Here’s the mistake I see CS teams make all the time:
They treat retention and renewal like they’re the same thing.
But they’re not.
Renewal is the moment.
Retention is the motion.
And if your entire retention playbook activates only when the renewal is 90 days away, you’re not actually doing retention work. You’re reacting to a deadline.
The Difference Between Retention and Renewal
- Renewal is an event. It’s the commercial transaction at the end of a contract.
- Retention is the outcome of everything you’ve done before that point.
If you want your renewals to be predictable, clean, and fast—you need a retention engine that kicks in long before procurement shows up.
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
✅ Retention Strategy Is:
- Success planning tied to customer goals
- Proactive risk identification and mitigation
- Stakeholder alignment and multithreading
- Driving consistent product usage and value realization
- Ensuring your CSMs know what “good” looks like in an account
❌ Renewal Strategy Is NOT:
- A mad dash to re-prove value 60 days out
- An internal scramble to surface risk too late
- A last-minute plea to push the contract through procurement
You don’t need a better renewal process.
You need a stronger retention muscle.
So How Do You Build a Retention Strategy?
Building a retention strategy means designing intentional systems that ensure value is being delivered, risks are being caught early, and the customer journey feels guided, not reactive.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Anchor Retention to Value Realization Milestones
If your retention efforts aren’t clearly tied to customer outcomes, they’re just activity for activity’s sake.
💡 What to do:
Map the key business outcomes your customers care about at each stage—then tie CS touchpoints to those outcomes. Think in terms of impact milestones, not just journey phases.
Example: For a QA automation platform, a milestone might be: “80% of regression test cases automated by Month 3.”
📌 Why it matters:
When the CSM and customer are aligned on why success matters, renewal becomes a natural conclusion, not a hard sell.
2. Design a Clear Risk Review and Save Plan Process
A reactive team waits for red flags. A proactive team builds systems to catch risk early.
💡 What to do:
Institute monthly or quarterly internal risk reviews for all at-risk or strategic accounts. Make it standard practice.
✅ Include:
- Defined risk criteria (e.g., low usage, stakeholder loss, delayed implementation)
- Assigned ownership and timelines for mitigation
- Regular status updates in your CS platform or account plan
Example: One of my clients implemented a “3-strike” rule—if an account meets 3 early indicators, it triggers a Save Plan review, even if the renewal is 9 months away.
📌 Why it matters:
You can’t save an account if you diagnose the problem at the finish line.
3. Make Success Planning a Living, Breathing Document
Success Plans aren’t just a nice-to-have. They’re your retention blueprint.
💡 What to do:
Make Success Plans a central part of onboarding, QBRs, and internal account reviews. Include:
- Customer goals and KPIs
- Internal champions and stakeholders
- Expansion signals or cross-sell interest
- Timeline and owners for key milestones
Example: Use a 30-60-90 structure to identify short-, mid-, and long-term goals. Revisit every quarter.
📌 Why it matters:
When your team is tracking progress toward outcomes in real time, you don’t have to re-prove value at renewal—it’s already documented.
4. Operationalize Multithreading
Your strongest champion might not be there at renewal. If you’re not multithreaded, you’re vulnerable.
💡 What to do:
Build stakeholder maps for every account. Track executive sponsors, budget holders, influencers, and power users. Use QBRs and exec syncs to build relationships beyond the day-to-day users.
Example: In QBRs, carve out 10 minutes for “future roadmap alignment”—invite execs, even if they don’t join regularly.
📌 Why it matters:
Multithreaded accounts are stickier. Even if one contact leaves, your relationship equity holds.
5. Create a Retention Dashboard With Leading Indicators
You can’t improve what you’re not measuring.
💡 What to do:
Beyond lagging metrics (churn, GRR, NRR), you need to be religiously tracking leading indicators of retention. This could include:
- Success plan milestone progress
- Product usage by role/persona
- Support ticket trends
- Exec engagement in the past 90 days
- CSM notes on stakeholder sentiment
Example: One CS org I worked with built a simple traffic-light system in Salesforce to visualize retention risk weekly—based on just 3 signals.
📌 Why it matters:
What gets measured gets managed. And what gets visibility gets prioritized.
Retention Is a Daily Practice. Not a Yearly Event.
When CS teams start building a true retention motion, here’s what changes:
- Forecasts become more accurate
- Save plans actually get traction
- Renewals stop being a scramble
And most importantly?
Customers feel like you’re with them the entire time. Not just when you need the signature.
Want Help Designing a Real Retention Strategy?
If you’re tired of reactive renewals and want to build a proactive retention motion that drives results all year round—
📅 Want to explore whether coaching is the right fit for you? Book a consultation call with me here. Let’s talk through what you’re navigating and explore whether coaching or consulting is the right next step to support your goals.