How to automate renewal reminders and workflows in Churnzero for account managers

If you manage customer accounts, you know the pain: renewal dates sneaking up, reminders lost in email, and last-minute scrambles. It’s stressful and, honestly, avoidable. This guide is for account managers who want to quit chasing manual reminders and let automation do the boring work. We'll walk through how to set up automated renewal reminders and basic workflows in Churnzero, so you can focus on real customer conversations — not calendar math.

Let’s get into the nuts and bolts.

1. Figure Out Your Renewal Process (Before Automating Anything)

Automation only helps if your process isn’t a mess. Before you touch any settings in Churnzero, get clear on:

  • What counts as a renewal? Annual, quarterly, monthly? Some companies have weird edge cases.
  • Who needs to act? Is it just you, or are support, finance, or legal involved?
  • What’s your timeline? Do you want reminders 90 days out? 30? Both?
  • What info do you want in reminders? Contract value, usage stats, decision-maker contacts, etc.

Pro tip: Map out your ideal renewal flow on paper or a whiteboard. If it looks complicated, simplify it. Automation makes mistakes faster if your process is messy.

2. Clean Up Your Account Data

Churnzero’s automation is only as good as your data. Garbage in, garbage out. So before you build anything:

  • Make sure renewal dates are accurate in Churnzero for every account. If you’re missing dates or some are wrong, fix them now.
  • Check ownership fields. If reminders go to the wrong person, you’ll still miss renewals.
  • Audit for edge cases. Accounts with custom terms, “evergreen” contracts, or weird exceptions will trip you up. Flag these for manual review.

What doesn’t work: Relying on spreadsheet exports and hoping for the best. Churnzero can only automate what it knows.

3. Set Up Automated Tasks and Alerts

Now, let’s get into Churnzero and start with the basics: tasks and alerts. You want Churnzero to automatically nudge account managers (and anyone else) when a renewal is coming.

Step-by-Step: Creating Renewal Reminders

  1. Go to Plays (Churnzero’s automation hub).
  2. Create a new Play. Name it something obvious like “60-Day Renewal Reminder.”
  3. Set the Trigger.
  4. Use the “Renewal Date” field.
  5. Example: Trigger when “Renewal Date is in 60 days.”
  6. Add Actions.
  7. Assign a task to the account owner (e.g., “Review renewal with customer”).
  8. Send an email reminder to yourself or the team.
  9. Optional: Post a Slack or Teams notification, if you have the integration set up.
  10. Set Play frequency and conditions.
  11. Make sure it doesn’t trigger repeatedly if the date changes.
  12. Set exclusions for flagged edge cases.

Repeat for other key dates (e.g., 90, 30, and 7 days out). Don’t overdo it — more reminders aren’t always better.

What works well: One or two reminders per renewal is usually enough. Too many, and everyone starts ignoring them.

4. Build a Simple Workflow (Play) for Renewal Management

Churnzero’s “Plays” do more than just reminders. You can automate a whole chain of tasks: outreach, follow-ups, internal handoffs, etc.

Workflow Example: 90-Day Renewal Sequence

Trigger: Renewal date is 90 days away.

Actions:

  • Assign task: “Initial renewal outreach to customer.”
  • Send templated email: “Hey, your renewal is coming up in three months...”
  • Wait 30 days.
  • Assign follow-up task if no response.
  • Notify manager if still no action at 30 days out.

How to set this up:

  1. Choose “Create New Play.”
  2. Set the trigger: “Renewal Date is in 90 days.”
  3. Add each action step:
  4. Assign tasks.
  5. Send emails (use Churnzero’s templates).
  6. Add wait steps between tasks.
  7. Add conditional logic (e.g., “If no response, do X.”)
  8. Test with a small group first. Catch weird behavior before rolling it out.

What to skip: Avoid automating super-personalized messages. Customers can spot canned emails a mile away. Use automation for nudges and internal tasks, not your actual renewal pitch.

5. Set Up Reports and Dashboards (So Nothing Slips Through)

Automation is great, but you still need oversight. Churnzero lets you build dashboards and reports that show:

  • Accounts with renewals in the next 90 days.
  • Tasks overdue for renewal outreach.
  • Which accounts have no upcoming renewal date (fix these ASAP).

How to Build a Useful Dashboard

  1. Go to Dashboards in Churnzero.
  2. Add widgets for key metrics:
  3. “Upcoming Renewals” by date range.
  4. “Overdue Renewal Tasks.”
  5. “Accounts Missing Renewal Dates.”
  6. Share the dashboard with your team or manager.

Don’t bother: Staring at dashboards all day. Use them for weekly reviews or quick gut checks — not as a replacement for real customer engagement.

6. Keep an Eye on Automation Fatigue

Even the best automation gets ignored if it’s noisy. Here’s what to watch for:

  • Too many reminders: If tasks or emails pile up, people start deleting them unread.
  • Poor timing: Reminders sent outside working hours or at weird intervals lose effectiveness.
  • Missing manual review: Automation won’t catch nuance — like a key contact leaving, or a customer signaling they’re unhappy.

How to fix it: Regularly review task completion rates and feedback from the team. If people are annoyed, tweak frequency or the content of reminders.

7. What To Ignore (For Now)

Churnzero offers a ton of advanced features — scoring models, health dashboards, integrations galore. If you’re just looking to stop missing renewals, skip:

  • Predictive churn models (they’re often wrong, or at least not actionable for renewals).
  • Hyper-granular triggers (like “customer didn’t log in for 12 days” — useful, but not for renewals).
  • Endless email templates. Simple, direct reminders work best.

Once you’ve nailed your basics, you can experiment with the fancy stuff. But don’t get distracted.

8. Tips for Keeping It Simple (and Sane)

  • Automate the boring parts: Use Churnzero for reminders, task assignments, and basic workflows. Handle the relationship stuff yourself.
  • Iterate: Test with a few accounts, fix what’s broken, then roll out to everyone.
  • Trust, but verify: Don’t assume automation is working. Check your reports and ask your team.
  • Ask for feedback: If reminders are annoying or confusing, adjust them. The goal is to help, not create more noise.

Wrapping Up

You don’t need to overthink this. Clean data, a few well-timed reminders, and simple workflows in Churnzero will save you hours — and a lot of last-minute headaches. Start small, automate what makes sense, and keep tuning as you go. The best automation is the stuff you barely notice, because it just works.

Now, go reclaim your calendar.