> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.trig.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Renewal Jobs

> Proactive renewal management that prevents churn before it happens

This guide walks you through configuring a renewal job in Trig, with detailed explanations of why each configuration choice matters and how to think through decisions for your specific business.

<Note>
  **Worked Example:** Throughout this guide, we'll follow TeamFlow, a collaborative project management tool with 2,000 customers. Their product is sticky when teams actively use it, but customers who don't achieve full team adoption often churn at renewal. With only 4 CSMs, they can't personally manage every renewal.
</Note>

## Why proactive renewal management matters

### The renewal reality

By the time a customer tells you they're not renewing, the decision was made weeks or months ago. The renewal conversation is just the notification—the actual decision happened during:

* The month they stopped logging in
* The week their champion left
* The day they couldn't get a support issue resolved

Proactive renewal management means detecting these moments early enough to intervene.

### The cost of reactive renewal

| Approach              | Detection Point                         | Intervention Success |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------------- | -------------------- |
| **Reactive**          | Customer says "we're not renewing"      | 10-20% save rate     |
| **Proactive (late)**  | 30 days before renewal, health check    | 30-40% save rate     |
| **Proactive (early)** | 60+ days before, warning signs detected | 50-70% save rate     |

***

## Step 1: Define your renewal window

### What you're configuring

The renewal window determines how far in advance of a customer's renewal date they enter your renewal job.

### How to choose your window

Consider your typical "save" conversation timeline:

| Window Length | Best For                   | Considerations                                  |
| ------------- | -------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| **30 days**   | SMB, self-serve, low-touch | Fast cycles, quick decisions                    |
| **60 days**   | Mid-market, moderate touch | Time for 1-2 intervention attempts              |
| **90+ days**  | Enterprise, high-touch     | Complex buying processes, multiple stakeholders |

### Example: TeamFlow's decision

TeamFlow chose 60 days because their typical "save" conversation requires:

* **Week 1:** Identify the problem (usage drop, champion left, etc.)
* **Week 2:** Diagnostic call with the customer
* **Weeks 3 to 4:** Implement solution (training, configuration change)
* **Weeks 5 to 6:** Verify the solution is working
* **Weeks 7 to 8:** Buffer for delays

```
Renewal Window: 60 days before renewal date
```

***

## Step 2: Set your entry criteria

### Example configuration

```
Entry Criteria:
- Renewal date is within 60 days
- Customer status = Active
- Contract type = Annual
```

<Tip>
  **Start simple.** You can add segment-specific criteria later (e.g., different windows for enterprise vs. SMB).
</Tip>

***

## Step 3: Configure renewal health assessment

### Healthy renewal indicators

These signals indicate a customer is on track to renew without intervention:

| Indicator               | What It Means                   | How to Measure                           |
| ----------------------- | ------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- |
| Consistent usage        | Product is embedded in workflow | DAU/WAU/MAU stable or growing            |
| Recent feature adoption | Still investing in learning     | New features used in last 30 days        |
| Expanding usage         | More users or use cases         | Seat count increase, new team adoption   |
| Support engagement      | They ask questions, they care   | Support tickets with positive resolution |
| Champion engagement     | Internal advocate is active     | Champion user login frequency            |

### TeamFlow's healthy indicators

```
Healthy Renewal Indicators:
- Usage in last 14 days: Yes
- Active users: ≥70% of licensed seats
- Champion last login: Within 7 days
- Open escalated tickets: 0
```

### At-risk renewal indicators

These warning signs signal a customer may not renew:

| Warning Sign         | What It Signals         | How to Measure                   |
| -------------------- | ----------------------- | -------------------------------- |
| Usage decline        | Decreasing engagement   | 30%+ drop vs prior period        |
| Champion absence     | Advocate has disengaged | No login in 30+ days             |
| Low seat utilisation | Not getting full value  | Under 50% of seats active        |
| Support frustration  | Unresolved issues       | Open tickets, negative sentiment |
| Invoice issues       | Financial friction      | Late payments, billing disputes  |

