Prioritize renewals using product health
Ninety days out, usage trends, feature adoption and what changed at the account say which renewals need a person this week and which will sign themselves.
The conversation
Sample accounts and numbers, for illustrationYouFor customers renewing in the next 90 days, score each on usage trend over the last 8 weeks, adoption of key features and any change at the account, sort them into at risk, healthy and ready to expand, and tell me which three need an account manager this week and why.
Unify3 checks · product usage, warehouse billing and CRM
- Read weekly active users and key-feature use for the last 8 weeks from PostHog and the billing tables in Snowflake.
- Matched each customer to its renewal date, plan, seats and owner in Salesforce.
- Added leadership changes and hiring from PredictLeads for each account.
Twenty-three renewals in the next 90 days. Six are at risk, thirteen are healthy, and four are past their plan. Three need a person this week.
- 23
- renewals in 90 days
- 6
- at risk usage falling or champion gone
- 13
- healthy no action this week
- 4
- ready to expand past seats or usage on the plan
- 1Halden Robotics · renews in 41 daysAt risk
- 2Lumen Freight · renews in 62 daysAt risk
- 3Merridian Systems · renews in 55 daysExpand
- 4Brightpath · renews in 30 daysHealthy
Usage, dates and seats are read from the data. The sort into at risk and healthy is a reading; each row carries the reason so an account manager can overrule it.
YouWhy those three, and what should each account manager do this week?
UnifyTwo are at risk for different reasons, and one is expansion that should be raised before the renewal notice goes out.
- Halden Robotics
- The drop began the week Tara left. Nobody replaced her as admin, and the two routing features she ran have not been touched since. This is a setup problem, not a value problem.
- Lumen Freight
- Usage is flat, not falling, but the reporting module was never switched on and the new COO is reviewing spend. The renewal will be read as a tool nobody uses fully.
- Merridian Systems
- Eighteen people use a ten-seat plan. Raising it now makes the renewal an expansion; waiting makes it an overage argument.
This week
Halden: Ana calls the new support lead and offers to re-run the admin setup. Lumen: Chris books twenty minutes with the COO to switch on reporting with her team’s numbers. Merridian: Sam sends the seat count and a proposal before the notice date.
YouShow me the other four at-risk renewals, with what is falling at each and who owns it.
UnifyThe other four renew later and are slipping more slowly, which is why they missed this week’s three. Two have falling usage and two have lost their champion.
| Customer | Renews in | What is falling | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calderon Health | 74 days | Weekly active users down 31% | Chris |
| Oakline Supply | 67 days | Users down 27%; two of three key features unused | Ana |
| Tessera Logistics | 83 days | Champion left in August; no admin since | Sam |
| Varga Foods | 88 days | Champion moved teams; logins down 35% | Chris |
These four stay on their owners’ Monday lists and move up as the renewal date gets closer.
YouAnd the four that are past their plan: how far past, and what would the expansion be worth?
UnifyTogether the four are worth about $48k a year in added seats and usage. Merridian is the largest and the one to raise first.
- 1Merridian Systems · 18 users on 10 seats+$19k a year
- 2Northwind Labs · usage at 140% of plan+$14k a year
- 3Corvane · 26 users on 20 seats+$11k a year
- 4Pellham Group · 12 users on 10 seats+$4k a year
Worth is the seats or usage over the plan at the price on the contract in Salesforce. It is a starting number for the proposal, not a forecast.
YouSet this up to run every Monday and send each account manager their three.
UnifyThe scoring runs every Monday against the next 90 days. Each account manager gets their own list with the reasons, and the CRM keeps the score on the account.
- MondayEmail
Your renewals this week
The three renewals that need attention, the reason for each, and a suggested first move.
- Day 3Call
For at-risk accounts only: the account manager calls the admin or the new leader, opening on the specific feature or change.
- 30 days before renewalEmail
Renewal proposal
For expansion accounts, the proposal with the seat and usage numbers attached.
Set up
- Weekly scoring scheduled Every Monday for renewals in the next 90 days. Scores and reasons are written to the account in Salesforce.
- Owner lists Each account manager receives only their accounts, ranked, with the reason and the suggested move.
- Expansion handed to the rep Accounts past their plan go to the account executive with the numbers, thirty days before the notice date.
The score says where to look. The account manager decides what it means after the call.
