Support-Contract Management and Renewals

Support and service contracts constitute a significant revenue stream for many companies, but typically, their management is not afforded the same kind of attention and resources as new customer sales. Smart companies recognize that customer retention is essential to ongoing profitability and future sales potential, and that support-contract management and renewals are important tools in keeping customers actively involved with the company and generating revenues.

CDC MarketFirst can assist companies in managing their support contracts and ensuring renewals:

  • Communicate the value of support: One of the most frequent objections at the time of support-contract renewal is that the customer has not been using the services. Using CDC MarketFirst to regularly promote available support resources to the customer can be effective in helping them use the available services and understand the value of their support contract—which can often extend beyond mere emergency support services.
  • Get proactive about contract renewal: Don't wait till a support contract is at risk to take action. Using CDC MarketFirst, companies can schedule a stream of standard personalized communications many months in advance of contract expiration that provides regular reminders, each with tailored messaging and value propositions that escalate as a contract approaches expiration. CDC MarketFirst can also send follow-up thank-you messages when a contract is renewed, or "sorry-to-see-you-go" messages when a contract is terminated, which can be paired with a CDC MarketFirst survey to find out why the support contract was terminated and what could be done to win the customer back.
  • Up-sell premium support services: Don't lose customers because they are dissatisfied with the level of support they have received; use CDC MarketFirst to promote the value of a premium service package. Using CDC MarketFirst, companies can send communications and literature to frequent users of support or those who have expressed dissatisfaction with the level of support received, promoting the availability of enhanced service options.