Concrete Ways to Reinforce Your Customer Relationship After an Account Renewal

For customer marketers and customer success professionals, securing an account renewal is both a victory and a responsibility. A renewal signifies continued trust, but it also sets the stage for the next chapter in your customer relationship. Post-renewal is a critical period where the foundations laid during the renewal process can be reinforced to ensure ongoing success and customer satisfaction.

Here are five concrete steps you can take immediately after an account renewal to strengthen the relationship, deepen engagement, and set the stage for long-term success.

1. Thank your stakeholders

Unless the most recent year working with your company blew your customer’s expectations out of the water, making that renewal a no-brainer, chances are that there was some behind-the-scenes convincing that took place in order to secure your relationship for another year. Perhaps a planned new program got sacrificed to create the budget for your product, or a new hire that was going to be made now won’t be. And even if budget issues stayed the same, your internal champion probably had to put some degree of their credibility and reputation on the line with their executive in order to justify renewing that contract with you.?

THANK THEM.

REWARD THEM.?

It doesn’t have to be with anything huge or extravagant, but a nice token of gratitude that personally resonates with your stakeholders will be appreciated.? Is one of your contacts a pickleball fanatic? Maybe a new racquet and carrying case would be just the thing to say you’re excited for another year of scoring major points with their company.?Whatever it is, make it relevant, personal and shows you went the extra mile.

?2. Interview Stakeholders to Understand the Decision-Making Process

Understanding why your customer renewed is crucial. Did they renew because of your product's value, customer support, or perhaps a mix of factors? By conducting interviews with key stakeholders, you can gain insights into the decision-making process and the driving factors behind their decision.

Ask questions like:

- What were the key factors in your renewal decision?

- Were there any concerns or hesitations?

- What outcomes did you achieve with our solution that influenced your decision?

These conversations will not only provide valuable feedback but also signal to your customers that you are genuinely invested in understanding their needs and ensuring their success. The insights you gather can help tailor your approach moving forward and provide a foundation for a deeper partnership, as well as tips for making the top of funnel offerings and processes more compelling to prospects in similar situations.

It’s also important to ask these questions as soon as possible after the renewal so that:

• The answers will be top-of-mind for your stakeholders
• They are most likely feeling at their most optimistic about the relationship. These “good vibes” not only will likely garner more candid feedback, but also by reinforcing all the positive reasons they stayed with your company and product, it lays the groundwork to highlight their successes in more public acts of advocacy like case studies, reference calls, reviews and referrals, further strengthening the partnership.

3. Reexamine KPIs and Goals for the Next Year, both for your Client and your Teams

A renewal is an excellent opportunity to revisit and refine the KPIs and goals established at the beginning of the relationship. Now that you have a year (or more) of data and experience, it's time to assess whether the initial goals are still relevant or if they need adjustment.

Work with your customer to:

- Review the performance against previous KPIs.

- Identify new challenges or opportunities that have emerged.

- Set measurable goals for the next phase of the relationship.

This ensures that both parties are aligned and working towards mutually beneficial outcomes. It also demonstrates your commitment to continuous improvement and delivering ongoing value.

This is also a great time to recalibrate internally with your customer-facing teams in different functions (marketing, customer marketing, customer success, sales, etc.). In what situations did these teams work well together to achieve the goal? In what ways were people getting in each other’s way or competing for the same credit?? Here’s where we can really analyze internal processes and KPIs to make sure that they are streamlined, non-repetitive, and reinforce each other (CustomerCentrx can help with that!).

4. Onboard New Users and Champion New Features

Renewals often come with expanded use cases or additional licenses. Make sure that any new users are seamlessly onboarded and that existing users are aware of new features or updates that can enhance their experience. This is also a great time to provide a “refresher” course to users who may have been onboarded previously, but haven’t been actively using the product, or could benefit from new features since the last time they were active.

Provide customized training sessions or workshops that:

- Familiarize new users with the platform.

- Highlight how new features can address specific challenges.

- Reinforce best practices for maximizing value from your solution.

- Congratulate and reward users for completing the onboarding sequence.

By ensuring a smooth onboarding process and promoting adoption of new features, you can prevent any post-renewal drop-off in engagement and set the stage for even greater success.

?5. Map Out a Customer Success Plan for the Next 12 Months

While your renewal process likely involved some level of strategic planning, now is the time to dive deeper into a concrete customer success plan for the year ahead. This plan should include a roadmap for achieving the newly defined goals, a schedule for regular check-ins, and a clear outline of the support and resources your team will provide.

Key elements of this plan might include:

- Quarterly business reviews (QBRs) to track progress and recalibrate as needed.

- Success metrics that tie directly to the customer's goals.

- A timeline for any upcoming product updates, feature releases, or integrations.

This proactive approach helps keep both your team and the customer aligned, while also demonstrating that you're not just focused on retention, but on driving continuous value.

Account renewals mark the beginning of a new phase in your customer relationship. By taking these concrete steps—understanding their renewal decision, recalibrating goals, onboarding new users, planning for success, and leveraging advocacy—you can ensure that your customers feel valued, supported, and empowered to achieve even greater success in the year ahead.

What strategies do you employ post-renewal? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!