### TeamFlow's at-risk indicators

```
At-Risk Renewal Indicators:
- Usage decline: >30% drop in WAU vs 30 days ago
- Champion login: >21 days since last activity
- Seat utilisation: Under 50% of licensed seats active
- Open support tickets: >2 unresolved for >14 days
```

### Pattern recognition

TeamFlow identified four churn patterns from their data:

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Pattern 1: The Slow Fade">
    **Signal:** Usage drops 30%+ over 30 days

    **Cause:** Often happens when a key project ends or team priorities shift

    **Intervention:** Re-engage with new use case discovery
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Pattern 2: The Champion Departure">
    **Signal:** Primary buyer/champion stops logging in

    **Cause:** Often means they've left the company or changed roles

    **Intervention:** Identify and engage new stakeholder
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Pattern 3: The Underutilised Account">
    **Signal:** Paying for 20 seats, only 8 active users

    **Cause:** Often means the rollout stalled after initial enthusiasm

    **Intervention:** Adoption support, training offer
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Pattern 4: The Frustrated Customer">
    **Signal:** Multiple support tickets unresolved for 14+ days

    **Cause:** Often means they've hit a wall and are giving up

    **Intervention:** Escalation, executive attention
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Step 4: Configure at-risk renewal interventions

### Trigger configuration

```
Trigger Condition:
- Customer is within 60 days of renewal
- AND matches any At-Risk Indicator
- AND has not received intervention in last 30 days
```

<Note>
  **OR vs AND Logic:** TeamFlow chose OR logic—any single warning sign triggers the job. "We'd rather have false positives than miss a churning customer."
</Note>

***

## Step 5: Write your intervention message

### Message best practices

| Principle             | Why It Works                  | Common Mistake                                   |
| --------------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Plain text format     | Feels like a real email       | HTML templates scream "marketing automation"     |
| Human sender          | People respond to people      | "The TeamFlow Team" gets ignored                 |
| Acknowledge reality   | Shows you're paying attention | Pretending everything is fine                    |
| Offer help, not sales | Reduces defensiveness         | "Let's talk about your renewal" = instant delete |
| Single ask            | Clear next step               | Multiple CTAs create paralysis                   |

### Example message

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Draft 1 (Rejected)">
    ```
    Subject: Your TeamFlow Renewal is Coming Up

    Dear {first_name},

    We noticed that your annual TeamFlow subscription will be
    renewing on {renewal_date}. We wanted to reach out to ensure
    you have everything you need for a smooth renewal process.

    Our records indicate some changes in your usage patterns
    recently. We'd love to schedule a call to discuss how
    TeamFlow can continue to support your team's project
    management needs.

    Please let us know if you have any questions.

    Best regards,
    The TeamFlow Customer Success Team
    ```

    **Problems:**

    * "Dear" is formal and cold
    * "The TeamFlow Customer Success Team" isn't a person
    * "smooth renewal process" makes it about the transaction
    * "changes in your usage patterns" is vague and ominous
    * No specific ask
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Draft 2 (Approved)">
    ```
    Subject: Quick question about your team's projects

    Hi {first_name},

    I noticed your team's activity in [Product] has dropped off
    over the past few weeks. Before your renewal comes up in
    {days_until_renewal} days, I wanted to check in.

    If something's not working the way you need it to, I'd
    genuinely like to hear about it — there might be features
    or configurations we haven't explored that could help.

    Do you have 15 minutes this week for a quick call?

    Sarah
    Customer Success
    ```

    **Why this works:**

    * "Hi" is warm and normal
    * Sarah is a real person (or believable persona)
    * "dropped off" acknowledges reality without accusation
    * Offers help, not a sales pitch
    * Single clear ask: 15-minute call
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

### Message variants by trigger

| Trigger         | Message Focus                                               |
| --------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| Usage drop      | "I noticed activity has dropped..."                         |
| Champion absent | "I haven't seen {champion} in \[Product] recently..."       |
| Low adoption    | "I noticed only {X} of your {Y} team members are active..." |
| Support issues  | "I saw you've had some support tickets open..."             |

