| name | renewal-workflow-design |
| description | Design the renewal-risk workflow and save-play triggers from a health tier plus renewal proximity: the risk = proximity × engagement rule, the renewal watchlist surface, the trigger-to-play mapping, the expand/maintain/recover decision, and the who-do-I-call-today actionability bar. Reach for this skill when designing how at-risk renewals surface and what fires when, or when a renewal that should be safe shows no movement. Domain-neutral — generalized from the EdTech renewal-play-design pattern; no vertical assumptions. |
Skill: Renewal-Workflow Design
A renewal is earned in the months before the date, not negotiated in the final week. This skill designs the workflow that surfaces at-risk renewals early and the triggers that fire a save motion while there's still time to act — keyed off the health tier and renewal proximity.
This is the domain-neutral generalization of the renewal-play-design pattern — the reusable renewal-risk mechanics, with vertical specifics (K-12 budget cycles, academic calendars, segment overlays) stripped out. Used by cs-analytics-architect (designs the renewal surface into the model) and churn-signal-analyst (defines the triggers). Pairs with ../health-tier-design/SKILL.md.
The core opinion this skill encodes
Renewal proximity alone is not risk. Risk = proximity × engagement.
Every account eventually reaches 90 days to renewal — that, alone, is not a signal. Proximity is the gate that sets urgency; engagement (usage trend, health-score trend, support/escalation signal, champion presence) is what turns proximity into risk. The workflow keys off the product of the two, never proximity by itself.
A renewal you have to convince at T-7 is one you already lost the narrative on. The workflow exists to make the misses visible at T-90 — sponsor never confirmed, value-evidence missing, single-threaded relationship — while there's still runway.
Step 1 — The renewal watchlist surface
The workflow starts with a surface: accounts whose renewal is inside the watch window, sorted by risk × proximity.
- Entry: an account enters the watchlist when
days_to_renewal crosses the watch threshold (default ~180 days).
- Sort: by
(health_tier, days_to_renewal) — Red-and-soon at the top.
- Per row: the health tier + why (its driving signals), days to renewal, renewal-opportunity stage, recommended next action, and a trend sparkline.
- The actionability bar: a CS leader sorts by
(tier = Red AND days_to_renewal < 90) and gets an actionable call list in under two minutes, every Red showing why. If the surface needs mental computation or shows an unexplained Red, it fails the bar.
Step 2 — The workflow stages (health-gated)
| Stage | Default timing | The health-gated check |
|---|
| Watch | enters ~180-day window | baseline health tier recorded; account on the watchlist |
| Confirm | ~120 days | named decision-maker / sponsor still in role + engaged? value-evidence assembled + sourced? |
| Multi-thread | ~90 days | single-threaded to one champion (a single point of failure) or multi-threaded? |
| Decide | ~90-60 days | the expand / maintain / recover call (Step 4) |
| Close | ~30-7 days | "no surprises" — the account already knows the posture + pricing |
The day-counts are the default SaaS clock. A vertical overlay (a budget-build window that decides the renewal months early) shifts the clock; the stages and their health-gates stay the same. Overlays live in a vertical plugin, not here.
Missed stages are the leading indicator. Don't march forward as if a missed milestone happened — a missed confirm / multi-thread is itself a risk flag that should re-tier the account.
Step 3 — Trigger-to-play mapping (save-play triggers)
Map health-tier states and independent red-flag triggers to a save motion. The tier drives the scheduled cadence; the independent triggers fire immediately, regardless of tier color.
| Trigger | Fires |
|---|
Tier = Red AND days_to_renewal < 90 | Top-of-list save play; frequent review until cleared or resolved |
| Tier flips Green→Yellow | Investigate which signals dropped; light-touch recovery; tighten cadence |
| Champion / sponsor departs (independent) | Immediate re-confirm-and-multi-thread motion — don't wait for the next QBR |
| Active-user collapse (independent) | Immediate diagnostic + outreach |
| Account says "evaluating alternatives" (independent) | Immediate recovery motion + escalation |
| Sponsor skips 2 consecutive reviews (ghost sponsor) | Re-confirm decision-maker; feed silence back into the tier |
Independent triggers run alongside the tier, not inside it — a composite reacts too slowly to a sudden champion departure.
Step 4 — The expand / maintain / recover decision
At the Decide stage the CSM makes an internal call from three inputs — health tier, adoption trajectory, organizational readiness:
| Input | Expand | Maintain | Recover / exit |
|---|
| Health tier | Top, stable/rising | Mid, stable | Bottom or declining |
| Adoption | Broad + room to grow | Steady at target | Narrow or declining |
| Org readiness | New budget / sponsor energy | Status quo | Org change against us / sponsor lost |
- Expand → trigger the grow motion after the renewal closes, never bundled into it.
- Maintain → renew and continue at the standard cadence.
- Recover → the renewal motion is the recovery; fire the save play immediately.
Anti-pattern: running an expansion motion on a Yellow/Red account during the renewal window. It conflates the relationship, burns the renewal, and signals the CSM is on quota. (CS is not sales — expansion fires when the account has earned value, not on a calendar quota.)
Step 5 — Touch-cadence by tier
The tier drives how often, not just who:
| Tier | Cadence |
|---|
| Green | Standard rhythm (quarterly QBR + light monthly pulse); watch for expansion readiness |
| Yellow | Tighter (monthly sync + weekly signal review); light-touch recovery |
| Red | Recovery cadence — not "wait for the next QBR"; frequent review until cleared |
Step 6 — QBR discipline (the recurring checkpoint between renewals)
- A QBR with no commitments is a status meeting. Every QBR ends with named action items, owners, and dates — tracked between QBRs.
- QBR attendance is a signal: a sponsor skipping two reviews is a ghost sponsor (feeds the tier).
- Provenance on every QBR claim — "usage up 18%" needs source, range, baseline.
What this skill does NOT cover
- The health tier itself (signal selection, weighting, thresholds, explainability) →
../health-tier-design/SKILL.md
- Building the pipeline / warehouse / BI surface that renders the workflow →
data-platform
- Segment-specific renewal overlays (K-12 budget cycle, academic calendar, board approval) → a vertical plugin (e.g.
edtech-partner-success)
- The partner-facing comms / play execution in a vertical → a vertical CS-motion plugin
References
