# Renewals, expansion and complaints

> A renewal calendar at 120, 90 and 60 days, usage signals that warn early, a complaint handled as a sales moment, growth into a new team, and what net revenue retention does and doesn't tell you.

- Course: [B2B Marketing and Sales: Win Your First Company Customers](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales.md)
- Module: Accounts, renewals and the first hire
- Lesson 30/32, ~22 min
- Source: https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/renewals-and-expansion

## Sixty days left

**Alex Tutor:** Still at Klasna for Teams, early April. Marta has the client list open and has spotted a date nobody was watching.

**Marta:** The marketing agency's contract ends on 31 May. That's 60 days away, and nobody has talked to them about next year.

**Alex Tutor:** A **renewal** is a sale, and it starts long before the end date. Use a simple calendar: at **120 days** check usage and results inside the team; at **90** meet the client to review the year and hear what's changing.

**Alex Tutor:** At **60 days** send the proposal and start the paperwork. Remember Veloria: legal alone took three weeks. At 60 days you should be finishing, not starting.

**Sofia:** So the agency is late, and the law firm, ending on 30 June, is at 90 days today.

> **Exercise:** Put the renewal steps for a one-year contract in order.

**Alex Tutor:** Now the law firm, at 90 days today. What's the step?

> **Exercise:** The law firm's contract ends on 30 June; today it is 90 days away. What should Teams do now?

## What usage tells you early

**Marta:** The agency buys 60 lessons a month, but only 54% of booked lessons were attended this quarter. And they pay in 81 days on average, on 60-day terms.

**Alex Tutor:** Those are the signals to watch: attendance falling, fewer active learners, the contact going quiet, late payments, a new budget owner. People who stopped coming rarely see a reason to pay for another year.

**Alex Tutor:** A signal is a question, not a verdict. Low attendance might mean a bad schedule, the wrong level or a busy season. Ask before you guess, and before you discount.

**Sofia:** And the good signals? Veloria's 92% attendance in March, I suppose.

**Alex Tutor:** Yes, plus requests from other teams and a champion who brings in colleagues. Watch both kinds every month, not just before the end date.

> **Exercise:** Which of these are **early warning signals** for a renewal? Choose all that apply.

**Alex Tutor:** The agency's 54 % attendance: what does it tell you, exactly?

> **Exercise:** **True or false:** the agency's 54 % attendance means it won't renew, so the best move is to offer a discount before the renewal conversation.

## A complaint is a sales moment

**Pavlo:** I have to tell you something unpleasant. Our night-shift dispatchers got a new tutor twice in March. They're annoyed, and Stepan has heard about it.

**Alex Tutor:** A complaint from a key account is a test you can pass this week. Thank Pavlo, own it without excuses, fix it fast, say what changes, and check back. Stepan will see how Klasna acts when a shift goes wrong.

**Sofia:** Pavlo, thank you for telling us straight away. That's our mistake. From next week the night shift gets one fixed tutor, and I'll call you after two weeks to check how it's going.

**Alex Tutor:** Good. Notice what you didn't do: no reflex discount, no blaming the tutors. And ask one more thing: "Is anything else not working that we should hear about?"

> **Exercise:** Pavlo complains that the night shift's tutor was changed twice in March. Which reply best turns the complaint into trust?

## Growing into a new team

**Pavlo:** Since you asked: our customs brokerage team keeps asking when it's their turn. They deal with foreign paperwork all day.

**Alex Tutor:** That's **expansion revenue**: more from a client you already have. It's often the cheapest growth, because trust is already there. But a new team is a small new sale: new users, maybe a new budget line.

**Alex Tutor:** So ask Pavlo who would approve it and what that team needs. And offer it only once the night shift is fixed: expansion built on an open complaint wobbles.

**Marta:** And yes, Veloria gets bigger. We decided last time: we don't refuse growth, we grow the rest faster.

> **Exercise:** **True or false:** adding a new team at an existing client needs no new approval, because the client has already bought from you.

## One number for keeping and growing

**Sofia:** Is there one number that shows whether we keep and grow clients well?

**Alex Tutor:** **Net revenue retention** (NRR): what the clients you had a year ago pay you now, divided by what they paid then. Expansion adds; cuts and lost clients subtract; new clients are left out.

**Alex Tutor:** Suppose a group of clients paid 300,000 UAH a month a year ago. One expanded by 60,000, one cut 30,000: 330,000 ÷ 300,000 = 110%.

**Alex Tutor:** Read it with care. One big expansion can hide several losses; it counts revenue, not margin, so renewals bought with discounts look fine; and with a dozen clients it jumps around. Always show the losses next to it.

> **Exercise:** A year ago your clients paid 400,000 UAH a month. Since then, those clients expanded by 80,000, one left (−40,000) and one cut back (−20,000). New clients added 100,000. What is the **net revenue retention**?

**Alex Tutor:** Suppose next year's NRR comes out at 112 %. What do you show beside it?

> **Exercise:** Teams' NRR for the year is 112 %. What should Marta show next to it in her report?

## Your turn: the agency

**Marta:** Write to the agency's learning lead today. I want a call this month, not a price in her inbox.

**Alex Tutor:** Be honest about what you see, ask why, and offer a short review of the year. No invented deadline: 31 May is real enough.

**Sofia:** Mention the attendance, ask what's getting in the way, propose two times.

**Alex Tutor:** And leave the late payments for the call, framed as a question about their process, not a reproach.

> **Exercise:** The marketing agency's contract ends on 31 May (60 days). Attendance this quarter was 54% of booked lessons. Write a **short email** (4–6 sentences) to the agency's learning lead that names what you see, asks what's getting in the way and proposes a review call. No pressure, no invented deadline, no discount offer.

> **Key ideas**
>
> - A **renewal** is a sale. Calendar: at 120 days check usage and results inside the team, at 90 review the year with the client, at 60 send the proposal and finish the paperwork.
> - Usage signals warn early: attendance, active learners, a quiet contact, late payment, a new budget owner. Treat each as a question to ask.
> - A complaint is a sales moment: thank, own it, fix it fast, say what changes, check back. No reflex discount.
> - **Expansion revenue** from a new team is a small new sale: new users, possibly a new approver. Offer it once open problems are fixed.
> - **Net revenue retention** shows whether existing clients pay more or less than a year ago. It leaves out new clients, can hide losses behind one expansion, and ignores margin.

**Alex Tutor:** Next time: Teams hires its first salesperson, and everything that lives in Marta's head has to be written down.

- Previous lesson: [A key account plan and concentration risk](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/key-account-plan.md)
- Next lesson: [From founder-led selling to the first sales hire](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/from-founder-led-to-first-hire.md)

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