The renewal window is a 45 day season you can plan for
Annual agreements expire on a schedule, which makes renewals the most predictable revenue event on your calendar. Working the window early turns a quiet lapse into a conversation.
Owen Brandt//6 min read/Retention
Termite renewals, annual plans, and commercial contracts all end on a date you already know. That makes them different from every other retention problem, because you can put the work on a calendar 45 days out and staff it.
Companies that touch a renewal three times before the expiration date keep noticeably more of them than companies that send one invoice.
The 45 day sequence
- Day 45, a summary of the year with visits completed and findings.
- Day 30, the renewal offer with the price and the effective date.
- Day 14, a short text with a link to confirm.
- Day 5, a call from the person who knows the account.
That sequence is easy to describe and easy to skip during a busy August. Renewal campaigns that fire on the expiration date keep the sequence running whether or not the office had a light week.
Lead with the year in review
Customers forget the value of prevention, because prevention looks like nothing happening. A one page summary of the visits you made, the activity you found, and the conditions you corrected reframes the renewal as a record rather than a bill.
Prevention looks like nothing happening, so the renewal letter has to show the work.
Price the renewal before you send it
| Tenure | Service record | Renewal move |
|---|---|---|
| Under 2 years | Clean | Standard increase |
| Under 2 years | Two or more reservices | Hold price, add a named technician |
| 2 to 5 years | Clean | Standard increase and an add on offer |
| 5 years and up | Clean | Standard increase and a loyalty note |
| Any | Open issue | Resolve first, renew second |
Report the window, not the month
Measure renewal rate by expiration cohort rather than by calendar month, since a September renewal worked in August belongs to the September cohort. Reporting it any other way hides the effect of the sequence and makes a good month look like a bad one.
Build the calendar once, and the season becomes ordinary work with a known start date.
