How to close a renewal with an upsell

While gaining new customers is exciting, retaining them is where your SaaS will generate revenue. So, how does your company build the best renewal process? How do you gauge the sentiment of the customer for the renewal? And how should a CSM be compensated?

In this episode, our host Anika Zubair chats with Irit Eizips, Chief Customer Officer & CEO at CSM Practice about how to close a renewal with an upsell.

Irit Eizips is a world-renowned expert in customer retention and upsell strategies. She has been shaping Customer Success methodologies and has been nominated as a top Customer Success strategist and influencer, year after year since 2013.

In 2022, Irit was named as one of the Top 50 Customer Success Influencers and Top 25 Most Innovative Leaders in CX. Irit frequently produces thought leadership on her YouTube channel (CSM Practice) and is often featured as a speaker at conferences and Customer Success publications.

Earlier this year, CSM Practice surveyed 450 CS professionals to learn more about the renewal process and what type of activities that can really lead to better results. They found four common steps on how to build the best renewal process 1) Product roadmap call 2) Quarterly business review 3) A 12-months success plan 4) Review the renewal contract with the customer.

“We found that customer success managers who included these four steps actually close above 51% of their renewal contracts with an upsell.”

Another important thing is to get the timing right. A large percentage of today's customer success teams start 90 days before the renewal day. However, Irit has learned that being ahead of time helps.

“When you started 120 days before the renewal date, all of a sudden, most of your renewals are actually being completed ahead of time. And there's a higher probability for net retention and for them to be completed with an upsell.”

Listen now to the full conversation with Irit and Anika to learn more about how to close a renewal with an upsell.