Today, we're diving deep into something every SaaS founder needs to master.Renewal reminder emails.Right now, if you're running a SaaS business, you've probably experienced this moment.
You're staring at your customer dashboard, looking at upcoming renewals, and you get that pit in your stomach.
You're probably thinking, if I remind them of the renewal, then they're suddenly going to realize that they're not using my product enough and they're going to cancel immediately.
That fear is costing you money, not in potential cancellations, but in the professionalism and trust that you're failing to build with your customers.And today we're going to fix that. Let's start with why every SaaS founder is afraid of renewals.
It comes down to three key mistakes in their business foundation.The first mistake that we see all the time is an uncertain product market fit.You built features based on assumptions rather than data.
Your product market fit is reactive rather than strategic.And when someone asks you, what is your value proposition?You can immediately point to a certain metric. Your customer success stories are vague rather than backed by numbers.
The second mistake that we see is poor customer segmentation.
You haven't clearly defined your ideal customer profile, your pricing isn't properly aligned with the value that you're delivering, and your onboarding process doesn't establish a clear success metric from day one.
And most importantly, you're not even effectively tracking how these customers are using your product.The third metric is value communication.You are not regularly showing your customers the ROI.
When you release a new product update, you're not telling them directly how it's going to benefit them.
You might lack the engagement metrics needed to prove your value, and you haven't defined what a healthy customer actually looks like in terms of the numbers.
Now, before we dive into the exact emails that you need to send, we need to understand how pricing frequency affects renewal psychology.This is crucial to understand if you want your customers to keep saying yes month after month, year after year.
Let's talk about the realities of monthly subscriptions first.With monthly pricing, your customers are making 12 decisions about your product every single year.Do I want this product?Do I want this product?Do I want this product?
That's 12 times they see the charge, 12 times they question the value, 12 opportunities for them to churn.
This creates a higher cognitive load on your customers, more brainpower that they have to use, which typically results in 30 to 40% higher churn rates compared to annual plans.Annual subscriptions, on the other hand, change the game entirely.
You're dealing with a single decision point, so you get stronger commitment from your customers, your cashflow becomes more predictable, and on average subscriptions for annual plans have a 15 to 25% higher lifetime value.
Lifetime value being how much a customer pays you over the lifetime of them using your product. Plus, you get more time to demonstrate and reinforce your ROI.Now let's talk about the emails themselves.
I'm gonna give you five email templates that's gonna transform your renewal process.But first, you need to understand the psychology behind each one.
The first email that we're gonna send is 30 days before the renewal date, and it's all about value demonstration.The subject line reads, your impact report.
This entire email is built to showcase specific metrics about how they, the customer are using the product.
Talk about the metrics, talk about the number of active users in the account, show them how many times they've used key features, calculate the time that they saved or even better, the revenue that they've generated using your app.
The second email that's going to go out is the 14 day mark, 14 days away from the renewal date.This is your professional heads up. It's clear, it's casual.
You're going to remind them of the renewal date, the amount, but sandwich it in between some value statements.Show them what they're going to accomplish in the last month.
Remind them of the features that they're actively using and make it crystal clear why renewal makes sense. The next email is the seven day email.This is seven days out from renewal.This is your safety check.
This is where you verify that everything's in order with your account.You want to make sure that their billing information is up to date, that their credit card has not expired.
Remind them that if they do need support, here's the support email that they can contact.Give them a quick summary of their recent wins.The goal here is to eliminate any potential friction when the renewal process happens in seven days.
A 24 hour email is your final courtesy notice.Keep it short, keep it professional and keep it clear.State the exact amount that they will be charged and when.Make it super easy for them to reach support if they need to.
This email prevents those awkward, I didn't know I was being charged conversations.The final email is your renewal confirmation.Think of it as the victory lap.Thank them for their continued trust in you.
Give them a brief overview of what's coming in the near future.Make them feel good about their decision that they just made. Now let's talk about implementing this into your system.You need three key pieces in place.
First, you need a proper customer success dashboard.This tracks renewal dates, usage metrics, customer health scores, all in one place.You should be able to glance at it immediately and know which accounts need attention.
Second, you need an email automation system or a classic email marketing software.This isn't something that you want to handle manually.This is something that your system should use.
It should trigger an email automatically based on the renewal dates, but still allow for some personalization based on their data usage. The third thing that you need is a solid tracking system.
You should monitor open rates, click through rates, response rates for your emails, track how many customers reach out after each email, monitor your renewal dates over time.Let's get into the exact wording of these emails.
