It’s renewal time—standard one-year contract. You’ve done this 5 times before. Five years in a row. Great. So, you send an email rather than call because you know Michelle. You’ve got a relationship built around hundreds of phone calls and Zoom meetings at this point. Yet, in microseconds after the email was sent, you get an all-cap locks response: UR PRODUCT SUCKS. I’M OUT.
Okay, not so great.
Some would start here by saying you should always call the client—every time—no matter what. I’m not going to say that. Instead, I’ll trust you to know your client having built a solid working relationship that’s been mutually beneficial for years. You better know your client. You’re telling me email works for this client? Fine. In reality, the phone call would’ve been the email only in loud noises. It doesn’t change much.
What would’ve been a real value add is a structured pre-renewal cycle check-in around 90 days before the signing date. That’s enough time to nurture the relationship, address outstanding issues, and hold hands come renewal. But that’s a different article. Here, there’s no time for proactiveness or self-reflection. You have a mess that needs to be addressed ASAP.
STEP 1: Call the client
Now, you have two options. You either call or schedule a Zoom. You need it so you can address the feeling of mistrust. Show Michelle you care, that’s why you manage her account. For that reason, jumping on a call is recommended. I do it often. It’s not planned, but you’d be
surprised how suddenly customers who never respond will pick up immediately in these circumstances. Then you’re in for a whirlwind of an engagement. Hold on and for the love of anything, don’t start the call by announcing a solution. Michelle doesn’t give a shit about a solution yet. She wants you to feel her pain. So do that.
You might think, hey, I’m in B2B sales, this doesn’t happen. So, am I. Granted, B2C and SMB can be more chaotic versus larger midmarket or enterprise relationships, but ultimately, we’re always still just dealing with humans. Your place in the hierarchy doesn’t fundamentally change human psychology. While there is a certain distance in executive relationships, I’ve had enough CTOs lose their cool to know, we’re all just people in the end. Address the emotions then the solution.
If your schedule’s too tight, then start by emailing the client with a link to your calendar (Calendly, hello) and give them a day to schedule. If they don’t schedule, call them the next day.
STEP 2: Leave a voicemail
Voicemail isn’t that dead? No. Every time I’ve called, left a voicemail then emailed the customer, I’ve got a call back shortly after. Often times in the customer’s call or email response, they’ll mention listening to the voicemail apologizing for not answering sooner. Follow this workflow precisely: Call > Voicemail > Email with calendar link and repeat 2-3 times over a two-week period.
Follow this, and in my experience, the odds have flipped in your favor. It doesn’t matter if it’s Maria from A Apparel or the CEO, COO, or CMO from WorldWide Acme Funds. They’ll get back to you. The actual hard part is what comes next.
STEP 3: Enjoy a shit call
You can’t avoid it. Do yoga, meditate, pace the office backward, scream into the pillow, gym it bro—you choose the method to relax before the call but just be damn sure to jump on that call.
On the call, apologize, “I’m sorry, I didn’t address this issue sooner.” That’s it, no longer than a sentence. I don’t care what sales book you read, be a Canadian for a minute and say sorry regardless. Of course, I mean those apologies. I’m not apologizing for my behavior (unless I messed up) just the experience itself. Most people don’t want these high-strung interactions, and I’m sorry we have to go through this together, now.
After you apologize, ask them to explain their issue then don’t speak until they’re finished, this might take a while. It would be a good idea to punctuate their story with the occasional word or sound that lets them know you’re still actively listening. But please, even if you already know the solution, let them get there at their own pace. Think of this more as story time. Your customer wants to make sure you understand what they’re going through. What it means for their business. I always like to retell their story once a customer’s finished, just so we’re both on the same page.
STEP 4: End the call with 3 agreed-upon issues to resolve
Three actionable issues that the customer identifies as business-critical that must be resolved for renewal. Never mind if it’s doable just needs to be actionable. Once you get it, tell them you’re creating a success plan that will detail each point and give them an exact date you’ll deliver. I’ve got a real example of a success template I use often below. This delivery date should be no later than two weeks from this meeting.
I use Google Sheets to create a shared dashboard and task action list with customers. See 4 examples of goals established following a business review:
STEP 5: Solution Time
I’ve yet to meet a customer who got this far who doesn’t collaborate going forward. But you got to do the work, so, manage your sales pipeline as you may need to stall the renewal. At least, you got a plan and own it. And you’ve got enough time to continue the work on other accounts. Schedule accordingly, and do the work. Jump into Product triages. Escalate if you have to. Get executive buy-in. Learn the issue, its complexity, and what it would take to fix. Do overtime if you have to (you shouldn’t have to).
I’ll be honest, majority of the time, there’s still not enough time. The issue will require maybe a quarter or more to resolve. However, chances are you’ll find a creative workaround, a third-party integration, something. Maybe one-third of the issues will be resolved before the two-week deadline expires. Perfect. Schedule a meeting, plan it out, reducing the complexity of the issue to bullet points. Then put it on a presentation. Always do this one in person or on Zoom. Make it so it’s visual, textual and you’re speaking so all learner-types will stay interested. Make it ten slides or less and don’t go over thirty minutes in explanations. The total presentation will last around an hour.
the Finale
You’ve done the work: earned trust back and delivered a solution. It’s not utopian but it works. From this point forward, the customer knows how to address issues with you going forward. This won’t save all your clients but this is a worst-case-scenario game plan. Got a better idea? 🙂