Renewal prioritisation, with and without Unify
Every renewal gets the same call at 60 days. The at-risk ones needed it at 90; the healthy ones did not need it at all.
| Without Unify | With Unify |
|---|---|
| Renewals are worked by date, so a healthy account and a dying one get the same attention | Renewals in the next 90 days are ranked by health: usage trend, feature adoption and account changes |
| Usage lives in the product dashboard and the renewal date lives in the CRM; nobody joins them | Usage, plan and renewal date sit on one row per customer, read from your product data and CRM |
| The account manager learns the champion left when the renewal email bounces | A champion leaving, a new leader or a hiring freeze at the account is attached to the renewal |
| Expansion at renewal is a guess, because nobody checked whether usage outgrew the plan | Accounts past their plan are flagged as expansion, with the numbers for the conversation |
Start from this prompt
Make it your own in Unify, then review the results.
For customers renewing in the next 90 days, score each on usage trend over the last 8 weeks, adoption of key features and any change at the account, sort them into at risk, healthy and ready to expand, and tell me which three need an account manager this week and why.
What else you can ask for
The walkthrough is one path through this workflow. These are the turns people take most often.
- At risk onlyWhich renewals in the next 90 days have falling weekly active users or a champion who left, and who owns each?Try in Unify
- Expansion at renewalWhich renewing customers are past the seats or usage on their plan, and what would the expansion be worth?Try in Unify
- One accountHow healthy is Merridian Systems ahead of its renewal in November, and what changed there in the last quarter?Try in Unify
How it changes by who you sell to
- Software
- Software renewals turn on whether the second and third features ever got used. Ask for renewals where weekly active users fell for eight weeks or a key feature was never switched on, and lead with a setup call, not a discount.
- Financial services
- Bank and insurer renewals move through procurement on a fixed calendar, so ninety days is late. Ask for renewals 150 days out, weight a new risk or operations leader heavily, and prepare the security and audit material early.
- Healthcare
- At providers a renewal is decided by the department that uses the product and signed by someone who does not. Ask for usage by department, and for renewals where the champion left, since the signature follows the champion.
- Manufacturing
- Plant usage is seasonal, so a summer dip is not churn. Ask Unify to compare usage with the same period last year, and to flag renewals where a plant stopped entirely rather than slowed.
- Professional services
- Firms renew practice by practice. Ask for usage by practice, for renewals where one practice went quiet while another grew, and for the partner who runs each, since that is who decides.
Next in customer expansion and health
+2New stakeholdersCatch new stakeholders at customer accountsA new VP at a customer has never heard of you and owns the budget your product sits in. Find them in their first 90 days, before they find a replacement.
+2ExpansionExpand into a customer's neighboring teamsThe next deal is often one department across from the one you already serve, and sometimes it has already started without you. Find both, and who to ask.
+5Cross-sellFind cross-sell opportunitiesCustomers on one product whose stack, hiring or usage says they fit a second one. Name the product, show the evidence, and find the person who would buy it.
Connect what this workflow uses
Each guide covers the connection, what Unify reads and writes, and what to check before the first run.
- Connect PostHogConnect PostHog to Unify as a destination, choosing the product events and the person and company context to send.
- Connect SegmentSend supported Segment events into Unify through Webhook (actions).
- Connect SalesforceAuthorize Salesforce in Unify, configure CRM field mappings, and choose when to enable writing.
- Connect HubSpotConnect HubSpot to Unify, map Company and Person fields, and plan CRM exclusions and supported write-back.
- Connect GmailConnect Gmail to Unify for sequence emails and replies.
Questions about this workflow
What counts as product health?
Three things you can read from data: the trend in weekly active users over eight weeks, how many key features are in use, and whether the account changed, such as a champion leaving or a new leader arriving. The score is explained per account.
Where does the usage come from?
From PostHog or Segment events, or from usage and billing tables in Snowflake or ClickHouse brought in through Fivetran, Hightouch or the Unify API. Renewal dates, plans and owners come from Salesforce or HubSpot.
Does a low score mean the customer will churn?
No. It means the account manager should look this week rather than at 60 days. Falling usage can be a season, a reorg or a champion who left; the page shows which, and the person decides.
What about renewals that look healthy?
They get a shorter touch or none. Healthy accounts past their plan move to the expansion list with the numbers, so the renewal conversation starts from growth rather than a discount.