If you want all five emails, it's going to be down in the description.There's no paywall.It's just right there, literally down in the description. Your 30 day email needs to start strong.
Start with, I wanted to personally share some highlights from your recent usage of our platform.Then immediately dive into the specifics.Don't say you had good usage.
Instead, say your team completed X actions per month at Y percentage increase from last month. make every metric specific and meaningful.
Follow that with some direct ROI statements, say something like, based on industry average, this represents approximately X hours saved for your team, or this translates roughly into X dollars in efficiency gains.
Make them feel the value, make it concrete and undeniable.Now let's move on to the 14-day email.This takes a different approach, open with, I wanted to give you a heads up about your upcoming renewal on blank date.Be direct, be casual.
The key here is to act like the renewal date is the most natural thing in the world because it is.Your customer is getting value and you are simply maintaining good communication.In this email, address pricing directly and confidently.
Say your renewal amount will be X dollars, which includes all the current features plus our upcoming Y feature release down the road.Then immediately pivot back to the value by saying,
In the past two weeks alone, your team has achieved specific achievement.Keep everything clear, simple, and specific.No buzzwords.The seven day email is your professional check-in.
Start with, we're doing a final check to ensure a smooth renewal process.This is where you verify payment details, but frame it in a way that's kind of more like a courtesy. Say, we want to make sure you don't experience any service interruptions.
So please take a minute to verify your payment information is current and up to date.Simple.Now for the 24 hour email, this should be short, crystal clear, should say something like this.
Your renewal date is scheduled for tomorrow at exactly what time of day.The amount is X and you will be charged to your card using the last four digits of the credit card.Then add a single line about support.
If you have any questions or need any support, simply contact our team at blank blank address.However you want people to contact your support team.The renewal confirmation email.That's the last email and should open with genuine appreciation.
Say something like this.Thank you for continuing to choose us as your partner and share something exciting.Say in the coming weeks, we're rolling out this new feature, which will help you do specific benefit.
Okay, so now that you know how to write the emails, let's talk about handling responses to these emails because you will get some responses from your customers.
Some customers will reply with questions, some will raise concerns, so you need to be ready.If a customer responds questioning the value, don't get defensive.Instead, schedule a call.
Say, hey, I would love to hop on a quick call to review your usage patterns and make sure that you're getting maximum value for every feature you were to have as most natural.
Turn it into an opportunity to strengthen the relationship rather than starting a fight with your customer.When a customer says your product is too expensive, that's actually good news.
That means that they see value, but they are struggling with the price.So respond by breaking down the ROI.Show them exactly how much value they're getting in dollars and cents.Compare your price to the alternatives or even doing things manually.
Now, if somebody says that they're not using the product enough, again, this is another opportunity.Offer a focused training session.Say, hey, I noticed a few features that could really impact your workflow.
Can I show you how other customers in your industry are using this to save X hours per week?The key to handling any renewal objection is to remain confident in your value and in your app. Never apologize for your pricing.
Never get defensive about your product.Stay focused on delivering value and see every interaction as an opportunity.Let's talk about tracking success.You need to monitor four major key metrics for your renewal email sequences.
First is to track an open rates for your emails in the sequence.You need to see at least 40 to 50 to 60% open rates.If you're below that, that means your subject lines need a little bit of work.Second,
is to monitor his click-through rates on any links that you include.Are customers checking their usage dashboard?Are they looking at their billing information?These actions indicate engagement and concern levels.
Third is to track response rates and categorize those responses.How many customers ask questions?How many raise concerns?This data will help you improve your email content and the timing.
Finally, the most important thing and the obvious one to track are your renewal rates themselves.You need to track them before you implement this system and after you implement the system.
You should see your renewal rates improve by 10 to 20% within the first three months after adding this system.Remember, sending renewal reminders isn't just about getting paid.
It's about being professional in your business, and it shows that you respect your customers enough to communicate with them clearly.
Every reminder email is an opportunity to demonstrate your value and strengthen the relationship you have with your customer.Your customer wants to know when they're being charged.
They want to know that they feel like they're dealing with a professional.So give them what they want.Start implementing this system today.Pull up your customers list right now.
Find everyone who's due for a renewal date in the next 45 days and start to draft this first value focused email.Get it out there and then build in the rest of the sequence. That's it for today.
If you found this helpful, hit the subscribe button and leave a comment telling me about your biggest renewal challenge.I read every comment and I want to help you succeed with your startup.I'll see you on the next video.
Sign in
