy posture.
| Scenario | Strategy Posture | Focus || --- | --- | --- || Low risk + expansion signals | **Expand** | Lead with value delivered, propose expanded scope, anchor on ROI || Low risk + no expansion signals | **Secure** | Confirm value, lock in multi-year if appropriate, maintain momentum || Medium risk + any expansion | **Stabilise then expand** | Resolve risk factors first, demonstrate value, then introduce expansion || Medium risk + no expansion | **Defend** | Focus on retention, address concerns, build a recovery plan || High risk + any | **Recover** | Full attention on risk mitigation, executive engagement, value reinforcement |
### Step 5: Prepare Conversation Guide
Structure the renewal conversation based on the strategy posture.
**Conversation Framework:**
1. **Open with value** — Lead with specific outcomes the customer has achieved. Reference QBR data, success plan metrics, or ROI evidence. Never open with pricing.2. **Acknowledge the relationship** — Reference specific milestones, challenges overcome, and partnership moments. Demonstrate that you know this account.3. **Address known concerns** — Proactively raise any issues you know about rather than waiting for the customer to surface them. This builds trust and controls the narrative.4. **Present the renewal proposal** — Based on your strategy posture: - Expand: "Based on what you've achieved, here's how we can help you do more..." - Secure: "We'd love to continue this partnership. Here's what renewal looks like..." - Defend: "We know there have been challenges. Here's our plan to address them and what we're committing to..." - Recover: "We hear your concerns. Before we discuss renewal, let's align on what needs to change..."5. **Handle objections** — Prepare responses for the most likely objections based on your risk assessment.6. **Agree on next steps** — Never end a renewal conversation without a clear, time-bound next step.
**Common Objections and Preparation:**
| Objection Type | Preparation Required || --- | --- || "We're not seeing enough value" | ROI evidence, usage data, outcome metrics — prepare before the call || "Budget is tight / we need to cut" | Cost of switching analysis, efficiency gains, essential vs. nice-to-have framing || "We're evaluating alternatives" | Competitive positioning (use a battlecard skill from the sales pack, if available), switching cost analysis, unique value differentiators || "We need a discount" | Value justification, multi-year incentive options, scope adjustment options || "Our champion left" | Re-engage with new stakeholders early, rebuild the value narrative for the new audience |
## Output Template — Renewal Brief
```RENEWAL BRIEFAccount: [name]ARR: [current value]Renewal date: [date]Days to renewal: [number]Prepared by: [CSM name]Date: [date]
ACCOUNT HEALTH SUMMARY: Overall health: [GREEN / YELLOW / ORANGE / RED] Key scores: Product [X/5], Support [X/5], Relationship [X/5], Commercial [X/5], Sentiment [X/5], Outcomes [X/5]
RISK ASSESSMENT: Overall risk: [High / Medium / Low] Usage risk: [H/M/L] — [brief evidence] Relationship risk: [H/M/L] — [brief evidence] Support risk: [H/M/L] — [brief evidence] Commercial risk: [H/M/L] — [brief evidence] Value risk: [H/M/L] — [brief evidence] Market risk: [H/M/L] — [brief evidence]
EXPANSION OPPORTUNITIES: 1. [opportunity] — [evidence] — [estimated value] 2. ... (or: No expansion signals identified at this time)
STRATEGY: [Expand / Secure / Stabilise then Expand / Defend / Recover] Rationale: [why this posture]
VALUE EVIDENCE: - [specific outcome or metric the customer has achieved] - [specific outcome or metric] - ...
CONVERSATION GUIDE: Opening: [value-led opening tailored to this account] Concerns to address: [list known concerns with prepared responses] Proposal: [renewal terms to propose — flat, expansion, multi-year, etc.] Likely objections: [top 2-3 with prepared responses] Ask: [specific next step to propose at end of conversation]
INTERNAL ALIGNMENT: CSM: [name] Account executive: [name, if involved in renewal] Executive sponsor: [name, if executive engagement needed] Pre-renewal actions: [any internal steps before the customer conversation]```
## CUSTOMIZE — Adapt to Your Renewal Motion
- Auto-renewing contracts : Focus the workflow on risk detection and expansion opportunity — the renewal itself is automatic, but churn risk remains.- Usage-based pricing : Replace fixed ARR analysis with usage trend analysis and projected billing.- Multi-year renewals : Start the workflow 120–180 days out instead of 60–90.- Channel/partner renewals : Add a partner alignment step between Steps 4 and 5.- High-volume / tech-touch renewals : Focus risk scoring (Step 2) on health score data and concentrate manual effort on High and Medium risk accounts only.
## Guardrails
- Never fabricate contract values, renewal dates, pricing, or usage data. All commercial data must come from the user, CRM, or billing system.- Never generate specific discount recommendations or pricing numbers. This skill structures the approach; your pricing team provides the numbers.- Never assume the customer's budget situation or competitive landscape. Ask; do not infer.- Source-label every assertion : [From account data] , [From renewal framework] , or [CSM assessment] .
> **Tip:** Ask for DOCX output via companyFILES to get a formatted renewal brief ready to share.