121 CRM playbook · Renewal follow-up

Prepare a renewal conversation with current service evidence, clear terms and time for a considered decision.

A fictional membership team reviews Morgan’s account before sending renewal information. This playbook turns that kind of situation into an owned sequence with explicit stop points, exceptions and measures. Use only channels, data and capabilities approved for your setup.

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Customer Thread

Renewal follow-up: the working sequence

Illustrative example

Verify the relationship
Start at the agreed time
Complete the handover
Human review

Verify the relationship
Check product, term, service status, contacts and unresolved issues.
Start at the agreed time
Give the customer enough time to review, ask questions and follow the cancellation route.
Complete the handover
Update the recurring arrangement or service plan only after approval.
Human review
A person checks the outcome and any exception.
Human decision

Illustrative playbook — names, organisations and activity are fictional.

Fictional workflow demonstration

Follow renewal follow-up from start to next action.

The coded interface shows an example sequence using fictional data and does not expose a live CRM account.

121

Northstar Joinery

Fictional

Keep payments and customer records connected

OverviewPaymentsInvoicesOrdersProducts

Keep payments and customer records connected

See invoices, orders and products alongside the customer journey while keeping reconciliation visible.

Recorded this month

£2,240

Illustrative total

Open invoices

One draft, one sent

Orders

Across three customers

Reference	Customer	Issued	Total	Status
INV-1048	Marlow Works	8 Oct	£1,240.00	Sent
INV-1047	Oakfield Homes	6 Oct	£680.00	Paid
INV-1046	Bramble Studio	2 Oct	£320.00	Draft

Illustrative 121 interfaceAll people, organisations, dates and activity are fictional. Any figures are illustrative. Controls demonstrate interaction patterns, not enabled account features.

What supports the playbook

See what the CRM can coordinate — and where your team steps in.

The CRM can organise the sequence, but the business still sets the rules, checks consent and handles the moments that need human judgement.

Capability 01

Recurring subscriptions

Creates recurring payment arrangements from eligible products and connected provider settings.

How it works: Uses configured products, merchant connections and checkout rules for an eligible payment or order journey.
Why use it: Supports repeat billing while preserving a visible subscription state.
Plan for: Provider fees, tax treatment, disputes, settlement and feature eligibility remain separate responsibilities.
Your team owns: A responsible person must approve prices and terms and resolve refunds, disputes and fulfilment exceptions.

Capability 02

Contacts

Stores a person or lead with contact details, activity, ownership and related records.

How it works: Stores or organises supported business data under configured fields, permissions and record rules.
Why use it: Gives a team one place to understand who a customer is and what has happened.
Plan for: The platform does not make imported, duplicated or incomplete data accurate without review.
Your team owns: A data owner must define the record model and resolve quality, ownership and access exceptions.

Capability 03

Tasks

Creates assigned, dated and optionally recurring actions against contacts or opportunities.

How it works: Tracks a potential deal, stage, owner or task using configured pipeline and record rules.
Why use it: Turns the next step into owned work instead of leaving it inside notes or inboxes.
Plan for: Pipeline position is only reliable when users and workflows update it consistently.
Your team owns: A responsible owner must qualify the deal, choose next actions and resolve stale or disputed status.

Capability 04

Waits and timing

Pauses a sequence until a duration, time, event or supported condition is reached.

How it works: Runs an ordered sequence only after its configured trigger and conditions are met.
Why use it: Keeps communication paced around the customer rather than firing every step at once.
Plan for: Automation follows its configuration; it cannot repair poor data, unclear rules or an unavailable external service.
Your team owns: A process owner must approve, test, monitor and pause or correct faulty automation.

Entry criteria

Begin with a valid trigger, enough context and one owner

A live customer arrangement approaches its agreed review or renewal window. Before any automated action, confirm that the event, customer record and communication basis are suitable for this playbook.

Trigger

A live customer arrangement approaches its agreed review or renewal window.

Practical scenario

A fictional membership team reviews Morgan’s account before sending renewal information.

Human decision retained

Accountable owner

Name the person or queue that accepts the work, monitors exceptions and can stop the sequence.

The sequence

Run the renewal follow-up playbook step by step

Each step should leave evidence a colleague can understand. Timing and channels should follow the customer context rather than a generic high-pressure cadence.

1. Verify the relationship

Check product, term, service status, contacts and unresolved issues.

2. Prepare the information

State the renewal date, price or change only from approved commercial records.

3. Start at the agreed time

Give the customer enough time to review, ask questions and follow the cancellation route.

4. Record the decision

Capture renewed, changed, declined, pending or disputed status honestly.

Close the loop

5. Complete the handover

Update the recurring arrangement or service plan only after approval.

Owner, timing and exception

Make the operational state easy to review

The supporting view keeps the next action and human checkpoint visible around the automated steps.

121 CRM · Connected operations

Book discovery

October · illustrative availability

MTWTFSS1234567891011121314

11:3014:00

Appointment sequence

Booked

Calendar entry created

1 day before

Reminder scheduled

Exception

Owner reviews a reply

Journey summary

New

Illustrative

Owned

Illustrative

Due

Illustrative

Website

Referral

Direct

Illustrative exampleAll dates, counts and workflow states are fictional. Availability and behaviour depend on the agreed setup.

Exception paths

Stop the normal route when the facts change

Exceptions are part of the process, not failures to be hidden. Route them to a person with the authority and context to decide what happens next.

Human review

Commercial details unresolved

Do not send invented or provisional claims as final terms.

Human review

Complaint or service failure

Move to accountable human review before routine renewal messaging.

Human review

No response

Use a short agreed cadence and never assume acceptance unless the contract lawfully provides it.

Operational review

Measure whether the work became safer and clearer

Use measures that reveal ownership, service quality and control. Counts of messages, tasks or workflow runs are supporting signals, not proof of customer value.

Renewals reviewed before contact

Measure process readiness.

Decisions recorded before deadline

Include declines and changes as complete outcomes.

Exceptions caused by poor data

Use these to improve contract and contact records.

Questions about this page

Useful answers, without the sales fog.

1. When should the renewal follow-up playbook start?

A live customer arrangement approaches its agreed review or renewal window. Confirm the record is eligible and that a named owner or monitored queue is available before allowing customer-facing action.

2. Which channels should the renewal follow-up playbook use?

Use only configured channels that suit the purpose, customer preference and consent position. Give each channel a distinct role and check provider availability and usage charges before launch.

3. When should renewal follow-up automation stop?

Stop when the purpose is complete, the customer responds or opts out, the data conflicts, or an exception needs judgement. In this playbook, pay particular attention to commercial details unresolved, complaint or service failure, no response.

4. How should we judge whether renewal follow-up works?

Review renewals reviewed before contact, decisions recorded before deadline, exceptions caused by poor data. Combine the numbers with sampled records and customer context; do not treat activity volume as a business outcome.

Read all CRM questions

Continue the journey

Recurring subscriptions Tasks and activities Customer management Dormant-customer follow-up

Delegate the work. Keep the human.

Ready to organise the customer journey?

Subscribe through the approved secure checkout, or review pricing and responsibilities before you decide.

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