***

## Step 6: Configure sender identity

### Options

| Sender Type         | Best For                              |
| ------------------- | ------------------------------------- |
| Real CSM (dynamic)  | Accounts with named CSM relationships |
| CS Persona (static) | Accounts without assigned CSMs        |
| Functional Role     | Transactional communications          |

### TeamFlow's decision

* **High-value accounts (>\$25K):** Email from actual assigned CSM
* **All other accounts:** Email from "Sarah Chen" — a shared persona that any team member can respond as

***

## Step 7: Set message timing

### Timing considerations

| Option                           | Trade-off                               |
| -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| Immediately                      | Maximum relevance, unpredictable timing |
| Wait X hours                     | Less urgency, allows batching           |
| Next business day, specific time | Predictable, but less contextual        |
| Customer timezone optimised      | Best of both, requires timezone data    |

### TeamFlow's decision

```
Message Timing:
- Within 25 minutes of trigger
- Delivery window: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM customer timezone
- If trigger fires outside window, queue for next available slot
```

***

## Step 8: Configure internal escalation

### Tiered escalation system

| Tier              | Trigger                                 | Channel                 | Action Expected                               |
| ----------------- | --------------------------------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **1: Standard**   | All at-risk triggers                    | #renewals-at-risk Slack | CSM reviews, decides on follow-up             |
| **2: High-Value** | \$25K+ contracts                        | CSM DM + Manager        | Same-day review, potential executive outreach |
| **3: Critical**   | Multiple at-risk signals, under 30 days | CS Manager + VP Sales   | Executive intervention, discount authority    |

### Sample Slack notification

```
🚨 At-Risk Renewal Alert

Customer: Acme Corp
Contract Value: $18,000/year
Renewal Date: March 15 (47 days)

Warning Signs Detected:
• Usage down 42% vs last month
• Primary contact last login: 28 days ago

Automated intervention sent to: john.smith@acme.com
Subject: "Quick question about your team's projects"

📊 View in Trig → [link]
```

***

## Step 9: Configure follow-up logic

### Follow-up sequence

| Day    | Action                                           |
| ------ | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Day 0  | Initial intervention message sent                |
| Day 5  | If no response → Send follow-up message          |
| Day 10 | If no response → Internal escalation             |
| Day 14 | If no response → Phone call attempt (high-value) |

### Follow-up message

```
Subject: Re: Quick question about your team's projects

Hi {first_name},

Just floating this back up—I'd love to help if something's
not working the way you need.

Even a quick reply with what's going on would help me point
you in the right direction.

Sarah
```

***

## Step 10: Define success metrics

### Metrics to track

| Metric                          | What It Measures                                |
| ------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- |
| **At-risk identification rate** | % of renewals flagged as at-risk                |
| **Intervention response rate**  | % who reply or engage                           |
| **Save rate**                   | % of at-risk customers who renew                |
| **False positive rate**         | % flagged at-risk who would have renewed anyway |
| **Net retention**               | Overall renewal + expansion revenue             |

### Benchmarking

| Metric                           | Target             |
| -------------------------------- | ------------------ |
| At-risk identification           | 20-30% of renewals |
| Intervention response            | 15-25%             |
| Save rate (with intervention)    | 40-60%             |
| Save rate (without intervention) | 10-20%             |

***

## Summary checklist

<Check>Renewal window defined (30 to 90 days based on sales cycle)</Check>
<Check>Entry criteria set (active, annual contracts)</Check>
<Check>Healthy indicators defined (4 to 5 positive signals)</Check>
<Check>At-risk indicators defined (4 to 5 warning signs)</Check>
<Check>Trigger logic configured (OR vs AND)</Check>
<Check>Plain text intervention message written</Check>
<Check>Sender identity configured</Check>
<Check>Message timing set (business hours, customer timezone)</Check>
<Check>Internal escalation tiers configured</Check>
<Check>Follow-up sequence designed</Check>
<Check>Success metrics defined</Check>

***

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Configure Onboarding Jobs" icon="rocket" href="/use-cases/onboarding-jobs">
    Get customers to their "aha moment" before they give up
  </Card>

  <Card title="Using Signals Guide" icon="bell" href="/guides/using-signals">
    Proactively surface and act on customers who need attention
  </Card>
</CardGroup>