The Situation

Renewals were owned by the Client Success team, but there was no structured operating model aligning Finance, Legal, and Executive Leadership.

The organization needed a more disciplined renewal strategy — one that brought consistency to pricing, improved visibility into upcoming renewals, and strengthened financial performance without disrupting client relationships.

The Challenge

• Scattered escalators without defined pricing strategy

• Limited advance visibility into upcoming renewals

• Margin erosion becoming a concern

• Renewal prep inconsistent across accounts

• No formal cross-functional approval cadence

The team worked hard to protect relationships. What was missing was structure.

The Approach

I built a framework for the renewal process that maintained the trust with the client.

Key elements included:

• Proactive renewal flagging and workflow tracking in Salesforce

• Structured internal renewal review with Finance, Legal, and Leadership

• Defined escalator strategy targeting 4–5% annually

• Integrated expansion strategy into renewal planning

• Elevated renewal preparation cadence months ahead of contract dates

The focus was on sustainable margin expansion aligned with client perceived value.

The Outcome

• Increased average annual escalator from 0.6% to 4.3%

• Nearly $2M in incremental margin impact

• Improved forecast confidence and executive visibility

• Increased multi-year agreement adoption

• Maintained strong employer retention