The first step was creating a centralized renewal tracker in Google Sheets. Without a dedicated Customer Success platform, we needed a lightweight solution that provided visibility into upcoming renewals while keeping Salesforce as the system of record.

The tracker organized accounts by renewal date and included the key data needed to manage the renewal process. Over the next six years, we continuously improved it by adding renewal stages, formulas, conditional formatting, and automated alerts that made it easier to prioritize work and identify upcoming or overdue renewals.

One of the biggest improvements was shifting from a monthly batch process to a daily workflow. Instead of sending all renewals at the beginning of the month, the team reviewed the dashboard each business day and sent renewals as they reached the appropriate milestone. This created a more consistent process, reduced workload spikes, and gave customers more time to complete their renewals.

Once we had visibility into every customer through our tracking system, the next step was redesigning our renewal process. Instead of reacting to upcoming renewals, we built a structured renewal cadence that began 120 days before the contract expiration.

At 120 days, we held a renewal planning meeting with the customer to review business outcomes, discuss goals, identify any risks, confirm stakeholders, and outline the renewal timeline. Around 90 days, we formally delivered the renewal and began working through any commercial or procurement requirements.

From there, we followed a structured cadence with touchpoints at 60, 30, 14, 7, and 3 days before expiration. Each milestone had a clear objective, whether it was confirming decision makers, resolving open issues, collecting approvals, or ensuring contracts were executed on time.

By breaking the renewal into defined stages instead of treating it as a single event, we reduced last-minute surprises, created clear accountability for both our team and the customer, and significantly improved the predictability of the renewal process.

In conclusion, implementing this renewal process reduced late renewals from approximately 20% to less than 5%, creating a significantly more proactive and predictable renewal motion.

Like any new process, it required refinement. We quickly realized that certain customer segments, particularly higher education institutions with 180-day procurement cycles, needed a different approach. For those customers, we adjusted our outreach timeline and began renewal conversations 180 days before expiration instead of the standard 120 days.

While the process wasn't perfect from day one, continuous iteration allowed us to tailor it to different customer needs. The end result was far more than improved renewal rates. We gained greater visibility into our renewal pipeline, more accurate forecasting, better budget planning, and a standardized process that strengthened the entire Customer Success organization. What began as a simple tracking initiative ultimately became a scalable operational framework that improved both team efficiency and the overall customer experience.